From April 22 to 24, 2004, the Osteology 2004 Symposium took place in Lucerne, Switzerland, where practitioners convened with researchers to address emerging solutions for hard and soft tissue challenges encountered when treating implant and periodontal deformities. Esthetics emerged as a topic of particular interest, as contemporary clinicians are increasingly encountering patients seeking improvement in their appearance. The Scientific Chair of the congress, Dr Daniel Buser, emphasized that, "Continued education is the key to achieving high-quality results in practice." More than 2,000 participants from 51 countries were eager to discover new treatment regimens for augmenting jawbone and soft tissues. The sessions were an example of the progress that ensues when practitioners, clinical researchers, and industry work in union toward a common goal. Osteology 2004 was organized by the Geistlich Foundation, which was established in August 2003 by ten scientists representing seven countries. This was the first of many activities that will promote application-oriented research relating to tissue regeneration. Since this high level of continuing education was not available to all of our readership, it has been decided to publish the following abstracts (only the principal author is listed). We anticipate that they will provide meaningful information.