Tim Esau at Royal College of Physicians: Avoiding Block Bone Grafting

On November the 14th 2014, Tim Esau, principal at the Wotton-under-Edge practice, attended a hands-on expert-led course at the Royal College of Physicians in London in order to further his skills in horizontal ridge augmentation without the need for block bone grafting.

The course comprised 3 workshops. The central feature of these 3 workshops was to show delegates how they can address the challenge of horizontal ridge augmentation. This is a major surgical procedure and the speakers, Istvan Urban, Isabella Rochietta and Paul Stone demonstrated different techniques that each avoid having to take autogenous block bone grafts, with all the problems that they can present.

The intended learning outcomes for the delegates were to:

1. Acquire a fully up-to-date understanding of Guided Bone Regeneration
2. Understand the indications for horizontal ridge augmentation but also the limitations of these procedures.
3. Learn how to carry out particular techniques such as “ tenting” and “sausage” approaches to biomaterial use in horizontal ridge augmentation.

The following day, Dr Istvan Urban kindly agreed to speak on the subject of vertical augmentation in the anterior and posterior zones at the Royal Society of Medicine. This is a increasingly common challenge we face in our implant day to day practice, and whether this treatment modality is better in the long run vs using shorter implants where there is a lack of height in the alveolus.

Dr Urban is a dual qualified surgeon in medicine and dentistry from the University of Semmelweiss in Hungary. He also is a specialist in periodontics after completing training at UCLA under Sascha Jovanovic.

He is now a adjunct professor in restorative dentistry at Loma Linda University USA where he teaches postgraduate students and practitioners in implant dentistry. He also maintains a private practice in Hungary as well.