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SCIENCE / CLINICAL RESEARCH 4 Very few implant systems have been systematically and thoroughly documented in the literature. The CONE- LOG ® Implant System belongs to this exclusive club because encouraging independent research is fundamen- tal to the CAMLOG strategy (Fig. 1). SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTATION OF THE CONELOG ® IMPLANT SYSTEM – FACTS AND FIGURES AT A GLANCE With product innovations, three points of view must be considered: those of the manufacturer, the dentists and surgeons, and the patients. The creation process includes many factors such as technical product development, clinical research, mar- keting authorization, product registration, and market launch. In today’s progressive developments in dental implants, there is almost no room for serendipity. Each step is regulated and controlled; following the norm has become everyday practice. Dis- covery by accident was reported the last time for Platform Switching by Lazzara & Porter (2006) [7]. According to the majority of professionals using dental implants, the scientific docu- mentation of a product plays an important role when selecting a specific system. However, it is almost impossible for a user to read all the peer-reviewed publications in the 84 journals listed as having impact factor (ISI 2013) [6]. Russo et al. (2000) [11] wrote fifteen years ago that in order to remain up-to-date in the field of oral implantology, it would be necessary to read at least two papers each week every single week of the year and apply their recom- mendations. On the other hand, patients also collect information about the benefits and risks of a surgical procedure – from the internet, social media, and blogs. They are convinced that they are well informed. They could make their decision on the basis of emo- tions instead of facts. The following summary provides insights into the scientific documentation of the CONELOG ® Implant System based on facts and figures. We recommend that interested readers investigate the CAMLOG literature overview which has a number of scientific references (Fig. 2) [2]. Precision of the conical connection CONELOG ® implants offer an implant- abutment connection with self-locking cone geometry. Several mechanical tests have demonstrated the precision of the connection (Semper et al., 2010; Semper- Hogg et al., 2013) [12,13]. Microgaps and its consequence, i.e. micro- leakage or bacterial penetration in a conical connection are impossible to eliminate (Harder et al., 2010, 2012) [4,5]. The lack of a microgap could result in cold welding of the connection and would make later replacement of the abutment as good as impossible. Therefore, small tolerances are required to minimize but not eliminate this gap. The rotational freedom and ability to vertically reposition the abut- ment play a major role in the precision of the prosthetic restoration (Tab. 1) . An in-vitro study (Nelson et al., 2013) [8] with hand-tightening of the abutment showed excellent results for the CONELOG ® Implant System compared to 5 other sy- stems with conical connections. Excellent results for the bone level changes with Platform Switching There are several ongoing clinical studies which aim primarily to evaluate crestal bone preservation at the implant neck or to evaluate the outcomes of different implant lengths. Preliminary results have demonstrated good preservation of the crestal bone post loading (mean value +0.12 mm). Rocha et al. (2013) [9] pre- sented the results for CONELOG ® Implants after one year at the EAO in Dublin. These 1999 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 Promote ® surface 1999 start scienti c documentation. To date >11’000 implants with more than 5 years of observation [2] Promote ® plus surface First publication (Becker et al. 2006) [1] Study Platform switch/ platform match (Guerra et al. 2014) [3] Posters EAO & ICC 2012 – 2014 (Rocha et al. 2012 & 2014) [10] CAMLOG ® Stability of connection (Semper et al. 2010) [12] CONELOG ® Connection tightness (Harder et al. 2012) [5] Start rst study CONELOG ® Stability of connection (Semper-Hogg et al. 2013) [13] CONELOG ® Poster EAO 2014 2-year data (Wagner et al. 2014) [15] Publication 1-year data (submitted) [14] Fig 1: The development of the CONELOG ® Implant System is based on a solid foundation of scientific research Françoise Peters BSc MPH, CAMLOG Biotechnologies AG