In 2021, the Forum Implantologicum can look back on a history of already more than 15 years. In this time span, the journal has grown in reputation and made an impact in the ITI community. So far, it has been led by three Editors-in-Chief.
The Forum Implantologicum was launched in 2005 to support the broad and active exchange of knowledge and information within the growing ITI community with the aim to combine clinically oriented content based on scientific research as well as news and information from the ITI and its national Sections. From the start, the Forum Implantologicum offered illustrated feature articles written by well-known authors in the field to provide pertinent scientific information on topics of clinical relevance to daily practice.
The first Editorial Board was made up of Erik Hjørting-Hansen (Editor-in-Chief), Niklaus Lang and Jim Ruskin. The Forum Implantologicum was definitely Erik’s “baby” and a project very close to his heart, so it is with sadness that we report his passing in late 2020 – you will find a short “In memoriam” in this issue. In 2009, Nadine Brodala and Michael Bornstein joined the Editorial Board to complement the existing Editors. Since 2010, alongside the English version, the Forum also started to appear in various different languages: Brazilian-Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and, as of 2012, also in Turkish. In 2013, Urs Belser succeeded Erik Hjørting-Hansen as the Editor-in-Chief, and German Gallucci and Ali Tahmaseb replaced Niklaus Lang and Jim Ruskin. In 2017, a formal peer review process was introduced, consisting of an “internal” review by two members of the Editorial Board, followed by a blinded “external” review by two ITI Fellows. In the same year, the Board of Directors nominated Daniel Buser as the new Editor-in-Chief to succeed Urs Belser. German Gallucci also stepped down and was replaced by Vedrana Braut.
We all know that 2020 was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many things that we all took for granted were disrupted. Normal life as we used to know it has still not returned, but at last the vaccines that are being rolled out globally offer a beacon of light. On the positive side for the Forum and the ITI, the digital transformation has been accelerated by the pandemic – leaving visible traces within our community. That the ITI World Symposium will not be held in Singapore but rather streamed online in September 2021 is one clear sign of this change and disruption. And change also lies ahead for the Forum – we will soon switch to a fully digital journal format. This will be a very exciting phase in the Forum's history that will offer many challenges, but also more opportunities. Overall, the journal will be able to reach an even greater community of colleagues around the world, and thus, we will be able to spread the ITI philosophy even more broadly.
Finally, one last change faces the Forum in terms of the Editorial Board: After four years of service, Daniel Buser will step down as Editor-in-Chief after this issue, and hand over his responsibilities to Michael Bornstein, who has been elected by the Board of Directors. Alvin Yeo was nominated to fill the open position as a new Editor. The Editorial Board thanks Daniel wholeheartedly for his energy, enthusiasm, vision, and leadership during his tenure, and we promise to work hard to make the past Editors proud of this journal!
This current issue, which will be the second to last to be published in the traditional format, centers around the topic “Selection of Implants in Daily Practice”. This topic is covered in four articles by different author teams, each dealing with a particular aspect of implant selection. Dieter Bosshardt and Benjamin Pippenger present an overview of how and why implant surfaces have evolved to where they are today. Bilal Al-Nawas and Eik Schiegnitz look at the definition, indications and limitations of narrow diameter implants and Ronald Jung et al. discuss current evidence and recommendations for short and ultra-short implants. Finally, a paper by Jeffrey Ganeles at al. reviews implant macro-design features and suggests clinical guidelines for choosing appropriate implants. To offer a little contrast, we asked Giovanni Salvi et al. to provide a summary of the non-surgical treatment modalities for peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis. And don’t miss the “Ask the experts” feature, where four specialists talk about explantation in connection with peri-implantitis.
We wish you happy and informative reading!