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Implantologists from all over the world gathered in Berlin for the ICOI World Congress from 15 to 17 October. This year, the European Association of Dental Implantologists (BDIZ EDI) has for the first time collaborated with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists (ICOI) for the event. Therefore, Dental Tribune Online spoke with the association’s president, Christian Berger, about his expectations for the congress and the current state of implant dentistry in Europe.
Dental Tribune Online: For this year’s ICOI World Congress, the ICOI has partnered with your association, as well as the German Association of Oral Implantology, for the first time. How did that come about and what do you expect from this collaboration?
Christian Berger: Already in 2011, the BDIZ EDI and the German Association of Oral Implantology (DGOI) jointly organised a successful congress in Munich. As we wanted to repeat this congress in 2015 and the ICOI was also planning to hold its World Congress in Germany, it was only logical to host this event together with the ICOI.
In addition, about one million implants are placed in Germany each year in a population of 80 million, whereas, as far as I know, in the US, which has a population of 240 million, only 300,000 implants are placed annually. This means that per 1,000 patients the implant rate is about ten times higher in Germany compared with the US. Mutual exchange is important in both Europe and Northern America in order to learn from each other.
In 2014, the BDIZ EDI celebrated its 25th anniversary and can thus look back on a remarkable history. In your opinion, what have the most important developments in implantology been during the last three decades?
The BDIZ EDI was founded after implantology had been scientifically recognised in Germany and the then-German scale of fees for dentists (Gebührenordnung für Zahnärzte) was first included in the fee catalogue in 1988. Since then, the association has dealt with professional issues, as well as legal and fee-related matters, and assisted in hygiene and practice management.
Globalisation does not stop for implantology. For a long time, many regulations have been developed in the EU and passed on to the member states. As a consequence, the BDIZ EDI is geared towards Europe, and the decades-long collaboration has inspired and supported our work and the work of our partner organisations in Europe. This international exchange also boosted the development of new implant surfaces, prostheses and the ongoing improvements of implant forms.
The BDIZ EDI has been involved in health policy discussions in Europe since its foundation in 1989. What are the current topics that could be interesting and relevant for an international congress such as the ICOI World Congress?
At the moment, experts are debating heavily about an anti-corruption law in health care, similar to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in Northern America, which is also concerned with the prevention of bribery and corruption. The BDIZ EDI has, by the way, finalised and presented an alternative bill to the German policymakers.
In our globalised world, such topics are always international topics and the cooperative exchange at international congresses always goes far beyond the actual exchange of scientific studies and results.
From http://www.dental-tribune.com
