Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The first EAO consensus conference 16–19 February 2006, Pfäffikon, Schwyz, Switzerland

2006; Wiley; Volume: 17; Issue: S2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1600-0501.2006.01364.x

1600-0501

Christoph H. F. Hämmerle, Daniël van Steenberghe,

dental development and anomalies

The European Association for Osseointegration (EAO) was founded in 1991 in Munich with the aim of promoting developments in science and clinical practice in the field of osseointegrated implants in general, and for oral rehabilitation in particular. Today, this independent organization of professionals has more than 1000 members. The EAO organizes scientific congresses on an annual basis, which often draw more than 2000 attendants from as many as 30 countries. These congresses provide a platform for presentation of recent research findings, of developments in clinical procedures and allow exchange of knowledge among the participants. The EAO also made Clinical Oral Implants Research its official publication. This journal has become the leading journal in this field and regarding impact factors it has once ranked between the three highest journals in the field of oral research and once the first in biomedical engineering. The EAO has previously defined guidelines for radiographic techniques related to oral implants (Clinical Oral Implants Research 2002, 13: 566–570). In 2004, the board of the EAO decided to organize a consensus conference. Owing to its financial strength, the conference could entirely be financed by the EAO, thus ensuring complete independence from industry. The selection of the themes and the recruitment of the experts were carried out by a scientific committee appointed by the EAO board. The committee was cochaired by Christoph Hämmerle and Daniel van Steenberghe, with Tomas Albrektsson, Daniel Buser, Thomas Flemmig and Marc Quirynen as members. The following topics were selected for the consensus conference: biomechanical aspects of oral implants; soft tissue integration of oral implants; local and systemic conditions potentially compromising osseointegration. The 34 conference participants came from 13 different countries and made up the three groups comprised of regular members, rapporteurs, chairmen and secretaries. In addition, assistants supported the work groups by providing publications and checking references critical for the discussions. The rapporteurs had been invited months in advance to prepare reviews of the literature by collecting all relevant scientific and clinical evidence. They were given the task to rate the level of evidence provided by the papers reviewed, thus identifying their specific importance. Each group discussed and reviewed the reports submitted by the rapporteurs and developed a consensus report. This report was then scrutinized during the general assembly, amended and finally approved by all the participants of the consensus conference. The results of this conference are now available in the form of this special issue of Clinical Oral Implants Research. The two cochairmen wholeheartedly thank the rapporteurs for their preparatory work, which led to a series of high-quality review papers, the chairmen and secretaries for coordinating the working groups and refereeing the papers, the library assistants and the secretaries for their continuous efforts during the four intense working days. Special thanks are also due to Niklaus P. Lang, Editor-in-Chief of this journal, and Blackwell Munksgaard, who provided a special issue for the report of this first EAO consensus conference.