Pediatric endodontics can be confusing and challenging. Choosing the right treatment plan is dependent on a multitude of factors: primary vs. permanent tooth, pulpal state, open vs. closed apex, estimated retention time for the tooth, and a variety of materials to use. To make things just a bit tougher, you’re usually dealing with a patient with limited cooperation and…
Even the most experienced dentists have a hard time achieving inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) anesthesia 100% of the time. Although the numbers can vary with every study, it’s reported that IAN anesthesia failure can be as high as 48%. Nothing can put fear in your soul like when a patient jumps up when you’re 30 seconds into drilling…
It’s Friday afternoon. You’re ready to go home. You’ve extracted a tooth on the maxilla, and now you see an itty-bitty hole in bottom of the tooth socket. Could it be…a sinus perforation? This can lead to a lot of problems down the road for the patient. In fact, tooth extractions are not the only way oroantral communications (OAC) can happen. Dental…
Platelet Rich Fibrin also known as PRF Platelet rich fibrin also known as PRF has gained popularity for use in surgical procedures to help heal the site more rapidly and effectively through it’s potential ability to stimulate regeneration of a variety tissue types. What is it? It is the patient’s own blood collected at the…
When practicing dentistry everyday, we can loose track of the foundational knowledge underlying routine procedures. Today, we hope to refresh your knowledge, by presenting a case that shows percise and clean dentistry. An endodontically treated tooth most often has a lot of missing tooth structure. The downfalls of cast posts to replace this structure are widely…
The following presentation is the first part of our case series on the management of ectopic eruption of teeth. Part 1 As we’ve discovered in our previous article, autotransplantation can be a viable means of replacing teeth. This procedure, however, requires a very technique sensitive protocol and management by means of multidisciplinary team and implementation of…
Case Report:18 months after the initial cementation of a 3 unit fixed partial denture (FPD), a 48-year old woman returned to the office due to fracturing of the same FPD. Records showed that the FPD was made from a zirconia framework and veneered porcelain. The patient presented with the fractured portion of the FPD in…
Dentists who have removed a fixed orthodontic appliance, at some point, have asked themselves…did I remove the entire composite? Am I shaving away the enamel now? If you leave too much bonding material, you are risking discoloration, plaque buildup, decalcification and caries. If you remove too much, you are removing sound enamel, causing tooth damage and…
Amalgam tattoos in the esthetic zone is a tricky problem to solve. Recent research shows that superficial pigmentations can be treated easily with lasers. However, deeper tattoos can involve soft-tissue, bones and periosteum – as can be seen in areas with endodontic amalgam retro- fills. Case Report A 45 years old female presented to the clinic…
“The gingival flap distal to an erupting molar, an operculum, can cause a lot of havoc.” An operculum can lead either to pain caused by the occlusion of the opposing maxillary molar or by local inflammation/infection (pericoronitis) because of food debris and plaque accumulation between the tooth surface and the gingival flap. The painful and/or inflamed/infected operculum…