Preface

This issue is offered as a series of articles to help review the use of dental implants in this unique patient group. It is intended to be a useful guide for general practitioners in dentistry, all dental specialists, and those in disciplines of medicine and other areas of health care who are involved in the habilitation and rehabilitation of young patients who have congenital or acquired deformities involving the oral and maxillofacial complex.

The first article deals with the principles concerning dental implants in young patients, the growth of the jaws, and determination of skeletal maturity. The subsequent articles review the management of certain conditions within the envelope of experience of the authors, following a logical sequence of topics. These include articles on management of non-syndromal oligodontia and syndromal oligodontia, followed by articles concerning the use of dental implants in the management of dental malformations and cleft lip and palate. This is followed by articles on rehabilitation of trauma and reconstruction of ablative defects using dental implants. Finally, other articles review the use of dental implants together with other treatment modalities including articles entitled “Facilitation of Orthodontics and Orthognathic Surgery Using Dental Implants,” and “Distraction Osteogenesis Using Dental Implants.”

This atlas is not meant to be a definitive treatise on pathology or injury. It is intended mainly as a pictorial reference illustrating a series of principles that the authors have found to be useful in treating young patients who have dental implants. It is hoped that this will help practitioners to organize their thoughts when dealing with congenital and acquired deformities superimposed on the dynamic framework and timing of ongoing growth and development.