WARSAW, Indiana--Zimmer Holdings, Inc., a leader in the orthopaedics industry, has announced that its Zimmer Dental division has opened its Zimmer Institute professional training facility.
This new Zimmer Institute will be a specialized center dedicated to helping clinicians further the knowledge, skills, and confidence essential for the practice of contemporary implant dentistry.
"One of our core strategies at Zimmer is 'value-added education,' and this is another expression of our determination to differentiate Zimmer on the basis of our ability to provide dynamic professional training," said Ray Elliott, Zimmer Chairman, President and CEO.
"We have Zimmer Institute locations all around the world supporting our leadership in minimally invasive orthopaedics. With this milestone, we can deliver advanced dental implantology training utilizing simulated patients with life-like soft tissue and bone."
The institute is located in Carlsbad, California, 30 miles north of San Diego, and will offer four distinct levels of instruction. Developed and presented by outstanding university faculty and private practitioners from around the world, Zimmer Institute programs will provide both general practitioners and specialists with educational experiences for learning implant dentistry techniques.
According to the company, the surgical mannequins developed for The Zimmer Institute represent a significant advance beyond anything ever used in dental teaching venues. These simulated "patients," or mannequins, are the result of years of research and refinement to closely approximate natural human anatomy.
They feature soft tissue and simulated "bone" with both cortical and cancellous layers. The mannequins have life-like tissues to provide a realistic setting for sinus grafts and the nerve bundles in the lower mandible are "wired" to let the clinician know if he has prepared the implant site within the anatomical requirements.
The Zimmer Institute teaching laboratory will include 26 stations with these simulated patients where participants will experience an unprecedented level of hands-on instruction, according to the company.
