Hi Dr. Latorre! Thank you to take part in “TODAY WE MEET” our monthly section dedicated to IBI’s employees and partners! In order to start the interview, I ask you to briefly introduce yourself.

Hi, thanks for interviewing me.

I was born in Ubeda, a town in the south of Spain.  I graduated in Dentistry from Granada University, and then, I moved to Barcelona, where I specialized in Implant Dentistry and Periodontics, at the International University of Catalonia (UIC) obtaining a Master’s degree in Research in Dentistry.

I’m married and we have two kids.

I like sports in general but what I’m really passionate about are motorbike sports, in all variants.

How did you discover our bone substitute SmartBone®?

I used to use allograft blocks as an alternative to autogenous blocks for certain cases, but I had to deal with the rejection of some of my patients to have a double surgery site, and also some rejection in receiving human grafting material, these points led me to look for a xenograft with a block format.

Once I did some research, and mainly attracted by its mechanical properties, I found SmartBone® as a suitable option for my patients.

In your opinion which are the main characteristics that make our product stands out compared to the competitors?

From my point of view, it is very easy to use, easy to shape when using the squared blocks,  moreover, you feel sure when you screw SmartBone® to the native bone,  you don’t have this awful sensation that it is going to crack, or , in the other side, the feeling that you are screwing a sponge instead of a block.

Finally, when I’ve performed SmartBone® On Demand™, I had the chance to design the custom graft in collaboration with IBI’s staff under my needs. I’d also highlight the accuracy of it to the recipient site.

Did you have clinical experience both with SmartBone® and SmartBone® On Demand™, our custom-made bone graft, in which situation do you prefer the use of SmartBone® instead of the custom grafts and vice-versa?

Generally speaking, I prefer customized block grafts because, at least for me, the gap between the non-customized graft and the customized block with the host bone, regardless of your skills, is not comparable.

But sometimes, I have to consider some economic limitations or timing factors of the whole process. So, in these cases, I don´t mind to shape chairside some block with burs and disks.

Last question: do you think that there are aspects of SmartBone® that do not satisfy you?

We live on the age of immediacy and, as a clinician, I would like to have the customized graft the next day after the design approval, but it takes its time. Maybe it’s such a technical issue that there is little room for accelerating the process, perhaps, we, as clinicians, should be more patient.

Thank you again to be part of this monthly interview!