Introducing ClearCare implant Study Club and mentorship program

Did you know that dental implantology is one of the hardest disciplines taught at dental schools across the board?

Most graduates receive a great didactic and fair clinical training on posterior implant restoration. However, due to shortage of time and steps involved, most programs do not even include anterior implants or multi-implant restoration as part of their training.

This is ironic since in private practice, the patients most motivated to have a dental implant are the ones missing front teeth or several teeth! Additionally, what is often missed, and arguably the most important, is to treatment plan a case and follow it from start to finish.

As a result, most new grads are left on their own device to further their training. They are often at the mercy of short weekend courses with little to no clinical component or very expensive “mini residencies” that often involve traveling and significant time off work. Yet all this still does not provide the mentorship component on meaningful and continuous bases.

This causes many new grads to either shy away from taking on more challenging and complex implant cases or to learn by trial and error from anecdotal information gathered from other colleagues, implant reps and their lab.

At ClearCare we believe there has to be a much better solution! And so we are introducing ClearCare implant study club that is to help teach and consolidate concepts in implantology and to help mentor you through your implant cases, simple or complex as long as you need it.

To do this, the study club will meet once a month to:

  • Treatment plan cases and formulate an implant patient initial assessment checklist.
  • Understand the rationale, indication and contraindications in implant dentistry.
  • Formulate a site assessment checklist.
  • Learn key points of patient education to gain case acceptance.
  • Learn digital workflow- how to utilize it for better, more predictable and efficient outcomes.
  • Understand the main points to hit when communicating with your surgical and laboratory partner.
  • Master the treatment plan consideration for posterior, anterior and multi-implant cases.
  • Learn the algorithm of restorative decision-tree.
  • Understand implant occlusion.
  • Gain working knowledge of the restorative options and materials available.
  • Learn how to manage and avoid complications- the dos and the don’ts of implant dentistry.
  • Gain mentorship for your implant cases.
  • Dinner will be provided at 5:30pm with lecture starting at 6:00pm sharp.

If this is something you like to take part in, you are required to:

  • To attend and committee to every session (please see below for scheduled dates).
  • To find and treat minimum one but ideally two implant cases with ClearCare from start to finish. To help reduce the burden of cost and gain case acceptance, ClearCare will provide you with the following:
    • Free prosthetic kit and impression coping.
    • Free final Atlantis restoration.
    • 25% discount on implant surgery fee.
  • In doing so, you will be invited and are highly encouraged to attend the following appointments with your patients:
    • Initial implant consultation, CBCT and digital diagnostic impression.
    • Zoom digital planning meeting between you, your surgeon and your lab partner.
    • Implant surgery and any site development surgeries needed.
    • Implant test appointment and final digital impression.
  • Present your implant case to your classmates at one of the study club sessions.
  • $400 registration fee that will be returned in exchange for a perfect attendance record.
Session overviewDates and Time
Session 1
Options for replacing teeth-
Rationale for dental implants-Indications/Contraindications
Informed consent
Implant Insurance Codes
Implant Treatment Pricing
Patient communication steps for treatment acceptance
Patient for study club – review of process
Wed March 16th 6 – 9pm
Session 2
Pre-treatment considerations- Medical and dental history
Diagnosis, case selection and site evaluation
Hard and soft tissue consideration for anterior vs. posterior sites
Review of timelines
Review of clinical cases
Wed April 20th 6 – 9pm
Session 3
Restorative space and emergence profile
Rational for implant type and size selection
Implant placement consideration
Diagnostics records (CBCT and digital impression)
Computer guided treatment planning and consideration
Surgical Guides
Hands-on- 3D planning
Review of clinical cases
Wed May 25th 6 – 9pm
Session 4
Fundamentals of occlusion and biomechanics in implant dentistry
Restorative options and associated vocabulary
– Cement vs. Screw-retained restorations
– Screwmentable and angulated screw channels
Restorative material and indications
– Zirconia, PFZ, eMax
Abutment selection
– Stock Vs. Custom abutment
– Ti-Base and UCLA abutments
Hands-on Prescribing Digital Restorations
Review of clinical cases
Wed June 22nd 6 – 9pm
Session 5
Impression techniques –Open, closed and digital
Custom Impression
Material Selection, Bite Registration and Shade taking
Hands-on- Impression taking
Analog single impression with close tray
Analog custom impression for anterior implant with open tray
Abutment level impression and jig fabrication
Digital impression and scan bodies
Review clinical cases
Wed Sep 21st 6 – 9pm
Session 6
Restoration delivery
Hands-on- Crown delivery and angulated screw channel
– Occlusion & Contacts –What to look for and how to adjust?
– Review of torque wrench and drivers
– Placing abutment/crown
Immediate Vs. Delayed Protocols
Provisionalization / Custom Healing Abutments
Hands-on Immediate temporization and temp crown fabrication
Review clinical cases
Wed Oct 19th 6 – 9pm
Session 7
Atraumatic extraction and ridge preservation
Review of regenerative materials- Bone and membrane
Suturing Techniques
Hands-on- Socket Preservation
Review clinical cases
Wed Nov 23rd 6 – 9pm
Session 8
Implant maintenance checklist
Avoiding or managing complications
Treatment of Peri-implantitis
Hands-on- Perio-Flow
Review clinical cases
Call for nomination
Wed Jan 25th, 2023 6 – 9pm
Session 9
Full mouth rehabilitation options
Fixed Vs Removable restoration on implant
Cost estimates and time lines
Case discussion and cost involved
Nominations and 2023 calendar review
Wed Feb 22nd, 2023 6 – 9pm