From July 31 until August 11, 2006, the second International Summer School for Clinical Periodontology and Implantology was held at the University of Heidelberg. The first international summer school was held in 2004 and it was from my co-faculty, Dr. Christian Ermita at the College of Dentistry, University of the Philippines, that I have learned how good the program was. That was why when the dean of our unit announced that there was going to be a second one, I took the opportunity to apply at once.

This year there were 15 successful accepted applicants that came from distant parts of the world: Bosnia, Brazil, Croatia, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines and Serbia. In the second week, two from Bosnia who have already attended the 2004 summer school, joined our group. During the first day, Dr. Ti-Sun Kim, the directress of the program allowed us to introduce ourselves to the class. When I have learned how far apart the countries we all came from, I said to myself that it might be difficult to create a unified group because of cultural differences. Nevertheless, I resisted my original thought and just allowed time to disprove or prove my doubts.

The program can be summarized into 5 parts. The first one was lectures on the basic courses: Classification of Periodontal Diseases; Clinical and Microbiological Periodontal Diagnosis; Antibiotics in Periodontology; Anatomy and Physiology of Bone, Cementum, Periodontal Ligament and Wound Healing; Scaling and Polishing; and Periodontal Flap Techniques. Although considered basic, I think it was still important to include this in the course so that there was a sort of a basis or starting point to get the discussion rolling and also to calibrate what everyone knew.

The second part was the more advanced perio courses such as resective and regenerative treatment and, mucogingival surgery. I considered this as advanced because these topics are not taught comprehensively in the undergraduate dentistry program in the Philippines. I would say these topics caught the interest of most of the attendees of the program.

The third part was Implantology. Here the fundamentals of setting implants, sinus lifts, biology of osseointegration and 3 different implant systems were discussed in the class. This was also very interesting because only a few in the group had experience in implantology. This has given us the opportunity to break through the concept of implantology.

The fourth part, although I would consider as part of the basic course such as Gingival Overgrowth, Aggressive Periodontitis and Periodontal Medicine were discussed, stressed and given more attention. I think because these are the topics which present cases that make our clinical practice in perio more exciting and challenging.

The fifth part was the hands-on course. This included the Dentsply-Friadent Xive, Strauman and Nobel Biocare implant systems. Also there were hands-on course on periodontal flap techniques, Furcation and Regenerative therapies (Emdogain and membranes) and, Mucogingival Surgery. In my opinion, the regenerative therapies and the mucogingival surgery were the best seller- hands-on courses. Based on the reaction of the participants and on the discussion in the class, this was where everybody was most attentive to during the presentation and, where everyone showed great interest during the hands-on course. The mucogingival lecture and hands-on were full and tiring but this did not stop the class from listening and trying it out on the pig’s mandible.

The professors that made the presentations are top –caliber. Aside from their great knowledge on the topics that they lectured on, each has its own style of making the discussions interesting. I have never imagined Drs. Caton and Machtei would be giving out a lecture in front of me. Because I have this impression that they are considered one of the demigods in perio because of their broad clinical experiences and researches. The only encounter I had with these people (which are actually not real encounters) was when I read their articles on various journals. And personally meeting them was like a chance of a lifetime. But of course my favorite was Dr. Kim, not because she was the program directress but because of the interactive lectures she had with us. Not only that she stimulated our minds but she also gave us the chance to discuss and interact with others. Such interaction made us know each other more and also made us learn and peek on how perio is taught and how cases are treated in other countries. Also as a result of this I found myself a little proud and thankful because what I have learned in perio in our country does not differ much with what the other countries teach their students. Suffice to say that what we learn in the Philippines is what I can consider as “globalize”.

The summer school was not just academic because we also had cultural awakenings of Germany. We had a lecture about the city of Heidelberg; excursions to Bensheim and Sirona Company, Ludwigsburg and Speyer; cruise along the Neckar River and a hike on the Philosopher’s trail. These activities also paved the way for the exchange of cultural experiences of the participants in their respective countries. Thus, albeit indirectly, we also had cultural awakenings of Bosnia, Brazil, Croatia, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines and Serbia.

