12/12/2016

Dr Federico Hernández-Alfaro, coordinator of the 4th European SEPA Symposium on bone reconstruction in implant therapy

Dr Federico Hernández-Alfaro, head of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department in the Faculty of Dentistry at UIC Barcelona, took on the role of scientific coordinator and speaker at the 4th European SEPA (Spanish Society of Periodontology and Osseointegration) Symposium “Bone Reconstruction in Implant Therapy”. During the symposium, which took place on 26 November at the Palau de la Música, Dr Hernández-Alfaro gave two talks entitled “Bone reconstruction: What have we achieved so far?” and “The future of bone reconstruction in implant therapy." 

The symposium addressed the problem of the significant percentage of edentulous patients with varying degrees of bone atrophy. This situation complicates implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation and sometimes renders it impossible. There has been a paradigm shift over recent years with the appearance of a variety of diagnostic tools and 3D planning, the incorporation of the principle of minimally invasive surgery in the field of reconstruction and the appearance of new biomaterials and tissue engineering protocols that in many cases can substitute autologous bone. The symposium benefitted from the attendance of three renowned international experts in the field of bone reconstruction, during which a number of therapeutic approaches were presented to deal with specific everyday clinical issues.