This interview is with Kelvin Jung, Dentist at Q Dental.

Kelvin Jung, Dentist, Q Dental

Can you tell us about your background in dentistry and how you became specialized in dental implants?

I graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry in 2016. When I joined a practice as an associate, the head dentist placed implants, and I became very interested in the process.

The idea that we can replace a tooth in just a few months was fascinating, and seeing it in practice—rather than just on lecture slides or in textbooks—was eye-opening. From there, I began diving into continuing education. I started with straightforward cases, and as I gained more experience, I progressed to more complex ones.

Today, after placing over 500 implants, I have completed additional advanced and live surgery courses to take the next step in implant dentistry. I am now performing full-arch cases as well as challenging anterior esthetic cases and immediate implant placements.

I'm truly grateful to be practicing at a time when dental implants are advancing so rapidly with the introduction of CT, 3D printing, intraoral scanners, photogrammetry, and in-house milling.

What inspired you to focus on dental implants as a key area of your practice?

There are so many people out there who suffer from missing teeth, and the treatment modality that was pushed was either a fixed partial denture (commonly known as a bridge) or a removable partial denture (commonly called a plate).

This was a great option when dental implants were still in their infancy, but today, with the advancements we have made, it no longer makes sense to offer those options to our patients since they are more aggressive and deliver a poorer long-term prognosis.

Implants have been truly life-changing for so many of my patients, and the best thing to see is when they come back for their recare appointments and can't even recall which tooth was their implant.

In your experience, what's the most challenging case you've encountered with dental implants, and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging case I have had was an anterior case on #7. The patient had high esthetic demands, as she was young and had just completed orthodontic treatment, so it was important that the tooth blended in seamlessly. We overcame the challenge by utilizing an immediate-placement protocol with an immediate provisional.

This approach helped preserve the papilla and eliminated the need for tissue training, which would have been required with a delayed-placement protocol. The case turned out well, and esthetically, it's impossible to distinguish between #7 and #10.

How has the field of dental implants evolved since you started your career, and what recent advancements excite you the most?

The main evolution has been the introduction of digital dentistry. We no longer have to rely on analog impressions and models. We can fully digitize the patient in three-dimensional space and design everything digitally.

This significantly reduces the errors that occur with analog workflows and allows us to approach implant dentistry with greater precision and accuracy. With the advent of digital dentistry, we now even have robotically guided implant placement, and our team recently acquired one.

It is called Yomi, and it has truly changed the game for implant dentistry, with accuracy within a 0.01-mm margin of error. In implant dentistry, every millimeter counts, and Yomi allows us to place implants in difficult areas with a level of accuracy that cannot be achieved with freehand surgery. It even outshines surgical guides, as you don't have to worry about the fitment issues that guides typically present or the guide breaking during surgery.

What's one common misconception about dental implants that you frequently encounter, and how do you address it with your patients?

A lot of people are under the impression that dental implants are expensive. While the initial cost is high, compared to other treatment modalities, the lifetime cost is much lower. Take, for example, a three-tooth bridge. While it may be lower in cost compared to a dental implant, the lifetime cost has the potential to be much higher. If that three-tooth bridge fails, there is a chance the patient will end up missing three teeth.

Now the patient is either looking at getting a partial denture and risking the integrity of all their teeth in the long term, or opting for an implant-supported bridge. Both of these options incur a much higher cost compared to the single dental implant they could have chosen initially. Dental implants have high upfront costs, but when viewed from a long-term perspective, they begin to make much more sense.

Based on your expertise, what's one piece of advice you'd give to dentists who are looking to incorporate more implant procedures into their practice?

Learn as much as you can and don't be afraid to make mistakes. You can take all the courses in the world, but until you actually start placing implants, making mistakes, and learning from them, you won't grow.

Failure has been the best learning experience for me, and even today I still encounter cases where I realize I could have done better. Unfortunately, the human body is complex, and we can never be perfect, but we can strive to continue growing in our abilities and expertise.

How do you stay updated with the latest techniques and technologies in dental implantology, and how do you implement these in your practice?

I attend dental conferences and try to stay up-to-date with new technologies in the industry. You can truly learn a lot from peers, and sometimes even avoid huge mistakes by utilizing the knowledge they acquired from their failures. The various dental companies have reps who are knowledgeable, and they are a great resource too.

Looking ahead, what do you think will be the next big breakthrough in dental implant technology, and how might it change patient outcomes?

I think the next breakthrough in dental implants is utilizing the patient's stem cells to actually grow teeth and implanting them into the patient's mouth. This will be a true game-changer in that it would be an actual tooth and would truly be the ultimate implant therapy.