In general, to me, the entire experience was stimulating, enriching and fulfilling. Stimulating because it has broaden our knowledge in Periodontology. Enriching because if the cultural exchanges that have widen what we knew about the rest of the world. Fulfilling because both the academic and the cultural experiences have struck my mind, my heart and my soul.

As to my initial doubts of whether people from poles-apart countries would click and blend considering that the only common ground was periodontics, I would say that I spoke to myself too soon. Because at the end of the two week- program, friendships have blossomed naturally. We did not have to force it upon ourselves for the sake of perio, rather, it just happened. And because of this, the vision of Dr. Ti-Sun Kim to have a multicenter from different countries for clinical and research cooperation and exchanges in Periodontology for the sake of humanity, might not be a hard task at all. And this is what I call as the MAGIC OF HEIDELBERG.

I would like to thank:

Dr. Kim: for conceptualizing the international summer school program. I know it was a gargantuan task to organize such program. Also I thank her for the rare opportunity she has given me.

Drs. Caton, Machtei, Kruger, Eickholz, Romano, Neugebauer, and Steveling: for unselfishly sharing what they have learned and discovered

Dr. Kim’s staff (Sven, Raluca, Helga, Isabel etc): for all the supportive hard work and for baby-sitting 17 adult students

International Summer school students batch 2006: especially Nikolina, Zeljka, Milanko, Young Taek and Jin, for the wonderful company and friendship

University of the Philippines: for all the support and understanding

Dr. Nannette Vergel De Dios: my mentor in Periodontolgy

All the sponsors: if not for them, the summer school would not have happened

 

Ma. Celina Petronila U. Garcia, DDM
Manila, Philippines

 

The 2006 International Summer School for Clinical Periodontology and Implantology was organized by the Section of Periodontology of the University of Heidelberg. The Summer School was held in cooperation with the University of Cologne, University of Frankfurt, University of Freiburg, University of Rochester and Technion Institute.

One of the goals of the Summer School was to create an international forum for the exchange of ideas among young dental professionals. Therefore, participants came from different countries—Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Croatia, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Philippines, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro. The group was composed of periodontology residents, periodontal specialists and professors, as well as oral surgery and endodontic residents. As such, this heterogeneity among participants fueled interesting discussions which supplemented classroom learning from lectures and hands-on workshops.

During the first week of the Summer School, a review of the classification of periodontal diseases (Dr. Raluca Cosgarea and Dr. Sven Zehaczek), as well as the different clinical indices and microbiological assays employed during the diagnosis of periodontal diseases (Dr. Cosgarea) was given. Review of basic knowledge was conducted to ensure calibration among participants. Other lectures included the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in Periodontology (Dr. Ti-Sun Kim). Medical conditions indicating antibiotic prophylaxis, dental procedures requiring coverage and antibiotic regimens were discussed. The specific treatment regimes carried out at the University of Heidelberg and the principle of full mouth disinfection were also presented. A short debate cum panel discussion among participants as to the advantages and disadvantages of full mouth disinfection and quadrant root planing provided an effective venue to present published evidence, as well as personal experience in patient management, in order to justify the selection of either full mouth or quadrant root planing.

Succeeding lectures on scaling and root planing, hand and machine debridement, non-surgical versus surgical periodontal therapy and periodontal surgical (flap) techniques were given by Dr. Peter Eickholz. These were followed by hands-on exercises, wherein participants were made to do modified Widman’s flap, distal wedge and modified circumferential suture on pigs’ mandibles.

The fundamentals of setting implants (from implant planning to placement),  as  well  as  the  concept   of  immediate  loading  were  discussed   by Dr. Jörg Neugebauer. The Xive® implant system (Dentsply-Friadent) was then presented, after which, participants were given hands-on training on the placement of the above-mentioned implant system. The lecture by Dr. Helmut Steveling on the role of the marginal bone level in implantology completed our lessons on implantology for the first week.

The remaining lectures during the first week were on the etiology, diagnosis  and  treatment  of  furcation  involvement,  guided  tissue regeneration
(Dr. Kim), response of the periodontium to resective, reparative and regenerative therapy (Dr. Jack Caton), and the anatomy and physiology of bone, cementum and periodontal ligament, and wound healing (Dr. Paul Romano).

