Edited by Dentaltown staff
Four Day Live Surgical Course Benefits Veterans
PHOENIX—Dentists from all around the country traveled to Phoenix this summer to take part in a hands-on implant course that benefited 100 patients free of charge.
The Central Arizona Services Shelter (CASS)—which provides shelter and services for the homeless—worked with Advanced Implant Educators to combine a one-of-a-kind learning experience for dentists wishing to sharpen their clinical implant skills, while giving back to veterans and homeless in need of dental care.
Doctors took part in a full day of lectures and workshop before spending the next three days working in teams of two—alongside an instructor—to deliver top-tier dentistry for those in need. The course was made possible by Integrated Dental Services (IDS), the supplier of MegaGen AnyRidge and Reflect Implants, along with support from Vatech America, Hu-Friedy, NSK America, Social Dental and Surgical Esthetics.
Carey Lyons, the CEO and founder of IDS called it a win on three fronts.
“First, the homeless veterans received tooth replacements free of charge. Second, the dentists learned new implant skills under world-class instruction, and third, all the proceeds went to support the CASS clinic,” Lyons said.
Dr. Isaac Tawil explains the implant system doctors will be working with during their workshop at the CASS center in Phoenix. One-hundred patients—primarily veterans and homeless—were treated for free during the four-day event. Photo by Kyle Patton
Over the four-day span, 12 dentists and 11 instructors treated 100 patients.
“There’s no substitution for doing,” Lyons said. “And each dentist, under expert instruction, placed ten to fifteen implants… Their surgical skills and confidence were dramatically improved. They can now go back and incorporate the implant restorations into their practices.”
Among the many skills and techniques the course focused on were: extractions with immediate implant placement with ancillary grafting, CBCT implant planning, socket preservation, soft tissue grafting, methods of obtaining primary closure, advanced bone grafting, and more.
Speakers and instructors included: Drs. Isaac Tawil, Scott Ganz, Kevin Frawley, Darrell Bourg, Robert Costello, Ravi Doctor, Shaun Mayatte, Michael Wehrle and James Chapko, and Mr. Joel Gonzalez. The next courses at CASS are scheduled for September 22–25 and November 10–13.
For more information, including a calendar of upcoming educational opportunities, visit idsimplants.com/edu.
To learn more about the CASS center, visit cassaz.org.