與陳俊龍醫師及夫人車承娟醫師的專訪

我這次來拉斯維加斯的目的是採訪世界名醫及在美國主流社會開業最成功，也是華人之光的植牙專家-陳俊龍醫師，他是第一位華人在15年前來到拉斯維加斯設立了他的醫學中心總部，當我到機場的時候，他們以私人診所的拉長型高級轎車來接我，大約離賭城10分鐘就可以看到一棟高級會館般的建築物，這不是一般牙科診所的模樣，它有著綠油油的草坪、雕像和噴泉，當我走進大廳時，有一個巨大的水濂，標示著Dental Implant Institute 這裡的裝潢令人感到很平靜。

Vivian：這真是一個華麗的建築，這些室內裝潢是你車醫師設計的嗎？你和陳醫師誰比較喜愛藝術呢？
車醫師：大家都以為這裡的室內裝潢是我設計的，但其實不是，實際上是擁有藝術眼光的陳俊龍醫師將它們組合在一起的，我想你可以說我們在植牙的技術上都擁有藝術家們的心靈。

Vivian：在這麼短的時間之內，你們倆不僅發展了這個驚人的機構，而且還擴大治療中心到世界各地，這是非常了不起的成就，可以跟我們分享你們的成功經驗嗎？
車醫師：實際上所有事情都發生得很自然，一切都開始於陳醫師在十五年前革命發明的水壓鼻竇推高術，他是一個非常聰明和創新的人，他不斷地思考怎樣才能減輕病人接受治療的痛苦，以及降低手術風險，提高成功率的方法！

Vivian：我聽說您有5個孩子。這太神奇了！除了照顧小孩子之外，你仍然工作嗎？
車醫師：當然，我還是熱衷於我的工作。自從1991年以來，我一直不間斷地工作，沒有停止過。在我第一個孩子出生後，我就有一種感覺能知道何時我的小孩會出生，因此我總是可以妥善地安排看病人的時間，無論如何，感謝大家的讚美，即使我知道很難抽出時間同時照顧好家庭和工作，但是我嘗試去照顧自己，去做好每一件事！

Vivian：你是如何遇見陳醫師？
車醫師：這是一個很長的故事，但簡單來說，我們在不同的時間裡都去了芝加哥的西北大學牙周專科，我比他大兩屆，當我畢業的時候，他剛入學，我曾經聽說過有位台灣男孩很想認識我，但我們沒有真正見到面，一直到1995年我到芝加哥參觀並且訪問之前的教授時，我的教授把我介紹給所有的住院醫師，而陳醫師也是其中之一，我坐在他們的研討會之中，回想起過去我的學生生活，然後我看到一個有著寬闊肩膀的人擋住了我的視線，他就是Leon(陳醫師)！我開始注意到他，在演講結束後，我去了一趟過去我常作手術的診間，發現Leon(陳醫師)也在哪裡作手術，我問他是否有助手可以幫助他，他說沒有人可以幫助他，所以我自願協助他，後來我才發現他剛拒絕了兩個要幫助他的牙醫助理，我不知道他是怎麼知道我會來幫助他，而拒絕了助理，但在我協助他的同時，我們開始談論起對方的生活，而我們做手術的這名病人聽著我們的談話，他正是我們談戀愛的見證人，回想起來，這是一個有趣的回憶，第二天之後，我們就開始出去約會。

