Darko Bozic, DMD, MSc, PhD, specialist in periodontology
He is an Associate prof at the Department of Periodontology, School of Dental Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia. He works in the Croatia’s biggest University Clinical Hospital (6000 employees) at the Clinic for periodontology as a specialist in periodontology. In addition to that he also works every day in his private clinic. He is currently the President of the Croatian Society of Periodontology. Prior to that he has served as the secretary general and the vice-president in the society. He has been a long time Croatian delegate to the EFP a position which he left in 2017. Since 2016-2019 he has been the EFP webmaster and member of the Communications Committee for which he has been elected for another 3year term.
The focus of his research is proteomic analysis of periodontal tissues for which he and his team have received two prestigious IADR awards, in 2015 IADR, Boston. 2nd place Hatton/Unilever senior clinical research award, Proteomic Analyses of Gingival Tissues in Patients with Aggressive Periodontitis and in 2014. the IADR/PER , Dubrovnik Croatia. 1st place Robert Frank senior clinical research award Proteomic Analyses of Gingival Tissues in Patients with Aggressive Periodontitis.
His main focus in his clinical work is the reconstruction of soft and had tissues in periodontitis affected patients with a special research interest is the application of growth factors, namely BMPs and the Hyaluronic acid in regenerative procedures as well as soft tissue reconstruction utilizing various collagen matrices. He has collaborated in various research projects from the use of BMPs in bone reconstruction to the most recently one where with a group of collaborators they have been awarded a grant for a 4 year clinical study: Normative models of vascular biomarkers for improvement of stratification of cardiovascular risk in primary and secondary prevention (NormPreven), where periodontal parameters will be closely monitored.
He lectures extensively on the national and international level on various topics with more than 50 invited lectures so far, and has been invited twice as a speaker at Europerio meetings. He frequently gives advanced clinical master class courses with live surgical procedures.
Click here for abstract:
A collagenous scaffold as a potential alternative to autogenous soft tissue grafts in recession coverage - where are we now?
Over the last two decades recession coverage and dealing with soft tissue deficiencies has been at the forefront of periodontology and implantology. It has been shown that, if left untreated, recessions tend to progress and are a risk factor for root caries development, increased plaque accumulation with inflammation, pain and even tooth loss. Over the last two decades many techniques for recession coverage have emerged, mostly utilizing autogenous gingival tissue that is harvested from the palate and subsequently tunneled or sutured to the periosteum to achieve predictable and esthetic root coverage with changes in the soft tissue phenotype.
Until now the connective tissue graft has shown promise as being the golden standard for attachment gain, percentage of root coverage and long-term outcomes. However, a secondary surgical site and additional morbidity may deter patients who are reluctant to undergo such a procedure and leave them untreated. Therefore, efforts are being made to replace the CTG with allogeneic or xenogeneic collagen matrices that will achieve similar outcomes. Recent review articles have shown that these materials could well be a viable alternative to the connective tissue graft in treating recessions.
This presentation will review recent advances in utilizing these
materials as alternatives to connective tissue grafts and in addition will show a modified technique for recession coverage using a new innovative collagen scaffold.