Clinical record-keeping for monitoring treatment outcomes in implant dentistry: a case study

Sound clinical practice in implant dentistry depends upon defining the methodology that can successfully be used. This can be achieved by identifying literature relating to a specific technique prior to its use. However, clinical observations of outcomes within one's own practice are also very effective. This is particularly true as it becomes specific, by eliminating numerous confounding factors. Appropriate documentation, both clinical and radiographic, permits the practitioner to review clinical cases and establish the efficacy of the methodology used. This is most effective in terms of evaluating survival as well as determining aesthetic and functional outcomes. Software programs such as ImpDAT (Kea Software, Poecking, Germany) provide a platform that easily allows both accurate record-keeping and, importantly, retrieval of data for purposes of review and publication. This paper presents a case report that uses radiographic and photographic records to monitor the ongoing response of the patient to the specific treatment that was carried out; in this case, autogenous onlay bone grafts for the management of congenital partial anodontia.