Vivian：哇！這是一個可愛的故事，而且很驚人的，在這麼短的時間，你們倆收穫了許多，不僅發展這個驚人的機構，而且擴大治療中心在世界各地，還在同一時間內撫養5個孩子...
車醫師：嗯，這些成就並不是一開始就計劃好的，實際上一切都發生地很自然，這一切都開始於陳醫師革命發明的水壓鼻竇推高術，他是非常聰明和創新的。他不斷思考能減輕病人痛苦的作事方法，但最重要的，了解生物學上傷口的癒合，血流供應，細胞再生的來源是發明新的手術技術的關鍵；大部分的醫生執行的手術方法是在教科書上學的，或是在大學的時候學的，但這並不意味著它是最好的方式，所有的醫生們在學校學習基礎科學和生物學，這是為了讓醫生了解這種技術的原因，而不僅僅是複製技術；隨著科學的發達，課本的知識有一直在變，而陳醫師作的是創新的術式，有一次，其他醫生們發現了他的鼻竇上推的技術是如何更容易，更快，更成功地讓病人接受，他們都希望能夠學習，其他牙科學會、學院，也開始邀約陳醫師講課，使他們能夠學習，為他們的患者提供服務；另外我們也開始為來自世界各地的醫生團體上課，藉由看陳醫師手術的過程去學習，參加上課課程的醫生人數非常多，即使空間很擁擠，醫生們也都願意支付學費來學習；有一天，從辦公室回家的途上，他看到DII這座建築物要出售，他非常興奮地打電話告訴我，因為當他從牙周專科畢業時，他就非常喜歡這座建築，對他而言，這座建築是一個完美的地方作為他的植牙教育學院；至於其他新技術的發明則是因為患者的需求，在拉斯維加斯這裡，我們變成了非常著名的植牙專家，拉斯維加斯是一個有趣的地方，在這裡，我們擁有近200萬人口，但只有6％的人口在控制這個城市，當地居民能夠負擔得起全口使用植牙重建的人口是相當有限的，因為大部分的人總是在拉斯維加斯來來去去，我們有很多的病人平時是住在紐約，芝加哥，加拿大，到了冬季，他們會住在拉斯維加斯避寒，他們都是退休的工程師，主流的企業家，擁有多項專利的發明家，政治家，電影明星；他們真正了解基礎生物學，植牙機制，他們都很認同陳醫師的發明和技術，他們甚至要求我們提出新的創新技術，讓他們植牙完成的速度比傳統方式快，於是我們與病人談論和思考的可能性，然後當Leon和我回家的時候，我們進一步談論這個問題並且想辦法改善，在我們教噵牙醫同行的技術中：Vertical Translation technique (VTT,牙齦拉皮美容)，Hydraulic Sinus technique (HSC,水壓鼻竇推高術)，Vertical and Horizontal ridge augmentation using VTT(垂直及水平方向的補骨)，植牙5合1的技術，以及最新的是Sinus invagination technique(鼻竇穿孔修補術)，這是一種修復鼻竇和口內相通的方法，經常發生在激烈地拔除上顎臼齒或是其他牙醫師植牙出錯的情況，這是一個由陳醫師發明的非常聰明的技術，在今年的牙周學院會議剛發表過，當時發表時的內容令許多人感到十分驚奇。

Vivian：哇！我以你們為榮，我感到非常自豪的是牙科植體學的進步是由一個台灣人作出的貢獻，你一定為他感到驕傲。
車醫師：是的，我以他為榮。但我不會直接告訴他，我感到非常光榮，雖然我真的是為他感到驕傲，因為他會太得意，認為DII對他而言已經不夠大，我想知道是什麼事耽誤他這麼久。讓我去看看發生什麼事了？

當車醫師去找陳醫生的時候，我在辦公室周圍四處看看，我看到了照片裡的上過課程的牙醫師，醫生們來自世界各地，年齡範圍從20幾歲到70幾歲都有，另外還有來自俄羅斯，巴基斯坦，澳大利亞，南非，非洲，德國，巴西，墨西哥，韓國，不計其數的醫師們所寫的感謝信，感謝學會了陳醫生的技術，另外，它使我感到非常自豪的是，陳醫師是台灣人，但是他有很多自世界各地的工作人員，這個地方感覺像聯合國，他們都很忙碌，但看起來很高興和輕鬆，後來陳醫師終於到了DII Bistro，並且跟我道歉他的遲到，顯然，在最後的手術結束時，病人有很多問題詢問他。

Vivian：你是如此辛勤的工作！我環顧了DII和很多來自世界各地欣賞你的牙醫師，你的看法覺得如何呢？
陳醫師：嗯，我知道我有一個很好的技術，幫助了很多病人，所以我想與同事分享我的秘密，這樣不僅是拉斯維加斯的病人，其他全球的病人也可以從中受益。

Vivian：我剛剛採訪了你的妻子，她對你的成就感到非常自豪。
陳醫師：真的嗎？她真的這麼說了嗎？她從來沒有告訴我這些事，她總是先批評我，每當我發明新的技術，展示在其他牙醫師之前，我要先經過她的批評，並獲得批准，她是我最見過嚴厲的評論家了！

