All posts by admin_alan

dental tips

What Should You Pay Attention on the Procedure of Cosmetic Dentistry

Although dentures are not considered a cosmetic dentistry procedure, they provide a cosmetic benefit for people who have lost all or some of their teeth. People who are missing only certain teeth, or rows of teeth, may be better served by a dental bridge or dental implants. It is best to have your situation evaluated by a dental professional in order to establish candidacy for any of these procedures.

The level of sedation necessary for cosmetic dentistry procedures depends on several factors, including:

Your health and medical history.
The procedure being performed.
Your dentist’s familiarity with sedation modalities.

Most people do not require a high level of sedation during cosmetic dental procedures.

Smoking is a leading cause of tooth loss. Smokers also have an increased risk for periodontal disease (gum disease), leukoplakia, loss of bone structure, inflammation of the salivary gland, and development of lung, throat, or oral cancer. Smokers therefore face an additional set of considerations when exploring cosmetic dentistry treatment.

One restriction for smokers involves dental implants. Smoking increases the risk that a dental implant will fail to integrate with bone tissue (osseointegration). Smoking also affects gum health, and unhealthy gums can lead to dental implant failure. If you smoke, you need to quit before having an implant.

Another restriction involves led teeth whitening. If you whiten your teeth but continue to smoke, the whitening effect will not last as long, because smoking stains the teeth.

some children and adolescents may have severely discolored teeth as a result of taking certain medications. Or, the front teeth may have been fractured due to an accident or sports injury and require composite bonding or veneers. In other instances, there still may be slight gaps or spaces between the teeth even after orthodontics, so perhaps composite bonding would enhance the look of the smile.

If your child or teenager is concerned about the appearance of his or her smile, make an appointment to see your dentist. He or she will suggest the most appropriate course of action based on your child’s age, oral condition and desires, as well as possibly refer you to a cosmetic dentist for consultation.

dental equipment

The Best Dental Equipment Closely Relates to Supplier

As a health care professional, an dentist must choose trustworthy and reliable dental equipment suppliers to practice successfully. Dental instruments in must be of the highest quality to ensure that patients get the best treatment.

Quality is the first priority: Not surprisingly, dentists invest in the best quality dental instruments as it determines the quality of patient care.Dentists choose the best chairs, autoclave sterilizers, hand instruments, amalgamators, drills, dental suction unit and other tools they need.

Prior to the purchase, a lot of research goes into finding the right supplier to compare costs, support and service and select the ones that suit their needs. These days, much of this research can be accomplished via the internet. Although it is easy to get brochures describing the various instruments, Dentists prefer to check the dental instruments personally before they decide to purchase them.

With expensive digital and electronic dental instruments, live demonstrations are always called for, before making the decision to buy or lease them. Some dentists prefer to go in for financing to fund high-value purchases.

Choosing the best dental instruments starts with finding a good supplier. Besides state-of-the-art equipment, reputable dental equipment suppliers support their dental instrumentswith a strong warranty and prompt customer service through trained, certified staff. Some suppliers offer the facility of billing after a brief trial period where the dentist can use the instruments and decide whether they match his needs. Another important aspect of supplier-selection is zero equipment down-time.

A good business relationship with the supplier is paramount as it will have a significant impact on this dentist’s practice and reputation. Most suppliers have trained sales staff that can advise the dentist about the advantages of various instruments, especially in the high-value range. Depending on the dentist’s practice a variety of standard and specialist tools may be required.

The supplier takes the trouble to understand the dentist’s practice and its specific needs before recommending dental instruments. This not creates loyal customers for the supplier’s business, but also saves the dentist the trouble of choosing the wrong equipment.

dental equipment, dental tips

How Can You Know Dental Handpiece not Work Properly

The dental handpiece is the most used piece of equipment in any dental practice today. This piece of equipment is used in almost every dental procedure, so recognizing the signs that your handpiece isn’t working properly is critical to the productivity of your practice and the comfort of your patients.

The air driven handpiece is still the mainstay within the industry, but electric handpieces are being used more and more as technology advances. The newest technology takes components from both air driven and electric handpieces.

Understanding how to properly clean and maintain these handpieces, as well as their components, will help the clinician achieve optimal results. You should clean your
dental handpiece with a soft bristle brush & warm water before autoclaving to remove any organic material that might corrode your handpiece. It is not advised to use detergents or soaps, as they can destroy the optics, get into the bearings & weaken the lubrication, which can reduce the life of your dental handpiece.

