IMHO, artificial discs forced the medical community to do a better job of correctly diagnosing the pain generators, rather than just treating the levels that looked worse on imaging. The demands of remobilizing the system are greater and do require much more accurate diagnosis. (Read this as embracing discography!)
The increased accuracy of diagnosis for ADR has had benefits in fusion technology as well... better diagnosis means more successful surgeries... or less failures.
Off the soap box now...
Mark
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