IM0410

I 03 editorial _ implants I implants4_2010 Dr Friedhelm Heinemann Dear colleagues, I think I can honestly say that we made history early in October at DGZI’s 40th International Annual Congress in Berlin. Like no other implantological association, DGZI represents the ex- traordinarily successful development of implantology from an “unorthodox” treatment, faced withmanyopponentsandsupportedbyonlyafewenthusiasts,toamodern,renownedandsci- entifically-documented dental discipline. In his speech, the President of the German Dental Medical Association, colleague Peter En- gel,notedinparticulartheachievementsofdentalpractitioners,whileDGI’sPresident,colleague Hendrik Terheyden, commented that he does not see any contradiction between scientific re- search and dental practice, and on the contrary, a close relationship between the two has led to a very productive cooperation. The expert associations keep in frequent and cooperative contact with each other, particu- larly through the Consensus Conference, whose current President is Mr. Roland Hille, which works hard to support the interests of dentists working in the field of implantolgy and implan- tology as a whole. DGZIisawareofitsresponsibilityforthefurtherdevelopmentofthisspecialfieldandintends to face the coming years with momentum and a healthy self-confidence. We will draw on tried and tested methods to reach our potential and are especially dedicated to enhancing the work of junior staff as well as students. Apart from providing opportunities for expert colleagues to exchange thoughts and for universities to cooperate freely, DGZI’s approved training curricula, regionalstudygroups,congressesandmanyothertrainingprogramsareanimportantbasisfor the future activities of our specialist implantology association. Yours, Dr Friedhelm Heinemann Making history