Practical Implant Education.
Learn through experience. Learn from the ground up. Learn what you need to learn. Learn from the very best.
What is your practice philosophy? Does it guide how you run your business and work with patients?
Our vision is simple: We provide support and guidance to make you the best implant dentist you can be.
We implement our vision by providing a scientifically-based program that balances didactic knowledge-building with skill-building exercises, in an atmosphere that promotes critical thinking through rigorous discussion and fundamental analysis in your decision-making process.
Implant dentistry, in particular, is driven by corporate interest. A specialty not covered in dental school, learning in this field is primarily covered by Continuing Education courses. Implants were first developed by industry, and numerous corporations now run courses to teach dentists how to place dental implants.
As soon as companies carry a monopoly on your education, you need to ask yourself – does this still serve my practice and my patients?
We understand that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ in implant dentistry. With us, you learn the science, the fundamentals, and the designs of implants, both pros and cons. You are not learning an implant system. You are learning to think critically and make informed decisions.
A scientifically-based curriculum is at the core of our teaching.
To help make you the best implant dentist you can be, we employ the educational approach of scaffolding:
At the heart of your long-term success in oral implantology is the ability to think critically. Without it, independent practice will be fraught with difficulties as you struggle to understand what goes wrong.
With us, you have a scientifically-based didactic curriculum to build understanding and knowledge. You have hands-on application to build competency. You have real-world demonstrations and in-depth discussion to build critical thinking skills… because after all, there are many different treatment approaches that can succeed, and making informed decisions on treatment will inform your outcomes.
The Vancouver MaxiCourse maximizes hands-on training and pairs it with internationally acclaimed expert knowledge. There is no better way to learn surgery than to have one-on-one surgical mentorship, and we provide opportunities for you to lead surgery, assist your colleagues, observe a plethora of procedures, and observe our faculty live demonstrations. You won’t find another program like it in the Pacific Northwest.
The Vancouver MaxiCourse is a structured dental implant training program, 30 days of education over ten months (with 10 days of hands-on clinical experience). Commencing each November, it consists of a systematic buildup of didactic material, laboratory exercises, surgical demonstrations, clinical participation, and surgeries on your own patients. Module four of the program will offer an opportunity to review surgical anatomy as well as the placement of implants and performance of various surgical procedures on cadavers.
While the curriculum starts with the foundation and adds building blocks throughout the year, your surgical training is 100% personalized. Need support in socket preservation grafting and posterior implant placement? We can guide you. Want to do more advanced bone grafting, like tunnel grafting and ridge expansion? We’re here to help. Is it time for you to expand your sinus lifting and augmentation skills? We’re excited for you! We want you to stretch your clinical skills to the next level.
Our program team consists of six American Board-Certified Oral Implantologists, lead by Program Director Dr. William Liang. In addition to our faculty members who work with participants throughout the year, we have a number of world-renowned speakers and clinicians who specialize on particular topics and bring higher value to our program participants. Your implant education will be as diverse as it is immersive.
The pursuit of credentials through the AAID is a personal choice to every dentist, not mandated by the MaxiCourse
History of implantology
Identifying edentulous sites
Divisions of available bone
Medical evaluation
Pharmacology for the Implant Dentist
CBCT & Dental Imaging
Case work-up
Wound healing & suturing techniques
Bone pathology
Treatment Planning General Principles
Overview of Bone Grafting
Socket Preservation Grafts
Bone physiology and biomechanics
Nuts & bolts of the root form implant
ABC’s of Dental Implants
Why Surgical Guides
Bone Grafting – tunnel grafting, ridge expansion
Treatment Planning General Principles
Post-Op Surgical Management
Pharmacology for the Implant Dentist
Surgical Anatomy of the Maxilla & Mandible
Bone Structure and Physiology Relevant to Bone Grafting
Evidence based bioengineering of atrophied jaws
Block Grafting – General Principles & Implementation
Block Grafting Workshop
Surgical Anatomy for the Oral Implantologist
Spread of Infection
Emergency treatment/hemorrhage and airway management
Hands-on exercises on cadavers
Surgical Anatomy of the floor of the mouth & possible complications upon reflections of mucoperiosteal flaps
Hands-on exercises on cadavers
Implant and bone grafting procedures on cadavers
Posterior Maxilla – Development, Anatomy & Pathology
Sinus Augmentation
PRP/PRF
Vascularized Buccal Inversion Flap
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
Treatment of the Edentulous Mouth
Treatment Options for the Edentulous Maxilla
Treating the Premaxilla
Treating the Edentulous Pre-Maxilla [case presentation]
Immediate implant placement algorithms
Second Stage Surgery & Implant Provisionalization
Post-Op Surgical Management
Implant success & failures
Treatment of the Edentulous Mandible
Progressive Bone Loading
Occlusion
Implant Occlusion
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
How to Manage a Full arch Restoration
Implant Prosthetics sequencing and workflow
Implementing Implant Dentistry into Your Practice
Gingival recession & differing protocols
Methods to document recession and tissue volume stability
Selection of autogenous vs. allograft materials
Soft Tissue Surgical Techniques
Peri-Implant Mucositis
Peri-Implantitis
Peri-implantitis
Evaluation
Ongoing maintenance
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
Live demonstration surgeries
Live surgery led by participants
Laser Dentistry
Final Topics
End-of-year celebration
Ten 3-day sessions spread over ten months provide participants ample opportunity to learn and apply new techniques. Implant dentistry is not learned in a weekend or a week. It is an evolution of your skills that you hone during a serious course of study.
Didactic modules featuring the world’s premier implant educators are designed to teach as well as reinforce the concepts presented in live surgeries. Through case presentations in a group participation atmosphere, we teach surgical implant placement and associated bone and tissue grafting techniques with the goal of redefining effective treatment planning.
Participants develop actual cases from their own practices, beginning with diagnosis and treatment planning, proceeding through surgical guide fabrication and cone beam CT scan analysis, and culminating in implant placement, grafting procedures… the actual surgery is informed by the needs of the patient and the clinician’s professional learning goals.
The most powerful component of our program is live patient surgery. Your exposure to the possibilities within implant dentistry will expand as we progress through our curriculum, with participant surgeries and faculty-led demonstrations surgeries, from guided and non-guided implant placement to particulate, block, and tunnel grafting, to sinus augmentation, to soft tissue grafting, and beyond.
Mentored surgeries close the loop and develop your skills on real patients.
“If you’re going to do implant dentistry, why not learn as comprehensively as possible?”
“Great experience. It changed the course of my professional career.”
“Comprehensive lectures with the ability to perform a wide range of procedures.”
“It was a good course with a steady schedule that helps to build momentum in an implant practitioner.”
“Understanding the limitations and to work within my knowledge base. It comes down to knowing what you know and knowing what you Don’t know.”
“A support network of mentors and colleagues and a body of knowledge that allows me to view implant dentistry in a whole new light.”
“I’ve been exposed to different treatment options that I never knew existed prior to attending the course. I now have the confidence to do cases in my office and to know which cases to select as well as be aware of the complications that might occur and how to handle them.”
“Knowledgeable mentors—experienced, patient, passionate, and great teachers. Great learning through case presentations before surgery as well as critiques done following surgeries.”
“Excellent world-class speakers and mentors without having to leave Vancouver.”
