Periodontal Prosthesis, taught as a System of Reasoning — not a list of procedures.
The Perio-Prosth Institute develops the clinical cognitive skills required to diagnose, plan, sequence, and manage complex treatment as one biologic, biomechanical, esthetic, and functional system.
Grounded in the principles of Periodontal Prosthesis and advanced through The PPI Method™, PPI expands the clinician’s field of vision, strengthens clinical judgement, and supports the comprehensive scope of care the patient actually needs.
One philosophy. One diagnosis. One restorative vision. One long-term risk strategy.
Complex Cases Cannot Be Solved One Tooth at a Time
Traditional continuing education organizes knowledge by discipline or procedure. Complex patients do not present that way — biology, occlusion, restorative design, esthetics, and long-term maintenance are interdependent, and PPI teaches clinicians to read the architecture of the case before evaluating any single tooth, implant, or procedure within it.
SEE MORE. KNOW MORE. SOLVE MORE.
A missing tooth or failing restoration is often the visible symptom of factors that extend well beyond the presenting complaint. A clinician trained to examine the tooth in isolation treats the symptom; a clinician trained to examine the system treats the cause — not just replacing the missing tooth, but completing a comprehensively restored case, one capable of remaining stable, functional, and esthetic over time.
What is Periodontal Prosthesis?
Multidisciplinary care brings multiple disciplines together. Interdisciplinary care coordinates their contributions. Periodontal Prosthesis is a unified philosophy of care that integrates periodontal biology, restorative biomechanics, orthodontic principles, esthetics, function, and long-term prognosis from the outset of treatment planning.
Every diagnosis is biological. Every restoration is biomechanical. Every treatment plan is systemic.
The PPI Method™
The PPI Method™ is Dr. Ernesto Lee’s proprietary educational framework for applying Periodontal Prosthesis as a rigorous, teachable clinical discipline. It codifies the reasoning by which clinicians interpret evidence, establish priorities, test the clinical premises of a proposed reconstruction, and determine whether its biological and biomechanical foundation is sufficiently sound to justify definitive treatment. By making this reasoning explicit and deliberate, the PPI Method™ allows expert judgment to be taught, scrutinized, refined, and applied with greater consistency.
That reasoning is expressed in four principles:
Recognize what has been overlooked.
Build a better solution.
Defend it with evidence.
Improve patient care.
The PPI Diplomate Program™
The PPI Diplomate Program™ is a selective 3-year pathway for practitioners seeking to expand the scope of their diagnostic ability and depth of their clinical skills through the application of contemporary Periodontal Prosthesis principles. It changes the unit of analysis from the individual tooth or procedure to the system requirements necessary to support the longevity of the reconstruction.
PPI expands the clinician’s field of vision, revealing aspects of the case and contributing factors that often remain unrecognized, and enabling practitioners to provide the comprehensive scope of care the patient actually needs.
Participants learn through complete clinical cases, from initial presentation to treatment and follow-up, using critical observation, interpretation of evidence, disciplined case analysis, formal case presentations, and direct comparison between intended strategy and outcome. The emphasis is on understanding why a reconstruction succeeds, where it is vulnerable, and how clinical judgment can be made more precise, defensible, and consistent.
The founding cohort will be limited to 24 admitted clinicians to preserve direct faculty contact, active seminar participation, and the depth of discussion required for genuine mastery.
*Diplomate of the Perio-Prosth Institute” is a credential awarded by the Perio-Prosth Institute, a private continuing education provider, for completion of its educational program. It is not a recognized specialty of the ADA or the Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry and does not constitute board certification.
Founded by Dr. Ernesto Lee
Dr. Ernesto Lee is a dual-trained clinician, educator, author, and innovator with 30 years of academic and private practice experience. He completed advanced training in Periodontics and Periodontal Prosthesis/Fixed Prosthodontics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he later served as a Clinical Professor and Program Director for 12 years.
Through PPI, Dr. Lee has codified a contemporary framework for preserving, advancing and transferring the prognosis-driven, system-level principles that shaped his clinical and academic career.
Former Director, University of Pennsylvania Postgraduate Periodontal Prosthesis Program. 2005-2017
Co-Author, Goldstein’s Esthetics in Dentistry, Third Edition.
Developer of the S.M.A.R.T.® Minimally Invasive Bone Grafting Technique.
The Perio-Prosth Institute has no affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania or Penn Dental Medicine. References to Penn are historical.
S.M.A.R.T.® and Advanced Technique Courses
Separate from the non-surgical core curriculum of the PPI Diplomate Program, the Institute offers advanced education in specialized surgical, restorative, and strategies for the management of complications.
These offerings include the S.M.A.R.T.® minimally invasive bone grafting technique, the S.M.A.R.T.® Live Patient Clinical Mastership Program, and future focused programs addressing complex clinical scenarios that require technical training beyond the core curriculum.
