Course Details

Dental health and esthetics are dependent on specifically defined relationships between the soft tissue, the teeth or implants, and the underlying osseous scaffold. A critical soft tissue dimension is required for long-term predictable support of the gingival margin, crestal bone and restorative esthetics.

Part and parcel of a thorough dental evaluation today is to determine the gingival phenotype of the individual. Thickness of the gingiva, zone of attached tissue and tissue color all play important roles in developing the long-term health and esthetics in dental treatment of any kind. In addition, the exact determination of the location of the underlying bone acts as a prognostic indicator of future soft tissue levels.

This course will highlight the 3 most utilized soft tissue procedures in clinical practice, the free gingival graft FGG, ridge augmentation for pontic sites and minimally invasive root coverage procedures for CTG “tunnel/VISTA approaches”.

It will teach IN DETAIL and simplify the process of site evaluation, critical anatomy, flap management and minimally invasive armamentarium.

Soft tissue grafting techniques, new regenerative materials and bioactivators will be highlighted. The expanding role of allograft materials (Alloderm, Dermis, Oraderm) and when to utilize them will be suggested. The ability of these combined protocols to alter the soft tissue profile around natural teeth, implants, edentulous ridges, as well as to support facial soft tissue structures will be reviewed as to its critical role in “Complete Esthetics”.

The hands-on portion of the course will be performed on fresh frozen pig specimens and will highlight in detail and simplify the process of autologous harvest techniques, critical anatomy, flap design, microsurgical armamentarium and critical suturing materials/methods.

All necessary materials will be made available to each attendee; including gowns, masks, gloves, headlamps, microsurgical instruments, graft and suture materials.

Learning Objectives:

1. To learn basic surgical anatomy and incision techniques in soft tissue surgery

2. To apply three commonly used soft tissue grafting techniques in clinical practice

3. To learn modified suturing methods to secure flaps and grafts

Hands-on Techniques to be covered in detail:

Ridge Augmentation for pontic and implant sites

Roll techniques

Inlay pouch technique

Onlay technique

Root coverage procedures

Connective tissue grafts – CTG

Free Gingival tissue grafts – FGG

Semi-lunar grafts

Tunnel techniques

VISTA