The final hands-on session during the first week was on guided tissue regeneration-- placement of a non-resorbable membrane (Gore-Tex) on a furcation involved premolar on a pig’s mandible.

The second week of the Summer School was also comprised of both lectures and hands-on exercises. These involved discussions on gingival overgrowth (Dr. Kim), sinus lifts and grafting, biology of osseointegration, anti-inflammatory drugs and treatment planning and basic surgical protocol at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York (Dr. Romano). Dr. Eli Machtei also updated the participants on the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of aggressive periodontitis, as well as the bi-directional relationship between periodontal disease and certain systemic conditions. Detailed presentations on the diagnosis and treatment of gingival recession and mucogingival problems were given by Dr. Petra Ratka-Krüger. Participants were also instructed on coronally positioned and semilunar flaps, and on the placement of free gingival and connective tissue grafts on pigs’ mandibles.

Additional lectures on regenerative therapy using growth factors were given, followed by hands-on experience on the use of Emdogain on angular bony defects in  pigs’ mandibles. Participants were also instructed on tunnel preparation, also on pigs’ mandibles.

During the second week, two additional implant systems were also introduced—Straumann and Nobel-Direct. Lectures were followed by hands-on placement on models. The inclusion of three different implant systems during the Summer School (Xive during the first week), helped participants to evaluate the features, advantages and disadvantages of some systems available in the market.

The final lecture by Dr. Kim—“Where are we going? Implants or teeth?”—helped put a perspective as to how dental practitioners should go about managing patients with periodontal disease. I share Dr. Kim’s view that every effort must be exerted to save as many periodontally-involved teeth as we can. The dentist must listen to the patient’s own wishes and goals, and use the knowledge, techniques and technology at hand, in order to restore periodontal health. A conservative approach should be employed whenever possible.

Although majority of the lectures served as reviews, it is worth noting that one could always learn something new from each lecture. This is because each lecturer updated the participants with published literature which could either support or contradict the different concepts and periodontal treatment modalities presented. Lectures were always evidence-based and in addition, several lecturers (such as Dr. Caton, Dr. Kim and Dr. Machtei) helped the participants on how to become more critical when reviewing literature. Dr. Machtei also provided us participants with research ideas, and he urged us to conduct the research once we go back to our respective countries.

Learning was also supplemented by numerous questions and answers, as well as by lively discussions among participants and lecturers. These discussions allowed and encouraged the surfacing of different opinions, and gave insight as to how periodontal patients are managed by dentists from different countries.

As part of the Summer School, a number of social activities were also organized by the University of Heidelberg and the sponsoring companies. These included the Welcome Party at the Tropical House of the Botanical Garden, the excursion to Bensheim to the Sirona Company, trips to Ludwigsburg and Speyer, a walk up Philosophers’ Trail, the Neckar river cruise, and the final celebration sponsored by Dentsply-Friadent. All these activities served as welcome breaks from the hectic lecture and hands-on schedule. They also provided participants time to interact, learn about each other’s culture, and simply to enjoy each other’s company.

I attended the Summer School expecting to be updated in the field of Periodontology and Implantology, and to be able to learn from colleagues from other countries, through the exchange of accepted concepts (in different countries), as well as through the exchange of research ideas. The Summer School was a great and enriching experience—most concepts we subscribe to in our University were validated,  I gained new knowledge and acquired new skills which can be applied to my teaching and clinical practice. From the different teaching styles of the lecturers, I also learned methods for mentoring and motivating students. Moreover, I was able to make new friends from all over the world. I hope to share this Summer School experience so that more people--- students, colleagues and patients---may ultimately profit from it.

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Dr. Priscila Corraini
São Paulo, Brazil

 

The International Summer school for Clinical Periodontology and Implantology was organized by the Section of Periodontology, Department of Operative Dentistry of the University of Heidelberg.  The summer school was composed of 17 dentists from the following countries: Brazil, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and the Philippines.  Such a mixture of participants provided a unique opportunity to exchange different ideas and knowledge among all of us, especially due to the fact that also dentists from different areas were participating of this Summer school such as specialists in Endodontics and Prosthesis.

