September 19th, 2009 by admin
When anesthetic has been used, your lips, cheek and tongue may be numb for several hours after the appointment. To prevent injury, avoid any chewing until the numbness has completely worn off.
It is normal to experience some hot, cold and pressure sensitivity after your appointment.
Your gums may be sore for a few days. Rinse three times a day with warm salt water (add a tsp. of salt to a cup of warm water, then rinse, swish and spit) to reduce discomfort, if needed.
Use medication only as directed. Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
One-third of pre-school children have significant tooth wear
• One-half of teenagers show tooth surface loss on incisor teeth that is
largely due to erosion
• Approximately 7 per cent of adults exhibit ‘pathological’ wear,
which requires some form of management or treatment
• There is some evidence that tooth wear due to erosion is increasing
in the child and young adult population
September 8th, 2009 by admin
Tooth wear is usually due to a combination of processes, the
‘triumvirate’ of abrasion, attrition, and erosion. It is unusual for
wear to be solely attributed to one of these. Rather, tooth wear is
due to all three processes with perhaps one of these predominating.
Abrasion is loss of tooth substance from the friction of a foreign
body, often a toothbrush. There are case reports of many quite Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
Breach of protective enamel coverage opens dentine to the mouth
and places the pulp at risk. The consequences depend on the extent
of tissue injury, the nature of any insults which come to bear, and
the underlying condition of the pulp. These can range from minor
dentine sensitivity to pulp necrosis and serious spreading infection.
Dentine and pulp are anatomically and functionally linked and should be considered together as a dentine–pulp complex.
Dentine encases and provides physical protection for the body of
the pulp and the cytoplasmic processes of its peripheral odontoblasts, Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
In pristine health, the dental pulp is protected from injury by dentine,
enamel, and a sound investing periodontium. The majority of
threats to pulpal health come through the crown after loss or damage
to enamel. Enamel, which is 2.5 mm thick over cusp tips and has the
hardness of mild steel, acts as a simple physical barrier against the
oral environment. Chemically, it is composed of 96% mineral with
4% organic matter, but no cells. Its capacity to remineralize after
acidic challenge is well-documented, but it is incapable of new Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
An additional preventive tool to halt caries progression is fissure
sealing. If the patient or parent cannot totally prevent the
establishment of the biofilm in pits and fissures of the erupting or
erupted teeth, then we need to look at alternative means of
protecting these vulnerable sites. Occluding the pit or fissure
mechanically is one such means.
Fissure sealants are materials that are chemico-mechanically
retained within the pit or fissure, and thus prevent the ingress of
biofilm. Provided the sealant material is retained in its entirety
and that there is no marginal leakage, such vulnerable sites
remain free of caries. Fissure Sealing
September 8th, 2009 by admin
The management of active caries always requires preventive treatment,
and in cases in which cavities preclude plaque control,
operative treatment is also needed. Figure 5.21 provides a caries
control checklist that practitioners and other members of the dental team may find useful. The term preventive treatment is
used because this implies active intervention by the dental team
that is skilful, time-consuming, and worthy of payment. It is not
an ‘observe’ or a ‘wait and watch’ approach.
All patients should be put into a caries risk category, either
high or low with all others designated as medium risk.
September 8th, 2009 by admin
It is important to recognize active enamel caries at the stage of the
white spot lesion so that preventive treatment has a chance to
arrest lesion progression.
Prerequisites for early diagnosis
Caries diagnosis requires
• good lighting
• clean teeth
• a three-in-one syringe so that teeth can be viewed both wet Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
Histopathological features of
enamel caries
Enamel reactions during eruption
When a tooth erupts into the oral cavity, the enamel is fully mineralized.
Normal and sound enamel consists of crystals of hydroxyapetite
so tightly packed that the enamel has a glass-like
appearance. It is translucent and the dentine shines through to Read the rest of this entry »
September 8th, 2009 by admin
The previous sections concentrated on individual lesions, but
these lesions are clustered in individuals. It is important to assess
an individual patient’s susceptibility to carious lesion formation
and progression. This is an important part of contemporary
practice for the following reasons:
• it makes economic sense to target preventive treatments at
the appropriate risk group.
• dental care neither begins nor ends with a single course of Read the rest of this entry »
