Interview with Dr. Gerhard Iglhaut, Germany (DDS, PhD) : A pioneer in Implantology

Dr. Gerhard Iglhaut completed his degree in dentistry in 1982 at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany. He worked as a scientific assistant in the department of Oral Surgery for three years, and earned a specialist certificate in Oral Surgery at the same university, later a specialist certificate in Oral Implantology (DGI) and Periodontology (EDA)

Dr. Iglhaut is a lecturer for the German Association of Oral Implantology (DGI) as well as its board member from 2004 to 2018 and the President from 2013-2015.

Since 2005 he is a university docent in Oral Implantology at the Steinbeis-University in Berlin and since 2008 docent at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen. Since 1995 he has lectured internationally on Oral Implantology, Periodontology, Plastic Periodontal Surgery and Periodontal Microsurgery.

Since 2005 he is docent in Oral Implantology at the Steinbeis-University in Berlin, and since 2008 docent at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen, where he earned his PhD in 2015. Since 2017 he is docent and scientific researcher at University of Freiburg, Dept. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Plastic Surgery.

He holds memberships in numerous dental professional organizations such as the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry, American Academy of Restorative Dentistry, American Academy of Periodontology, European Academy of Osseointegration, German Association of Oral Surgery, German Association of Oral Implantology and the German Association of Periodontology. Dr. Iglhaut works from his private practice in Memmingen, Germany since 1987.

 

Below is the excerpt of an interview with Dr. Gerhard Iglhaut, who will be visiting India in the month of August, 2019 to conduct a 5 day workshop on soft tissue management in Bangalore.

 

Dr. Rajeev Chitguppi: What are the recent trends in socket grafting?

Dr. Gerhard Iglhaut: There is scientific evidence, that socket grafting minimizes horizontal and vertical bone resorption, but slows down bone formation by using bovine bone minerals. Innovative porcine bone substitutes with 100% carbonate apatite shows faster resorption and newly bone formation, therefore allows stabile implant placement already after 4-5 months.

 

RC: Autogenous bone grafts in oral implantology— still a “gold standard”?

GI: Multiple systematic reviews have concluded that in augmented alveolar bone after GBR technique with bone substitutes, implants show similarly high survival rates compared to autogenous bone grafts. In my more than 30 years clinical implant work I have observed the same experience. Today GBR technique using bone substitutes in combination with particulated autologous bone grafts is the new gold standard.

 

RC: What are the newer trends in the choice of bone substitutes?

GI: Our goal in implant dentistry is to build up sufficient peri-implant bone thickness for long term tissue stability. To achieve volume steadiness, we used bovine bone substitutes with slow resorption over time. Innovative porcine bone materials show faster resorption and more space for new bone formation. The consequence is faster bone regeneration and complete resorption of the bone materials after 12 months

 

RC: Which alloplasts do you prefer in your practice?

GI: My clinical experience with ß- Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) materials has shown limited outcomes in several cases. If the patient asks for alloplastic bone materials I therefore prefer synthetic Hydroxy-Apatite (HA).

 

RC: What are the recent trends and which are the most commonly done soft tissue procedures in your practice to improve the quality of peri-implant soft tissues?   

GI: To protect alveolar bone tissue we need sufficiently thick and fixed peri-implant soft tissues. In cases of thin alveolar mucosa, we have routinely used free gingival or connective tissue grafts in the past. The palatal donor site, however, increases the patient´s morbidity and complications, apart from providing a limited quantity of soft tissue. The use of allogenic or porcine acellular dermal matrices offer us novel minimally invasive options in soft tissue augmentation around teeth and implants.

 

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