AAID Commemorates 60 Years of Dental Implant Training and Advocacy

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- What better city than Las Vegas to celebrate a major milestone?  Today, the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) is doing just that by commemorating the 60th anniversary of dental implants during its annual scientific meeting here.  Most of the conference attendees were not around in 1951.  At the time, dental implants had, at best, a dubious reputation among most dental professionals.  What a difference 60 years makes, as implants are now the preferred choice for replacing missing teeth.

It is estimated that 69 percent of Americans age 35 to 44 have at least one missing tooth and one in four over the age of 74 have lost all of their natural teeth.  Aging Baby Boomers are fueling high demand for dental implants, but the aggressive advertising aimed at them does not provide information they need about the procedure and qualifications required to perform it.  Therefore, AAID's message in commemorating 60 years of dental implants is that implants promote good oral health and restore self confidence, but successful outcomes are best assured by careful and informed selection of a highly trained and skilled implant dentist.

"What I believe is most compelling about AAID's history is the courage and confidence shown by the founders who stepped out of comfort zones and went against their professional societies to promote dental implant training and establish the AAID implant credentialing program," said AAID President Joseph Orrico, DDS.  "Today, the AAID credential is the most rigorous and respected implant training program in the world, and without the vision and fortitude of our founders implant dentistry would not be a mainstream procedure in dentistry."

AAID Pioneers Blazed a Lonely and Controversial Trail

Sixty years ago, a small cadre of dental pioneers braved a firestorm of professional criticism and met in Chicago to share ideas to stimulate research and training in implant dentistry.  This was the beginning of the practice of implant dentistry and paved the way for eventual public and professional acceptance of the procedure. That meeting led to another meeting held February 4, 1952, also in Chicago, with 14 dentists and four laboratory technicians.  It was the inaugural conclave of the American Academy of Implant Dentures, which today is AAID.

In the 1950s, very few dentists were performing implants and the nation's dentals schools refused to teach the procedure.  "Implant dentistry had no respect and when we started doing implants, it was kind of a mentor system.  You tried something out and if it worked, you told your friends and they did it or they'd come to your office to watch you do a procedure," recalled Norman Goldberg, DDS, a spry nonagenarian who served as AAID's first president.

"We had enough people involved in implants after the first teaching and decided it was too important go without further development.  So we decided to form an academy to discuss the different problems that come up with implants and provide forums for everybody to learn from everybody else," said Goldberg.

As a young army dental officer, Dr. Goldberg was impressed by the ways broken and shattered bones were being treated with new procedures and implants and wondered why it couldn't be done in dentistry.  

"I was reading about implants for different parts of the body and when I saw what was what was being done, I decided there's no reason we shouldn't try to replace teeth the same way by implanting on the jaw," Goldberg said.

Goldberg noted that the public accepted implants long before the dental establishment.  People tired of wearing ill-fitting dentures were intrigued and looked for dentists who knew how to do the procedure.  Later, as more was learned about the science of osseointegration, the fusing of bone to titanium, which is used for dental implants as well as artificial hips and knees, implant dentistry became more widely accepted and predictable.  

"The final piece to the credibility puzzle was to provide a credentialing examination that was as challenging as the other dental specialty boards and reflected the professionalism that dental implantology had achieved," said Orrico.  "AAID worked with experts in education to establish a credible and rigorous examination process for the American Board of Oral Implantology."  

Today, the persistent work and advocacy of the AAID pioneers helped create interest and escalating demand for dental implants.  

About AAID

AAID is the leading professional society dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of implant dentistry through research and education.  The annual meeting is the field's leading venue for cutting-edge, evidence-based implant research presentations and demonstrations of state-of-the art implantation techniques.  

AAID can help consumers find a local credentialed implant dentist at www.aaid.com.  AAID is based in Chicago and has more than 3,500 members.  It is the first organization dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of implant dentistry by supporting research and education to advance comprehensive implant knowledge.

SOURCE American Academy of Implant Dentistry