In August 2023 we ran the first ZAGA Live Training in São Paulo: five days with Dr. André Sakima and Dr. Jan Peter Ilg, both ZAGA-certified surgeons, and a group of participants who had come to operate rather than to watch.
The promise of the programme was concrete:
Dates and fees for the next live surgery training in zygomatic implants are on the course page.
Dr. Ilg and Dr. Sakima opened with introductions, and then Dr. Carlos Aparicio, president of ZAGA Centers, joined by video call from Barcelona to welcome the group. After that came the surgical technique for zygomatic rehabilitations, step by step, and a hands-on session on 3D models of the actual patients scheduled for the week. The day ended with a cocktail.
The next three days were surgery. Two operating rooms ran in parallel, so there was always a case to scrub into or to watch, and the participants took turns operating under the mentors’ supervision.
Friday was for the debrief: oral rehabilitation after zygomatic implants, the complications to expect and how to handle them, and a critical review of each case from the week. Diplomas were handed out at a closing cocktail.
“I was extremely happy! I placed 16 zygomatic implants in three days; I did three quads and two hybrids. The facilities at the Blanc Hospital are number one, and Dr. Sakima, Dr. Ilg, and Dr. Lino were amazing! I couldn’t ask for better tuition. I would highly recommend this training to anyone.” – Joe Xanthopoulos, Kew Dentistry – Australia.
A word on the patients. They are not practice material. Each one receives a provisional prosthesis and, six months later, the final one, and stays under follow-up by ZAGA Center São Paulo. That is the condition under which we run live-patient training at all.
The training is accredited by the Conselho Federal de Odontologia, FAIPE University and ZAGA Centers.
This first edition set the format the later ones have followed: a planning day, surgery days with two rooms running, a debrief, and patients who are looked after once the course is over.
Eleven modules with quizzes, available the moment you enrol. Study at your own pace; complete all the quizzes and you receive a 15 CE certificate for 15 hours of learning.
Three to four days in Barcelona or New York with Dr. Carlos Aparicio: lectures on the ZAGA Concept, practice on 3D patient models, then surgery on cryopreserved heads.
Operate on real patients at ZAGA Center São Paulo with Dr. André Sakima and Dr. Jan Peter Ilg at the table. The closest thing to your first zygomatic case, with a mentor.
