PROLOGUE

The author is particularly well qualified for the preparation of this book. He has spent the greater part of his research and clinical practice in the field of implantology. He has lectured widely, written extensively, and taught numerous graduate classes. This book bears the imprint of the vigor and excitement of the author for his field of endeavor.

This book represents an important contribution to the literature in a discipline that, up to now, has been vague and confusing, while at the same time controversial. Implantology still remains for most of us at the border of the "twilight zone."

Those among us who have implanted natural teeth realized that in a relatively short time the root was resorbed. From these observations came the concept of using some foreign substance. Today the purity of the material used in implants is not as important as its toleration by the tissues.

At the present time we are transplanting entire human organs, among which are hearts, kidneys, and even lungs. What is feared and far from being entirely understood is the rejection by the body of these so-called foreign substances. In dental implants we are faced in a similar manner with the process of rejection. It is the hope of the author that successful answers will be found so that implantology will be on a firmer foundation.

When any technique, dental or otherwise, reaches the magnitude of being used by a growing number of practitioners who are experienced in their fields, serious consideration must be given the technical point of view, even though some practitioners may feel it is ahead of its time. This resolute treatise by an innovator, using accepted scientific principles

and documentary evidence of trial and error   suc-

cess and failure   decrees that one must respect the
innovator and the experimentation. The results of the work of Leonard I. Linkow comes under such an aegis, and his book Theories and Techniques of Oral Implantology is evidence of such forward-looking activity.

All forms of experimentations in any field have always been attempted with confidence; an assurance of success is an integral part of the desires of the experimenter.

This book comes to us with the confidence and enthusiasm of the author and his feeling that the techniques described herein, with careful consideration and under the proper circumstances, can be successfully implemented.

At no time has he insisted that his ideas are the only ones to be considered, that his recommendations are the panacea of widespread problems, or that past good practices should be sidetracked; rather, he has taken the direct opposite stand and submits the results of his labors so that the worth of his points of practice may be analyzed within the framework of the reader's practice background and in the light of his own needs.

Commendation for such pioneering must be high, for without the "inner gleam" reaching for improvement, little real progress can ever be made. This author has that inner gleam, and his devotion to it has produced this profound and dedicated study. In the field where the future has no limiting boundaries, growth must be shown, for nothing is really impossible.

The author wishes to look forward without for-

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