Mini-Implants and Their Clinical Applications: The Aarhus Experience

BIRTE MELSEN, DDS, DO
CARLALBERTA VERNA, DDS, PHD
CESARE LUZI, DDS, MSC

Available in English and Italian.
104 pages, 448 color illustrations. 70 euros. 2014.
Edizioni Martina, Via A.P. Orlandi, 24, 40139 Bologna, Italy.
Fax: 39-051-545-514; www.edizionimartina.com.

The "Aarhus Experience" mentioned in the title of this new paperback volume indicates what readers can expect to encounter: not a classic orthodontic textbook, but a compendium of the decades-long scientific and clinical experience of Prof. Birte Melsen and her colleagues. As Dr. Melsen described her orthodontic philosophy in a recent JCO Master Clinician interview with Dr. Peter Sinclair (JCO, October 2013): "Not to follow a special technique, but to try and renew myself at all times, to take advantage of new knowledge in both materials and biology, to go beyond the boundaries and not accept that something cannot be done. Earlier, we could not move all teeth in the same direction; now this is possible with skeletal anchorage." Those words aptly summarize what can be found in this outstanding, informative book.

Topics such as indications and contraindications, patient profiles, clinical management, and risks and complications are succinctly covered in the opening pages. The mini-implant system developed at the University of Aarhus is also briefly introduced. The authors cover treatment modalities with severe anchorage requirements, as are encountered by all orthodontists, and review the combination of mini-implants with such traditional methods as the Herbst appliance, intrusion base arches, and utility arches.

All treatment procedures are lucidly and succinctly described, as well as richly illustrated, in the clinical cases. Indeed, the high-quality color photographs are perfectly selected for their instructional value. Special attention is given to treatment involving a compromised periodontium and, in some cases, missing teeth. The authors present an innovative treatment approach for space closure in patients with congenitally missing mandibular second premolars, involving sequential hemisections of the deciduous second molars. Most of the mini-implants shown in the clinical cases were inserted in buccal interradicular sites; the anterior palate is not discussed as a potential location. At the end of the book, a special section is devoted to the application of mini-implants as bone maintainers.

As Dr. Melsen also stated in the aforementioned JCO interview, "Orthodontics is a mixture of art and science." Readers will certainly gain even more appreciation and admiration for her contributions to both aspects of the specialty after reading this highly commendable book.

JAN HOURFAR, DMD, MSD
BJÖRN LUDWIG, DMD, MSD