This prestigious recognition awarded by the Spanish Society of Periodontics (SEPA) recognises the student’s work in a clinical trial focused on bone regeneration and implant placement. Germán Pardo received the grant as part of the SEPA-DENTAID Research Methodology Course. In this interview, he explained what it meant for him to win a prize in this category.

Let’s start at the beginning, what made you opt for the specialty in Periodontics?

I love this question, because in for me, the answer is clear: I come from a family of dentists. My grandfather started as a prosthetist and, from a very young age, they told me that the solution most patients are needing is always a prosthesis. However, I understood that even though the end goal may be prosthodontics, periodontics is the base from which everything starts and from where construction begins. The building may be beautiful, but if the substrate and foundations are not stable, it will eventually collapse sooner rather than later.

So, even though I chose the specialty in periodontics almost by obligation, I was passionate about it from the very beginning.

What led you to carry out this study? Could you tell us more about it?

Given the different lines of research, I chose to do this clinical study because I was better equipped to contribute something to a project that had a direct relationship with the clinic, which is where I feel most comfortable.

The study analyses the possibility of performing bone regeneration procedures during implant replacements, without having to proceed to what we call “primary closure,” or in other words, to let all these biological processes happen “buried” within the gum. This would shorten treatment times, provide bolted provisional restorations from day one, reduce the number of surgeries, and ultimately reduce morbidity, simplify therapy care and improve patient experience.

How can your work help in other scientific research studies?

If “non-submerged” regenerative approaches in implant therapy were possible, this would mean a paradigm shift in the way we deal with cases when replacing teeth. The fact of contravening in some way the theoretical principles of guided bone regeneration would lead us to raise questions as to whether the rest of the principles are equally essential.

How do you think your project might continue within the sector?

Different lines of research could be carried out as a continuation of this study. Definition of which protocols are more predictable, the limits of these approaches, whether it is possible to place provisional prostheses with loading implants or new regenerative approaches with no bridge, could be some of the lines of investigations.

What has it meant for you to be awarded this grant?

A huge personal satisfaction and a nice recognition of the work that the entire master's programme team has been doing for years.