Читать книгу Fundamentals of Treatment Planning - Lino Calvani - Страница 8

Foreword

What we know and do today creates the premises of our tomorrow.

A scientific book is like a mosaic, a complex of many chapters or tiles, each one with its color and meaning and specific position in the whole. However, when you look at a single tile you only see that particular color, whereas if you look at all the tiles you see the overall final composition. This book itself is a humble tile that is part of a much larger mosaic – medical care.

The specialty of prosthodontics was born almost two centuries ago in the United States of America, where it still evolves at a pace and level of complexity that is unknown anywhere else. Prosthodontic science is not an easy matter to deal with. It is probably the field of dental medicine that deals with the largest amount of medical, dental, clinical, and laboratory data. But even though it is complex, it is beautiful and requires humble passion and commitment to know it well. Recent discoveries and technological advances have increased the amount and quality of new treatment modalities. This may sometimes be misinterpreted as ‘heavier’ procedures, but in fact it is not. While the increasing wealth of information may appear to be overwhelming or very complex, it is really only a matter of putting in the constant effort of learning how to handle it. Fortunately, there are many new digital technologies available today that are helping us to achieve this. The entire preliminary before-treatment assessment that professionals in all fields of medicine and dental medicine have to commit to before they begin to care for a patient can be summarized in two simple words: treatment planning.

I wrote this book because while lecturing on the topic of prosthodontic treatment planning over the years I was asked to organize my notes and make them easily accessible to all students. The complexity of the topic and the enormous body of existing literature engaged me in a great effort of synthesis to rationalize and select the fundamentals. It was a challenge to avoid dipping too deeply into the various more philosophical ideas and notions that comprise this complex field, although some of these are touched upon in the text when necessary. However, analysis and description are the backbones of the book, and treatment planning is the basic scaffolding on which I have constructed the text. Treatment planning is the investigative and diagnostic phase where the clinician plans a well-structured, rational sequence of care steps in order to best treat each individual patient. And this aspect naturally expands in the book into defining and discussing many other aspects of prosthodontic work as well as possible collaboration with other related dental medical specialties that contribute to the rehabilitation of patients such as periodontics, orthodontics, endodontics, maxillofacial surgery, and other specialties.

Although the book primarily addresses prosthodontic specialists, it also explains basic matters relevant to all medical fields. Therefore, graduate and postgraduate students as well as general practitioners and specialists in other fields besides prosthodontics will hopefully find useful explanations and outlines that will make them aware of the various aspects and possibilities of medical and prosthetic treatment planning as it exists today. After all, medical and dental medical treatment plans have the same basic origin and structure.

I strongly believe that treatment planning should be elevated to the same level as other scientific medical fields such as anatomy and physiology and afforded the same respect and dignity. It should be taught and evaluated as a subject in its own right. Furthermore, in the study, discussion, and formulation of a treatment plan, practitioners should never place their own professional pride or economic interest before the best interests of the patient, whose health should always be the paramount issue. The needs of every patient should be treated with respect. Every case deserves to be rehabilitated in full agreement with the patient.

Winston Churchill is credited with saying: “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” This refers to the logical premise that planning is essential in order to achieve success in human endeavor. Knowledge and organization are the main keys to success and make all the difference between professionalism and incompetence. For this reason, success in prosthodontics (as in most other human activity) depends on the amount and quality of our knowledge and how we plan to carry out the work we face – the detail of the where, when, and how of it – in order to predict and then achieve the best possible results.

The topic of this book is deeply rooted in medical ethics. As a board-certified physician, dentist, dental technician, and prosthodontist, over time I have become convinced that our professional duties go way beyond the limits of the teeth and the oral cavity.

Who we are is expressed by what we know and what we do, which is largely a matter of consciousness and awareness. The physical health of our patients is our primary goal; it is for this reason they seek our help. Apart from how patients take care of themselves, once they are in our offices their physical health largely depends on how well we perform our examinations, and how attentive and clever we are in detecting their condition/s and realizing how other physical ailments may be manifesting as dental problems. It is for this reason that we need to know our patients better from a broader medical perspective. A deeper understanding of how to conduct a physical examination of the head and neck area may be helpful and improve the way we work. The eyes, ears, nose, hands, and brain of the dental medical professional can not only help people to chew, speak, and look better, but also to live better, safer, and longer lives; in some cases, they may even save lives. As professionals we have to be conscious and aware of this because we work in the same medical field as physicians and surgeons, and we should all be able to perform a careful physical examination of the head and neck. The more we know and practice, the better able we are to take care of our patients.

I respectfully bring this book to the attention of all my young colleagues, both national and international, who may find the text helpful in order to form and organize their thinking and to formulate correct diagnoses and therapies that start with appropriate treatment planning. I will derive a little satisfaction if, with my effort, I am able to help clinicians and patients to improve their work and live better lives.

Lino Calvani, 2020