Dr. Ti-Sun Kim, Head of the Section of Periodontology of the University of Heidelberg, organized for the second time in Germany this Summer school.  Two main differences were taken in order to improve the course this time:  The number of participants was reduced and the number of hands-on classes was increased.

The program has endured two weeks, with the contents approached into lectures, interactive seminars, a genius idea to keep the students more active during classes and make then discuss about controversy themes in Periodontology, and hands on courses, with the schedule perfectly planned, without forgetting the cultural aspects of the course, where after classes we could know al lot about the history of Heidelberg, getting to know some landmarks such as the castle of Ludswigburg, considered the biggest castle in Germany, the city of Speyer with its cathedral and its religious history, and the Neckar river.

The first week was dedicated to the basic aspects of Periodontology (Clinical and Microbiological diagnosis, Classification of Periodontal diseases, Antibiotics in Periodontology, Treatment Planning and Etiology and Diagnosis of Furcation Involvement), with lectures given by Dr. Kim and the faculty members of the University of Heidelberg, and lectures from Dr. Eickholz from the University of Frankfurt on Scaling and root planning, Periodontal surgery, Flap techniques with hands-on on the pig jaw, of Dr. Steveling from the Oral Surgery Department of University of Heidelberg about fundamentals of setting implants, immediate loading combined or not with augmentation procedures and hands-on with placement of Friadent Implants.
Dr. Jack Caton, from the University of Rochester, USA gave us brilliant lectures, primarily stressing the importance of questioning and discussing during his classes, about the response of the periodontium to therapy, showing all his research works with highlights of the importance of a correct interpretation of clinical trials results in Periodontology, the role of local drug releasing in Periodontology and about the researches his group has been done with low dose doxicicline as adjunt to conventional therapy in the management of Chronic Periodontits, the importance of a consensus in Individual Prognosis in Periodontology and what are the guidelines from the AAP considering prognosis, and about reparative and regenerative surgical therapy in Periodontology.

The second week was a mixture of a lot of subjects in both Periodontology and Implantology.  At the beginning of the week, Dr. Romano from University of Rochester, gave us one of the best classes of Anatomy and Histology of the Periodontium I have ever had.  After this, he gave us a lecture about the Biology of Osseointegration, Sinus Lift procedures and the treatment planning and protocol for implant placement at Eastman Dental Centre, and talked about Anti-inflammatory Drugs and its role and appliance in Dentistry.  In this same week, Dr. Eli Machtei spoke, according to his own words, about the themes he most like in Periodontology:  Aggressive Periodontitis, since is the Periodontal disease who shows the bests results after therapy, and Periodontal Medicine, who is his main research area in Periodontology. We also have lectures with Dr. Petra Ratka-Krüger, from University of Freiburg, about diagnosis, classification, treatment and management of Mucogingival problems, stressing the importance of a correct diagnosis, and about knowing the previsibility of success in case of treatment of these problems, explaining in details all the surgical techniques for the treatment of gingival recession.  We also have with her and extraordinary hands-on course with mucogingival surgery with laterally positioned flap, coronally positioned flap, free gingival grafts and techniques to enhance the amount of attached gingival and connective tissue graft-envelope technique in pig jaws.

We also had in these two weeks more lectures and hands-on courses about Implant Systems, both at the University laboratory and at some Implant Dentistry companies such as Friadent-Dentsply, since Dr. Kim pointed out the importance of knowing in details all the implant systems, weighting all its advantages and disadvantages and not just one or two of them.  We also had lectures about gingival overgrowth, regenerative therapy and growth factors and full mouth disinfection with Dr. Kim and her always best didactics and attention to her students and global knowledge of the medical status of the patients, without forgetting that science is not science without the spirit of group, always trying to know if everyone was ok and if everyone was setting up without problems in Heidelberg, and without the funny moments, such as the final lunch at the University with all the students, and our performances dancing at the final dinner to get our certificates.  One of the best memories I have with her was the famous journey to the “Philosopher’s trail” with the colleagues from the summer course, who were all very friendly and companion to each others.

