Pikos Symposium 2022 – Dr. George Kotsakis

Evidence-Based Peri-implantitis Management and the Harm Associated with Empirical Dental Treatments 

Dental implants have revolutionized modern Dentistry and help millions of dental patients worldwide to restore their function and esthetics every year.

While the science behind implant osseointegration has made tremendous advancements over the past decades enabling predictable implant integration in extreme conditions, such as immediate loading and implant placement in compromised patients, very little is known about why some implants fail due to peri-implantitis.

Peri-implantitis occurs in approximately 15-25% of implants and can appear as loss of jawbone with inflammation around the implant as early as one year post-loading. When it is established it causes patient morbidity, loss of dental treatment satisfaction and is the leading cause of explantation of implants.

Peri-implantitis is becoming a growing problem because antimicrobial, antibiotic and implantoplasty procedures fail to treat it. One of the greatest challenges remain that although implant science continues to advance when it comes to initial integration, there is limited guidance on how to maintain implants for long-term success.

The presentation will provide an overview the latest evidence on the etiology of peri-implantitis and introduce the newly developed implant-specific preventive and treatment solutions that aim to maintain and re-establish implant osseointegration.

Current treatment modalities for peri-implantitis will be presented with a focus on discussing microbiological, clinical and biomaterial-related considerations to optimize treatment efficacy for maintaining and restoring peri-implant health.

Learning Objectives:
• Learn to differentiate between dental cleaning instruments and new implant-specific instruments
• Understand why antimicrobial and antibiotic treatments fail to treat peri-implantitis
• Learn why the titanium passivation layer preservation is key to long-term implant success and how to implement this in practice

Dr. Georgio Kotsakis received his DDS from the University of Athens and following graduation he practiced in Athens, Greece for several years before coming to the United States. He then completed his residency in periodontics and obtained an MS in Science from the University of Minnesota, where he first got involved in peri-implantitis research.

Following his training, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Periodontics at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2018, he moved to UTHSCA at San Antonio where he is currently an Associate Professor of Periodontics and directs the Clinical & Translational Periodontal Research Lab.

He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and an affiliate faculty member at the Universities of Washington and Minnesota. Dr. Kotsakis has published more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles and textbook chapters with more than 5,000 citations of his work. He is one of the few dental researchers to have been published in the prestigious Lancet.

He is the recipient of multiple career and research awards from the American Academy of Periodontology, the Academy of Periodontology Foundation, and other organizations. Dr. Kotsakis practices periodontics in the UTHSCA intramural clinics with a focus on treating implant complications and peri-implantitis, and he lectures on peri-implantitis nationally and internationally.

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