The Groucho Club was established in 1985 as an alternative to the traditional gentleman’s club- a place where people in journalism, publishing, film and media could meet for business and pleasure.

A select group of some twenty-five dentists were invited by Seema Sharma of Straumann UK to this salubrious setting of The Genarro Room, one of the rooms within the club, to listen to Phil Freiberger about the latest developments in dental implants. I became the envy of my friends and family on being the privileged recipient of this invitation. In common with some of the other invited guests, I had been economical with the truth to my other half. I had mumbled that I was going to a course, but had omitted to mention the social intercourse and the various mouth-watering culinary courses and wines that the club is reputed for! For our profession, this sort of activity of educating your taste buds can be disguised as revising or reviving your oral anatomy- how appropriate for an implants course!

The first and foremost course Prof M Tonneti, Manny Vasant, Seema Sharma, Phil Freiberger, Ian Braby

Following the culinary courses, Phil Freiberger, a third generation dental practitioner in the vicinity of the club in Soho, and a member of this club introduced us to the various dignitaries round the table. He then showed us some of the cases that he had treated using the latest advances in the ITI system and video clips made by Prof Danny Buser from the home of ITI Straumann and University of Berne. With virtually any implant system you use, osseointergration, is no longer an issue. This has long been tackled. The real art now is to get the fine details and aesthetics right- in particular the interdental papillae to avoid the black triangles and the emergence profile to match a natural tooth. The International Team for Oral Implantolgy (ITI), the innovative team that effectively dictates the shape and form of implants to Straumann, have contributed tremendously to this art and science in the more recent past. To this end, there is continuing research and development to enhance current implant systems and surgical techniques to improve outcomes and to reduce morbidity. Innovative implant designs are being tested at this time by the team. Recent additions to the system already in place include Inceram copings to improve the aesthetics of the supra structure. This will provide the ultimate in aesthetics.

Many bone augmentation techniques have been introduced to reduce the morbidity in our patients which use nasal spine, maxillary tuberosity, chin and other intra-oral sites as donor areas. To complement these, there is a range of plastic surgery procedures to get the gingival contours absolutely ideal. New instruments have been introduced, such as the dedicated osteotomes standardised to fit the implant sizes in order to enable one to carry out sinus lifts from within the osteotomy sites. These new gadgets bring this sort of procedure within the reach of an average implantologist and in many cases obviates the need for a more invasive technique.

The rapport that would naturally develop between the trade and the profession in such convivial setting and relaxed atmosphere sets a new trend in dentistry and shapes the future to come. We must thank the organisers for this event. I have only one regret. Looking at the progress that our profession has made over the years and the recognition that we are receiving from members outside our profession – I wish, I was just coming into the profession! The future is bright- thanks to titanium.