Vivian：是的，她說她真的很為你的成就驕傲，她告訴我整個DII的歷史，如何與你相遇；現在我想問你，將來你對於你自己和DII有什麼計劃呢？這似乎是一個有無限潛力的事業。
陳醫師：是的，你說得對！植牙學的潛力是無止境的，牙科正在迅速地改變傳統的治療方式，在最近15年當中，牙科學有一個大躍進式的進步，我很高興成為其中的一份子，植牙學是未來的趨勢，植牙已被證明是比傳統牙科治療好，但它仍然是新的領域足以不斷地發展，悲哀的是我們的植牙技術在治療病人的發展速度遠遠超過的其他大學或牙周學院有10年之久，10年前我就已經在使用的材料在現今的學院會議上還在流行，這個問題都困擾著我。珍妮佛(車醫師)和我問我們自己，在過去的這些時間裡，其他醫生們都在做些什麼事情？或者只有我們在做這麼多的植牙治療，而且早就發現其實植牙是很重要的呢？終於，珍妮和我意識到，是的，這就是我們DII獨一無二的地方，它促使我們去宣揚DII的好處，以及我們可以安排未來的植牙學；我的下一個目標或計劃，就是藉由曾在DII學習過的傑出牙醫師的幫忙來擴大醫療中心，以便我們能夠增加受益於改進技術的病人數量，並提出自己的植牙系統，能更有助於植牙五合一的技術，我幾乎已經使用過所有可用的植體系統，我知道所有的植體的優點和缺點，而且我已經有某些功能專利，準備要納入我的新植體系統之中。

Vivian：陳醫師，你得了兩個牙醫師從沒得的獎項-台灣企業家獎和國家磐石獎，並且接受了馬英九總統的表揚，你的家人對於這些有何反應呢？
陳醫師：我的家人感到很自豪，而且早在五年前，我的父親就語重心長地告訴我“你在國外造福了很多外國人，但你是一個中國人，所以應該要對華人作出更多貢獻才對！才不枉費我在你小的時候就送你出國求學的苦心。”

Vivian：我們都知道你的植牙五合一的技術相當的有名，但是在如此短的時間內做完這麼多治療是否會降低成功率呢？是否需要有植牙認證才能作植牙五合一的技術呢？
陳醫師：植牙五合一的技術可說是縮短治療的療程、造福病人的一大發明，將拔牙、水壓推高鼻竇、垂直補骨、植牙和製作臨時假牙的治療集中在一次的療程就完成，不僅減少了病人接受多次麻醉、手術治療的次數，更可以縮短整個治療時間，很多人覺得我很快地完成手術，很不可思議！但是我認為醫學的發達進步應該朝向將複雜的術式簡化，降低手術的風險，而不是反其道而行，將病人的治療時間延誤到好幾年才完成，或是告訴病人本身的骨頭條件不足而不能植牙！植牙五合一的技術不僅不會降低成功率，更是所有病人的一大福祉！我們是以照顧病人全口健康美容為主，而不是走一步算一步的治療方式，除此之外，植牙五合一的技術是有專利權的，但是目前坊間有許多冒用我(陳俊龍)的名義在作植牙五合一的技術，所以我在此特地提醒大家一定要慎重選擇醫師作最完美的治療。

Vivian：有些牙醫師會告訴他們的病人你的治療廣告(植牙五合一的技術)誇張不實，你對此有何看法？
陳醫師：在十五年前，我的水壓推高鼻竇術也曾遭到牙醫師們的質疑，但是現在卻廣為流行，所以這已經不是第一次發生的事了！人們總是認為自己作不到的事情就不可能會發生，事實上，再怎樣困難的病例我都可以用五合一的技術去幫助病人，同時我也希望其他牙醫師們能打開心胸去精進自己的技術，就不會認為植牙五合一的技術是遙不可及的夢想，廣告的目的是讓大家早點知道有這個技術的存在，就不用接受多次手術的折磨，這樣才能造福更多病人！

Vivian：除了拉斯維加斯的病人之外，其他地區的病人是否有機會享受到你們植牙五合一的治療呢？
陳醫師：目前除了拉斯維加斯的醫學中心總部之外，我們已經陸續在美國加州(亞凱迪亞、比佛利山莊)、亞洲(上海、台北、東京)設置醫療分部。

Interview with Dr. Chen & Dr. Cha at Dental Implant Institute

It's been a while since I visited Las Vegas. I am here to interview the world famous implantologist, Dr. Leon Chen. I was picked up from the airport in their private limousine and arrived at the beautiful Dental Implant Institute. Located minutes from the airport and strip, their headquarters looks more like a luxury estate than a typical dental office. Lush green lawns, beautiful statues and refreshing waterfalls. Dr. Cha, wife of Dr. Chen, greeted me at the door and after a short tour we retreated to their café, the DII Bistro, for a chat.

Vivian: "This is an amazing ground. Did you do these interior decorating? Who loves art?"
Dr. Cha: "That's what everyone thinks, that I decorated it; but it's actually Dr. Chen who has the artistic eye to put it all together. He has the sensitive touch. We both love art. I guess you can say that we are both frustrated artists at heart."

