Local dental specialist, Dr. Andrew MacConnell, is working with Jacksonville University (Florida), and the Comprehensive Oral Impantology Residency Foundation (COIRF). They are establishing a 36 month greaduate residency program for oral implantology. MacConell says the program is now fully funded for the first four years. It is set to begin July 15, 2021.
Implant Specialists
The graduate program will work through Jacksonville University with clinical sites established at 45 dental practices across the United States and Canada. The first class of residents are scheduled to begin January 15, 2022 with 15 affilliate clinical treatment centers. The second 15 treatment centers will begin with the 2nd class, and the last 15 will go online with the 3rd class.
Each of the 45 affilliated treatment centers will be operated by an ABOID Diplomate (American Board of Oral implantology/Implant Dentistry). The program's initial $750,000 foundation is a good start. MacConnell says the program will probably lead to implantology becoming a recognized specialty of the ADA (American Dental Association).
Dr. MacConnell says oral and maxillofacial surgeons aren't really trained to do implantation. Implant specialists are trained to rebuild bone and reconstruct teeth with new implant techniques. The ABOID is a branch of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID).
ABOID
The American Board of Oral Implantology / Implant Dentistry is an independent organization that was chartered in 1969 by the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID). The Board's mission is to certify individuals at the highest standards of competency in diagnosis, surgery, and prosthetic treatment in the specialty of Implant Dentistry and ensure their current knowledge and skills for the safety of the public.
The ABOI/ID is recognized by the American Board of Dental Specialties (ABDS) as a certifying Board in Oral Implantology/ Implant Dentistry.
Diplomates of the ABOI/ID represent a diverse cross-section of clinicians: private practice and academic, surgical, and restorative. Specialties represented among ABOI Diplomates include general practice, oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontology, and prosthodontics.
New technology
Dr. MacConnell says the technology with 3-D X-ray and navigation cameras allow them to be more precise than ever before. The 3-D navigation is akin to a medical-grade AutoCAD.
Newer techniques have implants even placed within a patient's zygomatic arch while avoiding the top of the patient's orbit. The new technology allows for 3D modeling of the patients skull and teeth. The models allow implant specialists to determine where bones are thick enough to support implants and which require building up prior to placing implants.
Labs
Dr. MacConnel says the downside to the technological progress is the education and training required to operate modern labs. Modern in-house laboratories allow implantologists to do everything in-house. The cost for a modern lab will run $150-200 thousand. Thankfully, most of the vendors who install the equipment can provide the necessary training for lab technicians.
The benefit of modern techniques allow implantologists to recover the bone removed to prepare implants. They use the bone fragments with additives rebuild the patient's bone structure as needed. The body uses the patient's own bown fragments in growing new bone. This reduces rejection of materials by the body.
About Dr. MacConnell
Dr. Andrew Monteith MacConnell, DDS, MIIF, DABOI/ID is the first dentist in East Tennessee (and the Tri-Cities area) to be board certified in dental implants. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantolgy/Implant Dentistry.
He is a graduate of the Ocean City High School in Ocean City, New Jersey. He attended college at Lebanon Valley College of Annville, Pennsylvania, Rutgers University in new Brunswick, New Jersy and Clemson University in South Carolina. He was in the early acceptance program at Emory University Dental School where he finished at the top of his class, earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) in 1984. studied at the University of Alabama School of Dentistry's Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Deptartment and completed his residency in IV Moderate Sedation.
MacConnel has been a general dentist for 35 years, starting his practice in June 1984 at West Point, Georgia, before moving to Atlanta, and then moving into Tennessee. He studied implants with the Midwest Dental Implant Institute in Columbus, Ohia and completed their dental implant externship program in 2014. He earned a fellowship shortly afterward (MIIF).
MacConnel frequently travels to both teach and learn, brining the most advanced dental knowledge and technology to his practice and patients in the Tri-Cities. His practice in Bluf City has begun drawing patients from all over the world.
First Responders
Dr. MacConnell supports the region's first responders. He solicits their opinions and advice at times. During EMS Week, we find this sign outside of his Bluff City practice on Highway 11E in the log-cabin office building.
You'll find his First Responder discount on the sign year round.