I am sure that this Summer course made me not just know that all that I´ve learned in my University was not so much different from the University of Heidelberg, but was really a great experience to exchange knowledge, learn more about Periodontology and Implantology from a lot of high qualified and experienced Periodontologists, and also to know very special people that I surely will miss a lot.  I hope I can come back in a short period of time.

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Dr. Kim Young Taek
Seoul, South Korea

 

First of all, I believe that you would need more time to fully cover Periodontology, Implantology and the cultures of Germany than a two-week program. However I could meet lots of friends there and I already miss them now. The program was totally excellent and made my eyes open to the world. So I’d like to thank you for giving me such an opportunity to participate in this course.

 When I first arrived at Heidelberg, it was quite a strange place to me. In fact it was my first time to attend a course in foreign countries. It was a natural response for me, but I also felt a bit of curiosity. Because many other participants were from various countries, such as Brazil, Serbia, Latvia, Romania, Philippines, etc.

 As the course began, the class schedule turned out to be very tight on the contrary to my expectation. I thought it would go a little bit easy because of long span of classes. Two weeks were a long time, I thought. But, like I mentioned, this course drove us so tight to make me and maybe the others to feel the same way. There were so many things to learn and so many things to do. Of course, I enjoyed that with the other participants from all over the world.

 Especially, the lecturers, Dr. Romano, Dr. Machtei, and Dr. Ti-Sun Kim were so amazing. The all lectures were so helpful to me and the lectures on basic part were so meaningful in that I could refresh my knowleges and learned new ones as well. Currently I am on training course for periodontology and implantology as a resident. So it was a good opportunity for me to learn current information and knowleges. Some of the advanced courses including GTR, Emdogain, free gingival graft, connective tissue graft and so forth were familiar with me, but I can not tell that I am very good at those yet. In fact, this course was exactly what I wanted.

 Every hands-on courses were also very good. ITI, Xive and Branemark systems were familiar to me because my hospital has equipped these systems too. I guess that periodontic parts were a little bit easier. But, as I mentioned, advanced courses were the very course that I wanted. So I really appreciated those.

 I also enjoyed visiting some companies, i.e. Sirona, Friadent and other places. We got also some excursions to Speyer, Ludwigsburg and Neckar-River. They were good in some way that we could experience the German culture. If this course had ended with just lectures and hands-ons practices, this course would not have been such an impressive one.

I think the most important thing I learned was that the participants could be friends like Dr. Kim said. Maybe we could be in contact and also we can be co-workers sometime. The second important thing is that I learned to understand the other culture. Of course, it is impossible to understand the other culture just for two-week experience. But it was the good chance for me to begin to know other cultures and atmospheres.
 I think that ‘the Summerschool in Heidelberg’ can be a channel to communicate among the Periodontology and Implantology society all over the world. If this course goes on, the vision of the Summerschool would not be just a dream.

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Dr. Milanko Djuric
Novi Sad, Serbia

 

