Ethical dilemmas of dental implantology: Ready for aftercare?

Dental implantology is one of the most attractive and dynamic fields of work within clinical dentistry. It provides many patients with new and improved opportunities for stable (implant-supported) rehabilitation and also offers dentists a field that is interesting in both technical and economic terms. Adverse clinical outcomes are, however, often the subject of discussion. These relate both to prosthetic failure and to biologic complications and side effects, namely persistent infections surrounding implants. A further point of discussion relates to the question as to how far the triumphant march of implantology is accompanied by a reduction in the willingness to retain teeth. It thus appears all the more important to ask some questions regarding the normative overall conditions of responsible implantologic care on the basis of the present state of research and currently available studies. In line with this, this paper deals with both existing preconceptions and ethically relevant parameters of responsible implantology. These function simultaneously as concrete clinical-ethical guidelines for dentists practicing implantology. Keywords: dental functional capacity, ethics, implants, patient perspective, professional etiquette