Implant therapy: 40 years of experience

Implant placement has become a well‐established and highly successful therapy in the rehabilitation of partially and fully edentulous patients. The ‘original’ treatment protocol, which aimed to demonstrate implant ‘biocompatibility’ and the achievement of osseointegration, has evolved over the past 40 years into a broader treatment approach in which the esthetic and patient‐related objectives have become the main focus. This volume of Periodontology 2000 summarizes, via narrative reviews, the advantages and disadvantages of this evolution in implantology and offers recommendations on where and when to apply the new therapeutic protocols, without jeopardizing the outcome for the patient. It also discusses current treatments of the most common implant‐associated complications. Many of the implant innovations and new therapeutic protocols are supported by evidence‐based knowledge and have provided clear benefits for both the patient and the clinician.