In 1976, Dr. Robert A. James, then a professor of restorative dentistry, helped found the first university-based Advanced Dental Education Program in Oral Implantology in the world. The program began with a handful of graduate students in Loma Linda University School of Dentistry's Faculty Dental Office on Taylor Street, built on a new idea: that implant dentistry deserved a rigorous academic home.
Dr. James had worked in implantology for nearly a decade before joining the School's faculty in 1969. He earned a master's degree in oral pathology in 1972 and was recognized worldwide as both an educator and a researcher in the emerging field of dental implants. His research includes the first description of implant-tissue interface, foundational work that shaped how clinicians understand the relationship between a dental implant and the tissue surrounding it, and the program was grounded in that research from its first day.
The program's first certificate candidate, Dr. Robert Capone, was a Los Angeles based dentist who attended part time and completed the program in 1980. Its first full-time student, Dr. Phillip Lindley, enrolled in 1982 and graduated in 1985.
A Student's Idea Changes the Field
In 1983, Dr. Harold Truitt, then a student in the program, initiated a research protocol using computed tomography to generate a three-dimensional model of a patient's jaw, built with early CAD/CAM-like technology. The model was an exact replica of the patient's maxillofacial anatomy, eliminating the need for a direct bone impression, previously the first and most invasive step in designing a subperiosteal implant, and changing how clinicians planned the procedure going forward.
Decades before 3D printing and digital scanning became standard in dentistry, a student had already shown what was possible. That legacy continues: today's graduate students and faculty use 3D printing, photogrammetry, and materials such as zirconia, building on the digital modeling approach Dr. Truitt introduced.
Growing a Discipline
In 1985, Dr. Jaime L. Lozada, the program's fifth graduate student, and Dr. Sascha A. Jovanovic, its first intern, placed the program's first root-form implants on a fully edentulous patient under Dr. James's supervision. In 1987, after completing his certificate in oral implantology, Dr. Lozada became the first full-time instructor to join Dr. James, who until then had been the program's only faculty member.
The 1990s brought rapid growth to the program. Early in the decade, Dr. James and then-Dean Judson Klooster successfully proposed a Master of Science (MS) track, lengthening the program from two to three years. After the University accepted the application, Dr. Silvio Emanuelli became its first graduate. Rising enrollment caused the program to outgrow its original facility, and in 1993, the program moved into a new, state-of-the-art clinic on the northeast corner of Prince Hall's second floor. A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the opening and was attended by Dr. James, Dr. Lozada, Dr. Klooster, and then-University President Lyn Behrens.
A New Director and a Growing Program
On February 19, 1994, Dr. James passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack, and more than 300 people attended his memorial service, remembering him as a devoted husband and father, a clinician, and a researcher.
Dr. Lozada succeeded Dr. James as program director later that year, when the program's name changed from Oral Implantology to Implant Dentistry, reflecting the direction of the discipline nationally. Under Dr. Lozada's leadership, the program continued to grow, and in 1995, the internship program expanded into a formal fellowship, opening the program to graduate students from prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, periodontics, and endodontics.
In 2000, Dr. Lozada and then-Dean Charles Goodacre produced the country's first CD-ROM-based implant dentistry education program, distributed free to every dental student in the country through an educational grant from Nobel Biocare. Dr. Lozada helped shape national clinical guidelines as part of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry's first Consensus Conference in 2003, served as the Academy's president from 2007 to 2008, and received the Isaiah Lew Memorial Research Award.
In 2013, the Robert A. James Loma Linda University Implant Dentistry Society was founded to connect the program's graduates, fellows, interns, and friends. The members continue to support the program Dr. James helped establish.
Fifty Years Later
Today, 50 years after Dr. James welcomed his first graduate students into a clinic on Taylor Street, the Advanced Dental Education Program in Implant Dentistry at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry has trained clinicians who now teach the next generation of implant specialists.
The program will mark the milestone September 24-25, 2026, with the 50th Anniversary Implant Dentistry Symposium and Gala, where all speakers on the schedule are alumni of the program. The Gala, an anniversary dinner honoring five decades of research and education, takes place the evening of September 24.
Looking ahead, the program is preparing for a new clinic in the School's Mountain View Avenue building, which will undergo renovations in the near future. Fundraising for the project is underway, which will give LLUSD graduate students a clinic that is equipped with the latest technology. Please use the links below to register for the event or to donate towards the new clinic space.
Register here: bit.ly/imp50
Learn more about supporting the new Mountain View Avenue clinic: bit.ly/50IMP