I have been criticized in my teaching procedures for assuming that my readers have a background knowledge of or are involved in concepts with which I have been dealing for over 20 years. In short, I forget to start at the beginning: to explain why this is possible or advisable, how to take advantage of certain situations, and so on. I proceed without the preliminaries that explain, and to a great extent justify, my procedures. Therefore in this book I have simplified my technical explanations to the point where some of you might find them almost con-descending. If so, I apologize. Nevertheless I am pleased. It implies that implant techniques are becoming more familiar to my peers, who will be in a better position to differentiate between and evaluate current techniques.

To those of you who find my implant concepts fresh material, I welcome you to the excitement and promise in dental implants. Hope-fully this text will establish a respect for one of the most demanding, but rewarding, disciplines in current dentistry, and serve as a guide for the productive application of its principles.

Special acknowledgement goes to Ms. Maureen Jones, Dr. Kenneth W. M. Judy, Dr. Charles M. Weiss, and Mrs. Jean Linkow for their effort, advice, and support in bringing this book to fruition. I also want to thank my dear friend, Jack Wimmer, C.D.T., who has done many of my implant castings over the years, for his sincere efforts in helping and guiding me through difficult days.

Leonard I. Linkow

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