This is a very interesting question, and my clear answer is YES.

It is absolutely unrealistic to believe that, in the future, human beings will no longer lose any teeth in their life due to caries, endodontic failures, periodontitis or trauma. If this tooth loss happens, clinical experience has demonstrated that implant therapy is often the best treatment option as long as it is carried out with skill and according to well established guidelines. I am fully convinced that the demand for implant therapy will continue to increase. In industrialized countries, the demographic change with an increasing number of baby boomer patients reaching retirement age will require a lot of tooth-replacement treatments to maintain the chewing comfort of patients. On the other hand, in emerging countries, implant therapy will become more relevant, since the portion of the population who can afford this treatment will increase as well.

"The challenge we are facing is the quality of treatment provided by peers and colleagues"

The challenge we are facing is the quality of treatment provided by peers and colleagues, since we are seeing by far too many complications, either peri-implantitis or mal-positioned implants. We must acknowledge the fact that most complications are caused by treatment errors. In consequence, we must find strategies to improve the education of dentists in implant therapy, in particular for the surgical part. And we must stop believing that every dentist should place implants. If 20% of dentists are placing implants and they are all well-educated, then the quality of treatment will increase. The ITI can play an important role here as the educational leader in implant dentistry.