Vivian: "It's amazing that in such short time, both of you accomplished a lot. Not only developing this amazing institute, but also expanding treatment centers all over the world. You are so successful. What do you attribute to?"
Dr. Cha: "Well, it actually all happened as a natural progress. It all started with Dr. Chen's revolutionary invention of Hydraulic Sinus Condensing Technique 15 years ago. He is very smart and innovative. He is constantly thinking of better way of invent new surgical technique."

Vivian: "I've heard that you have 5 children. That's amazing! Looking the way you do. Do you still practice?"
Dr. Cha: "Of course, I still practice. I've been practicing since 1991 and I haven't stopped. After my first child birth, I had a sense of timing for my delivery and I can schedule patients up to the last minute. But thank you for the compliment. It's hard to find time for myself but I try to take care of myself."

Vivian: "How did you meet Dr. Chen?"
Dr. Cha: Smiles… "Well, it's a long story but to make it short, we both went to same periodontal specialty program at Northwestern University in Chicago, except at different times. I was there in the perio program 2 years before he did. As I graduated and leaving, he came into the program. I've heard of this Taiwanese boy who wanted to meet me from a person who was below me and above Leon but we really didn't meet until 1995 when I went to visit Chicago and visited by professor. My old professor introduced me to all the new residents and Leon was one of them. I sat in through the seminar just to reminiscent my old school days and I saw this guy in front of me has a big shoulder and blocking my view, it was Leon. I started to check him out. After the lecture, I went strolling through the clinic where I used to do surgeries and that same cubicle of mine Leon was in there doing surgery by himself. I asked him if he had an assistant to help him and he said no one is available today to assist him, so I volunteered to assist him. Later I found out he sent away two dental assistants who wanted to assist him that morning. I don't know how he knew that I would come and assist him if he looked distressed with no assistants. We started talking to each other while we were doing surgery on this patient. You should have seen the patient. He had his mouth open and was really into our conversation of hitting on each other. Looking back, it was a funny sight. Next day, we went out on a date and the rest is history."

Vivian: "Wow! That is a cute story. It's amazing that in such a short time, both of you accomplished a lot. Not only developed this amazing institute but also expanding treatment centers all over the world and raising five children at the same time…"
Dr. Cha: "Well, it did not start out as a grand plan. It actually all happened as a natural progress. It all started with Leon's revolutionary invention of Hydraulic Sinus Condensing Technique. He is very smart and innovative. He is constantly thinking of better way of doing things. But most importantly, understanding the fundamentals of biology of wound healing, blood supply and where the cells are coming from for cell regeneration is the key to inventing new surgical technique. It's very typical for most of the doctors to only perform the surgical techniques that is in the text book or the way that university is teaching; but that doesn't mean it's the best way. All the doctors were taught in schools the basic science and biology. That is so that doctors will understand the reason for such technique, not just copy the technique. Thinking outside of the box going back to the basic biology is where all our, DII, technique is coming from. Once, other doctors found out of his sinus lift technique and realized how much easier, quicker, successful, and better accepted by the patients, they all wanted to learn. They, the dental societies, dental academies, started inviting Leon to lecture about this HSC so they can learn to service their patients. We started getting requests for big groups of doctors who wanted to come to his private practice to watch him do this procedure to learn. Well it was getting pretty crowded and doctors were willing to pay any tuition to learn. One day, on his way home from the office, he saw this building for sale. He called me all excited. He always admired this building way back when he first graduated from perio program. This building was a perfect place for his institute. The rest is history. The other new techniques he invented after that was by patients demand. We became pretty well known in Vegas to be the cutting edge implantologists. Las Vegas is an interesting place. We have close to 2 million in population, but only 6% of that population runs this city. The numbers of local population who can afford full mouth reconstruction using dental implants are limited. But the fact that it's Las Vegas, a lot of the well to do population who lives else where do own homes in Vegas and live part of the time. We have a lot of patients who live in New York, Chicago, Canada, and live here during the winter time. They are all retired engineers businessmen, inventors themselves with several patents under their belt. They actually understand the basis of biology, mechanics of dental implants and really command Leon's technique more than our dental peers. They even demand or suggest new innovative techniques to us to come up with to get their teeth faster than traditional way. We talk about it with patients and think about the possibilities then when Leon and I come home, we talk about it further and brain storm. The proven new techniques we are teaching to our dental peers are: Vertical Translation technique (VTT), Hydraulic Sinus technique (HSC), Vertical and Horizontal ridge augmentation using VTT, 5 in 1 technique, and the latest is the Sinus invagination technique, which is a way to repair communication between the mouth to sinus, which often happens with aggressive upper molar extractions or dental implant gone wrong by the other dentists. That is a very ingenious technique invented by Leon that dropped a lot of jaws in this years' perio academy meeting.

