Dr Arturo Hruska, a long-time Fellow and Honored Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), recently died in Rome, Italy after a brief illness. His close and adoring family—his dear wife, daughter, son, and grandchildren—and many colleagues and fellow professionals, loved him.
Dr Hruska graduated from La Sapienza University Medical School in Rome in 1965. Following this, he served as a general surgeon at the St. Giacomo Hospital and then at a missionary hospital in Mozambique. Upon his return to Rome two years later, he completed the dental school program at La Sapienza and implemented his training at the University of Hamburg under the tutelage of Professor Rehrman. This was followed by half-year and one-year preceptorships with Drs Henry Glickman (Tufts), P. Posselt (Malmö), and C. Pincus and P. K. Thomas (Los Angeles).
After returning to private practice in Italy, he began to limit his professional activities to implantology and prosthodontics. His early interests were inspired by Jacques Scialom (Paris) and Leonard Linkow (New York), studies of root form and subperiosteal implants, and subperiosteals of many designs and configurations. In the past decade, his practice embodied the principles of guided tissue regeneration, sinus floor elevation, bone grafting, and nerve repositioning. On many occasions, both public and private, he had acknowledged with gratitude the contributions to his skills made by Drs Chérchève, Hahn, Linkow, and Tatum.
An author as well as a lecturer, Dr Hruska produced 18 articles in refereed journals both in Italy and other western countries. He was a successful and valued contributor to the Journal of Oral Implantology. Among his greatest achievements were his engineering capabilities. He was the recipient of 9 international patents awarded for his famous intraoral welding machine and for a decontamination device applicable to titanium castings. These inventions permitted the widespread techniques of using cast titanium for restorative prostheses. In addition to his long association with the AAID, he was a member or fellow of numerous other European and international dental implant groups. More recently, in 1998, Dr Hruska was elected the president of the Academia Italiana di Stomatoligia Implantoprotesica.
Dr Hruska did not come by his profession by chance; he was a member of the third generation of a family that included 14 dentists within a period of 120 years. Though not widely known, their clientele included Popes, Czars, and members of several royal families. None of these inherited or acquired accolades influenced Arturo Hruska's modesty, empathy, generosity, and dedication as a skilled and humane physician who will be deeply missed by the family, friends, and colleagues who loved him.
Editor's Note:Much of this notice had been contributed by Eleonora Marzaduri, MD, Dr Hruska's daughter and partner in practice.