This summer I participated in the work of the Summer School in Clinical Periodontology and Implantology at the University of Heidelberg. My final report is as follows.
The Summer School was attended by fifteen participants from Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, and in the second week we were joined by two colleagues from Bosnia-Herzegovina who had attended this Summer School two years ago.
Those two weeks were characterized by intensive learning with a busy schedule of outstanding lectures, hands-on courses, interesting excursions and social activities. The whole program of the Summer School was divided into two parts: Periodontology and Implantology. At the very beginning members of the university of Heidelberg Dr. Cosgarea and Dr. Zehaczek gave some basic lectures about classification of the periodontal disease, microbiological diagnosis and antibiotic therapy. The most interesting part for me was the lecture by Dr. Kim who outlined the principles of periodontal therapy at the University of Heidelberg, which was exactly one of the main reasons for my participating in this Summer School. The School of Dentistry and the Department of Periodontology that I come from is a small one, and in my opinion in our managing of the periodontal patients we should rely on a well recognized and highly respected faculty as is the one in Heidelberg. Moreover, it is my firm opinion that the principles of periodontal therapy at the University of Heidelberg could be applied at our Department as well.
Among the many brilliant lectures we were given, I was most impressed by the lectures by Dr. Caton on response of the periodontium to therapy and the lecture of Dr. Machtei on Periodontal- systemic interaction. However, the talks by other lecturers were none the less interesting, such as those by Dr Eickholz, Dr Romano, Dr Ratka-Kruger. What I found most motivating was that the majority of the lectures were organized in the manner to compare different data from the literature about one problem. This kind of lecturing is completely new to me, and it triggers further consideration of the problem to reach one’s own conclusion.
Alongside with the theoretical lectures there was practical education as well. Different techniques of flap surgery, mukogingival surgery and GTR were practiced on pig’s jaws. What I found most remarkable was to work with Emdogain, which I had not had the chance to encounter before, as well as an excellent hands-on course on mukogingival surgery.
The lectures in Implantology were also very interesting and useful, and they were followed by practical work. There were four implant systems presented, namely Astra, Strauman, Dentsply Friadent and Nobel Biocare. Three of these were completely new to me since I had only had the chance to work with Strauman.
Apart from the educational side, the Summer School excelled in social activities as well. Excursions to Ludwigsburg, Speyer and the Neckar river cruise enabled us not only to get to know more of German culture and history, but also for the participants to get to meet each other and this way make new professional and personal contacts.
As a word of conclusion, this Summer School in Periodontology fully met my interests and expectations, and I am very pleased to have attended it. The theoretical and practical knowledge I have acquired will surely advance my future work, and mainly my work with the students. The schedule was exceptionally well organized, and the effort alongside with the positive energy put into the whole project by Dr Kim was remarkable. I can only say: thank you for inviting me.

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Cassia Tiemi Fukuda
Campinas, Brazil

 

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this summer school was to acquire knowledge and to have the opportunity to be up-to-date with the Periodontology field (research and clinical). Above all, the objective was to attend a forum in order to exchange ideas between different nationalities and to develop the networking between the 15 dentists.

RESUL TS
The objectives previously established were mostly achieved and some are in implementation. During the summer school at the University of Heidelberg, I was able to develop many different activities that can be divided in academical and cultural issues.

a) Academical
Academically, we had lectures/classes reviewing the basic Periodontal principles for the common understanding of all the 15 dentists with different background.
Interactive classes and debates on important themes such as Full Mouth Disinfection and Furcation Treatment were exciting and motivated us to talk and interact. We could exchange experience with other countries students’ about some corner-stones in Periodontology.
Furthermore, we had the unique opportunity to clarify doubts and hear opinion of well known researchers and teachers. For example, the discussion on Antibiotics with Dr. Caton or on Aggressive Periodontitis with Dr. Machtei. Discuss about the different drugs, surgery techniques and treatment planning around the world were enriching.
The interesting hands-on activities provided us clinical practice ideas of Flap Surgeries, Placement of Implants, Mucogingival Surgeries, Endogain and Furcation Treatment so that we could learn a different suture, a different tip, a different instrument, a different technique or even an important unattended detail. Getting in touch with 3 different implant systems (hands-on) was excellent since we could observe and be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each kind of implant, depending on the teeth and patient.
All in all, we learn to try the best treatment planning for our patient. Nevertheless, treatment planning is not an easy task to comment on since I believe that each patient represents a particular case, we cannot generalize and just try to fit patients into certain pre-established groups. However, it seems that University of Heidelberg as University of Sao Paulo is mainly conservative, using evidence based concepts, files (radiographs, photos, probing and clinical attachment) and common sense when deciding guidelines of a patient’s treatment.
The knowledge acquired, as well as the opportunity I had to compare and contrast various clinical procedures, technology applied and structure will be of paramount importance for better complying with the patient’s and research needs.

b) Cultural
Culturally, we had the opportunity to visit the most famous sightseeing spots of Heidelberg city such as the wonderful castle. The welcome party at the Botanical Garden was the event that introduced me to German culture, as well as, to the pleasant area of University of Heidelberg. Moreover, we went to the Neckar River Cruise on the last day which was really amazing since we were able to have a highlight of all history and culture of Heidelberg city and surroundings.
The tour to Speyer and to the Castle of Ludwisburg were very interesting with the pleasant company of Prof. Paul Romano and family. Visiting the Sirona Dental Company at Bensheim was surprising owing to the fact that we were able to walk through the company and be delighted with their high quality products show room. For example, the Perioscan is an innovation in the Periodontal area and hopefully will save time for the dentist and for the patient as it will detect the points of the tooth surface with calculus. I believe that these organized excursions were extremely beneficial since we were able to learn also outside the classroom environment. All guided tours, with no exception, were outstanding.
All in all, we were able to experience German society closely concerning its culture, values and habits.

