INFORMATIVE ARTICLES
The ITI Dental Implant System
By Robert A. Levine, D.D.S.
Thomas G. Wilson, Jr, DDS
Hans Peter Weber, D.M.D.
(Compend Contin Educ Dent, Vol. XV, No. 4, Pg 526. 1994)
 Through the results of animal and human studies, Branemark and coworkers introduced the idea of osseointegration to dentistry. In 1974, Schroeder and his coworkers developed a unique approach t this "functional ankylosis" through the development of the ITI Dental Implant System. Their goal was to simplify the surgical and restorative aspects of implant therapy for the patient and clinician and still obtain osseointegration.
 The ability to obtain osseointegration with dental implants on a predictable basis in the lower anterior jaw, and, to a lesser degree, in the upper anterior jaw was documented by Adell and his Swedish coworkers in 1982. The prerequisites for achieving osseointegration as reported by their group included: (1) biocompatible material; (2) primary stability of the implant; (3) traumatic surgical procedure; and (4) a two-stage surgical protocol with submerged implants, which are unloaded during the healing phase of 3 to 6 months. This necessitates a second surgical procedure for uncovering the implants at a later date.
 Branemark believed that these steps were necessary to obtain osseointegration. Other two-stage systems were developed and tested following the Swedish group's criteria. The single-surgical stage, nonsubmerged ITI system was thoroughly tested microscopically and clinically, and it proved stat osseointegration could be predictably achieved without the need to bury the implant, thus eliminating the need for a second surgery Figures 1, 2A, and 2B). This was truly a new implant concept.
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