Vivian: "Wow! I am so proud of you guys. I am getting the chills, I feel very proud that a fellow Taiwanese has contributed a great deal to the advancement of implant dentistry. You must be very proud of him."
Dr. Cha: "Yes, I am very proud. But I may not tell him directly that I am very proud but I am. His head may get too big and this institute may not be big enough for him. (Laughs!). I wonder what's taking him so long. Let me go see what's going on?"

While Dr. Cha went to check on Dr. Chen, I got to look around the office. I saw class pictures of course graduates. Doctors from all over the world, ages' ranging from 20's to 70's. Thank you letters from the doctors who learned the technique from Dr. Chen from Russia, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, Africa, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, and can't keep count. Again, it made me feel very proud that Dr. Chen is Taiwanese. There was a lot of staff. This place feels like UN. All the employees were also from all over the world it seems. They were all very busy, but look very happy and relaxed. Dr. Chen finally came in to the "Bistro" apologizing. Apparently, the last surgery patient had a lot of questions.

Vivian: "You are so hard working! I was looking around the institute and you have a lot of dentist fans who appreciate you so much from all over the world! How do you feel about that?"
Dr. Chen: "Well, I knew I had a good technique that helped a lot of my patients so I wanted to share my secret with my colleagues so the patients from all over the globe can benefit too, not only Las Vegas."

Vivian: "I got to have a nice interview with your wife. She is very proud of you."
Dr. Chen: "Really? She said that? She never tells me. She is always first to criticize me. Whenever I invent something, I have to pass by her criticism first and get approval from her point of view before I can even show it to any other doctors. She is my worst critic."

Vivian: "Yes, she really said she was very proud of you. She told me the whole history of how the institute became what it is now to how you two met. Now I would like to ask you what is your future plan with yourself and your institute. It seems like the potential is endless."
Dr. Chen: "Yes, you are right! The potential of implant dentistry is endless. Dentistry is rapidly changing from the traditional way. It took a leap in last 15 years and I am glad to be part of it. Implant dentistry is the future. It is a very interesting era right now. It's a historical moment. Implant dentistry is proven to be better than the traditional dentistry yet it's new enough where it's constantly evolving. But the sad thing is our technique of delivering implant therapy to our patient is evolving 10 years faster than the universities or perio academy. The stuff I used to talk about 10 years ago is now being fashionable to talk about in the academy meetings. That is so puzzling to me. Jennifer and I ask ourselves in the past 'what are these doctors doing all this time? Or is it just us who are doing so many implants and seeing what's important so much earlier than the rest of the world?' Now finally, Jennifer and I realized, 'yes", it's us that is unique. It motivated us to spread the benefits of DII and how we can pave the future of implant dentistry. My next goal or plan is to expand the treatment centers with the help of our top alumni from our institute so we can increase the number of patients who can benefit from the improved technique from DII and also come up with my own implant system that would be conducive with the DII techniques like HSC, 5 in 1 etc. I have used all the implant systems available out there right now. I know all the good features from all the systems and bad features of all the systems. I already have patents in some features I want to incorporate into my new system."

Vivian: "You have won the two most recognized awards in Taiwan; the Taiwan entrepreneur award, and the Presidential national award, not one dentist ever won these two awards! How did your family respond with your recognition nationally?"
Dr. Chen: "They were proud of me. It was my father who mentioned to me about 5 years ago that it's important for me to return to my own heritage, and contribute to Taiwan. That was the reason why, he sent me to America to study, when I was 13."

Vivian: "What is the 5 in 1 technique? Do doctors perform this need to be certified?"
Dr. Chen: "Yes, my techniques are often imitated. Be sure your doctor has the proper training and certifications. We treat your mouth wellness as a whole, not one tooth at a time. The body always heals the best after first surgery. Therefore, we pioneered 5 procedures all in one surgery hence 5 in 1."

Vivian: "Some dentists feel that 5 in 1 technique is all a hype and marketing. What is your response to that opinion?"
Dr. Chen: "If a dentist cannot perform it, they cannot imagine the benefit of such a technique. I hope that other dentists can open their minds to advance their own techniques. Then they won't think 5 in 1 is a dream anymore! This same incident had already happened to me when I invented Hydraulic Sinus Condensing (HSC) technique 15 years ago. Now, dentists are just starting to accept and perform HSC themselves."

Vivian: "Besides patients in Las Vegas, do patients in other countries have opportunities to benefit 5 in 1 treatment?"
Dr. Chen: "Yes?We are still expanding the technology to California (Arcadia, Beverly Hills), Asia(Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo)! "

 

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