Prof. Cemal Ucer, ZAGA Center Manchester, UK
Key takeaways
- Zygomatic implants offer a graftless alternative to bone grafting for severe maxillary atrophy, avoiding a second surgery and the roughly six months needed for a graft to consolidate.
- With the 'teeth in a day' technique, a prosthesis can be connected to zygomatic implants immediately at the time of implant placement.
- The evidence-based, anatomically guided ZAGA technique, developed through Carlos Aparicio's clinical experience and research, produces predictable outcomes that compare favorably with conventional implant treatment.
- Prof. Ucer's department has demonstrated that computer-guided surgery achieves significantly better surgical accuracy and precision than freehand drilling, work now being applied to zygomatic implants.
- 3D-printed replicas of the patient's jaw allow surgeons to rehearse zygomatic surgery on a plastic model before operating for real; such models can be ordered from the ZAGA Centers website.
- A prior scientific publication concluded that zygomatic implants lead to fewer complications than bone grafting, in addition to the benefit of immediacy valued by patients.
- Successful zygomatic implant surgeons need oral surgical experience, spatial awareness, 3D planning and decision-making skills, communication, team leadership, and emotional intelligence, supported by mentoring from an experienced local surgeon through networks such as ZAGA.
What you'll learn
- Why zygomatic implants offer a graftless, same-day alternative to bone grafting for severe maxillary atrophy
- How the anatomically guided ZAGA technique delivers predictable, evidence-based outcomes
- Applying 3D virtual planning and computer-guided surgery to place zygomatic implants more accurately than freehand
- Using 3D-printed jaw replicas for rehearsal surgery before operating on the patient
- The experience, spatial-awareness, communication and mentoring requirements for clinicians starting zygomatic implantology
About the guest
Prof. Cemal Ucer
Prof. Cemal Ucer is a specialist oral surgeon who graduated from Manchester Dental School in 1982 and holds an MSc in Implantology and a PhD from Manchester University for research on factors affecting implant success in iliac bone grafts and osteoporotic patients. He directs a hospital-based national referral practice for oral surgery and implantology at ICE Hospital in Manchester and is academic lead of the MSc programme in Dental Implantology at the University of Salford. He is director of the International ZAGA Center Manchester for zygomatic implants, with research interests in 3D surgical navigation, bone regeneration, sinus grafting and the rehabilitation of severely atrophic patients.
Credentials: Specialist oral surgeon; Fellow of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons; Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Trainers of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; Fellow of the ITI; past president and honorary life member of the UK Association of Dental Implantology; Professor and Academic Lead, MSc in Dental Implantology, University of Salford; Director, International ZAGA Center Manchester (ICE Hospital)
ZAGA profile · ucer-clinic.dental