LIVING CONDITIONS
During the summerschool period I stayed for two days at ”Café Frish Hotel” which was close to the university and the breakfast were very good. On August 1st, we moved to the “Guest House” inside the campus of the University of Heidelberg. Therefore, it was very well located; about 5 minutes walk from the UniversitatsKlinikum Heidelberg. Moreover, there were facilities such as a bakery, a bank, a bookshop, a bus stop, a public international telephone and a restaurant at the area. These facilities are extremely important for us, who are foreigners. We had laundry machines, one computer with internet and an entertainment area. The apartment was well furnished in all rooms (bedroom, kitchen, living room).
One only commentary would be on wireless internet access. We wanted to contact our families using our notebooks, but that was not possible at the university or the guest house.

FUTURE PLANS
Concerning my future plans after the summer school, I will try to adapt and put into practice all the dentistry aspects I observed. Moreover, I plan to debate with Brazilian periodontists the different concepts acquired, maybe we can adopt some of them, who knows? Also, after analyzing deeply how this cross-cultural summer school was enriching I will recommend to other students.
Above all, being in contact with different ideas and opinions about the same issue is extremely enriching since this fact help us to create our periodontal philosophy, our periodontal treatment protocol, our concept about what we think is more suitable to our clinical or research reality. I believe that by hearing and observing different concepts, we can get from each one what we think is the best to build our own concepts.

GENERAL OPINION
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Ti Su Kim for all the attention and concern since the very first e-mails. She has strength and energy that makes things happen! I really admire her for all the initiative and willing to always improve more and more. If she has a goal, hardly one is going to defeat her. Moreover, Dr Kim’s staff (Raluca, Sven, Isabel, Helga, Neils) had patience and gave us attention with doubts and questions concerning academic or any other field.
I am honored to have been presented to such a serious, hard working, responsible and renowned department.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Surely, this summer school enriched my personal and academic life with different experiences. Nevertheless, I believe I still have a long journey of research and clinical apprentice as a Periodontist as I saw excellent examples of dedication and perseverance in Germany.
These great experiences contributed to increase my motivation on the endless quest for life knowledge and academic education. This great experience promoted by University of Heidelberg and University of Sao Paulo will be of utmost value, since it has created a differential in my career - to help promote a better society with my periodontics services in clinical and academic field.
For this would not be possible if I did not have support from:

• Dr. Ti Su Kim, who organized the summerschool, thanks you for all efforts to make our stay most fruitful and enjoyable.
• University of Heidelberg for the scholarship
• University of Sao Paulo for the scholarship
• Dean Francisco Emilio Pustiglioni and Prof. Giorgio De Micheli for all the encouragement
• The companies that supported the summerschool: DentsplyFriadent, GABA International, Nobel Biocare, Sirona, Strauman
• The organizations that supported the summer school: German Society of Dental, Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, German Society of Periodontology, New Working Group for Periodontology
• The professors and lecturers: Prof. Jack Caton and Prof. Paul Romano (University of Rochester), Prof. Matchei (Ramban Medical Center, Israel) , Prof. Peter Eickholz (University of Frankfurt), Prof. Petra Ratka-Kruger (University of Freiburg) and University of Cologne
• My new friends all over the world, a unique mixture: Alexandrina, Gary, Giedre, Ilana, Inguna, Jin, Laurina, Maria Celina, Melanie Frange,Milanko Djuric,Nedzad Tahmiscija,Nikoina Trupeljak,Priscila Corraini, Sanja Jurisic, Young Taek Kim, Zeljka Kojic

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