CERAMICS, CELLS AND TISSUES. CERAMIC IN ORAL SURGERY
Prefazione - Indice
Prefazione
The aim of the meeting was to achieve
a proper understanding about the responsive interaction between the
biomedical graft inserted and its relative surrounding tissues.
After the 1st Meeting and Seminar on "Ceramics, Cells and Tissues" (Faenza,
April 15-17, 1994) a great consensus was expressed with a wide number
of requests to treat specific problems and items relative to the possibilities
of ceramic for oral surgery.
Thanks to the great collaboration of scientists from medical science and
materials science wide colloquia were carried out to better know the professional
problems and the request of an interdisciplinary approach of the matter.
The welcome to the partecipants at this official banquet of the Meeting"
Ceramics in Oral Surgery" is done at the presence of the CNR autority
Prof. Romano Cipollini, President of the Technological Committee. This
is a good opportunity to introduce aims and finalities of such series
of meeting-seminars titled: "Ceramics, Cells and Tissues" that
want keep highly specialized technical and medical teams informed of all
possible new applications of ceramics in the medical fields.
Fundamental condition to get profitable results in this field is the synergic
activity of research of the scientists that operate in both the interested
fields: medical and materials science. They must work together bringing
their different and specific knowledges and professionality in producing
an endeavour intended to solve all possible damages and troubles of the
human body coming from trauma or desease.
There has been a wide-ranging use of different materials in the history
of maxillofacial substitution: metals, polymers, etc.. Then, at last,
ceramics rise above horizon of the considered materials -- the least known,
the least studied, the least considered for applications so technologically
significant.
Yet, everybody knows that ceramic originates from clay, a substance which
the ancient world utilized as a methaphorical symbolism in the parables
interpreting the creation in which it was infused with so much vital energy
by the hands of the Creator himself to create man. How difficult was the
study of this clay and this energy aver the past centuries! Sometimes
surgical and implantological research was banned by the Church itself
in the name of the human body's sacred inviolability (not even a tooth
could be extracted in arder not to violate the body's unity). How difficult
but also how inspired was the work of the artists who modelled clay, ceramics,
marble! Just think of Michelangelo. He wanted his statue of Moses to speak
to become perfect and he threw his hammer at it in anger.
This tale, true or not, symbolyzes the possibilities of man but at the
same time underlines his limits. There is, in fact, a still imperfect
knowledge of materials and of the human body, and no one in our field
can predict how many centuries will have to pass before we gain a clear
understanding of the whole matter and we can bridge the gap between material
and bone tissue.
Our series of Meetings go in this direction and involve a variety of prestigious
disciplines all intended in endeavours on alleviating the sufferings of
the human body in degenerative situations. In particular, the oral apparatus
is arguably the greatest source of the troubles that afflict the body
with the passing of time. We must therefore concentrate all our efforts
on this point and we are certain that, if this problem is solved, many
other connected problems will be solved as a consequence.
At the end, this welcome would like to express an expecial thank to all
you for your kind presence here. We shall meet again in the next years
for the discussion of other matters of common scientific interest.
A. Ravaglioli
A. Krajewski
