Periodontal prosthesis in contemporary dentistry.

In the last 5 decades, the developments of osseointegrated titanium implants (since 1965) have led to the success of contemporary dentistry. Endosseous implant-supported restorations delivered in accordance with the traditional Branemark protocol have proven to be highly predictable. Today, implants are becoming increasingly common in dental care and provide more therapeutic options, but treatment planning and the sequencing of therapy are critical in implant-assisted and implant-supported cases. Implant prostheses give patients and dentists more options in treatment planning, but also present challenging decisions regarding implant surgery. In essence, the emerging thought is that teeth are expendable, as we now have implants to solve these problems. The fact that peri-implantitis is no simple problem to treat does not seem to affect many who hold that thought. In this article, the authors explain how to properly apply the periodontal prosthesis philosophy, concepts, principles, and techniques in contemporary dentistry. (This article is an update from the article was published in 2005) [1].