Reduction in Speed: Over time, especially if the handpiece is used a lot, the rotation speed decreases. This is caused by a number of things, but the most common is a faulty turbine. This sign is important, because the loss of speed in your handpiece will prevent you from performing timely and successful treatments.

Vibrations: If your handpiece starts to vibrate, then this can be an indication the bearings are wearing out or loose. Additionally, this problem can be caused by lack of lubrication. If this is the case, you will need to have the handpiece repaired by a handpiece repair specialist.

Disturbed rhythm: If your handpiece makes clunking noises and rotates irregularly, this could be a motor or turbine problem. This is often caused by old age or a lack of regular servicing, and you will need to get your brushless micro motor or turbine replaced. This will ensure consistently smooth revolutions that don’t pose such a risk to the teeth and gums of your patients.

Makes Noise: If your handpiece starts makings a loud chunking noise, this is an indication that the handpiece was probably dropped and the head was dented. Once this happens, the impeller within the turbine is compromised due to the drop. When the impeller within the turbine isn’t rotating smoothly the turbine will fail causing the bur to slip.

If you notice any of these signs with your dental handpieces, it is important to quickly find a reputable handpiece repair company to help protect your investment, minimize your handpiece downtime and keep your handpieces running at optimal performance.

dental tips

The Most Critical Step in Root Canal Therapy

In the past, access cavities were standardized mainly dependent on the tooth type. However, with the advent of modern endodontic motor techniques using a dental operation microscope & loupes providing magnification & better illumination, the ‘ideal’ access cavity preparation has evolved from being based on individual tooth type to the preparation based on the shape of the pulp chamber morphology of the tooth being treated.

Access is the first & arguably the most important phase of non-surgical root canal treatment. However, it can be the most challenging and frustrating aspect of endodontic treatment. Therefore, for successful treatment, good access cavity design and preparation is imperative for quality endodontic treatment, prevention of iatrogenic problems & prevention of endodontic failure.

As novices to root canal therapy ourselves, one of the worst nightmares during access cavity preparation is perforation. Furthermore, there are several aspects of access cavity preparation that could go wrong without the correct knowledge & guidance that plagued us during our graduation days. Now, however, being armed with the correct knowledge & guidance, we can recognise the cause & prevent these procedural errors during treatment by following a set of few simple laws & guidelines that govern & dictate the access cavity preparation.

Access into the pulp chamber and the root canal system is the most critical step in root canal therapy. Unlike other aspects of Dentistry, root canal therapy is carried out with limited visual guidance. This, coupled with complex anatomy of the root canal system & various pathological conditions, makes the preparation of an ideal access a crucial step to gain success in treatment. Therefore, the objective of a well designed access cavity is to create a smooth, straight line path to the root canal system, while retaining as much tooth structure as possible.

Therefore, the purpose of this article is to highlight the common iatrogenic errors by General Dental Practitioners due to the lack of knowledge & awareness of certain internal anatomic features for a given tooth.

For more information, please visit: https://www.alandental.com/category-82-b0-Dental-Pulp-Tester.html

dental tips

The Technique of Imaging in Endodontics

CT in addition to 3D images offer several advantages over conventional radiography: it eliminates anatomical noise and high contrast resolution, allows differentiation of tissues with less than 1% physical density difference to be distinguished in comparison to conventional radiography that requires 10%. When examining jaws, axial scans are usually acquired to avoid artifacts caused by posts, crowns, and metallic fillings .

CT can even supply additional information about the morphology of the root-canal system provided that it does not contain metallic root-canal posts . However, the geometric resolution of CT is insufficient to reveal the exact shape of the root-canals , and a very high radiation dose is required to achieve a high enough resolution to assess root-canal anatomy in detail .CT may also be useful for the diagnosis of poorly localized odontogenic pain. In some circumstances in which periapical radiographs reveal nothing untoward, CT may confirm the presence of a periapical lesion .

The assessment of the ‘third dimension’ with CT imaging allows the determination of the number of roots and root canals,as well as where root canals join or divide. This knowledge is useful when diagnosing and managing failed endodontic motor treatment. CT can also be used to localize foreign bodies in the jaws such as gutta-percha and root-canal sealer. CT in endodontics has however some disadvantages such as the high radiation dose and the high costs of the scans . Other disadvantages are scatter due to metallic objects, relatively low resolution in comparison to conventional radiographs.

Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), another alternative CT technique, has been considered in endodontic imaging .The use of micro-CT remains a research tool limited to in vitro measurementsof small samples; due to the high radiation dose required, and cannot be employed for human imaging in vivo .

Ultrasound imaging is based on the reflection of sound waves (echoes), with a frequency outside the rangeof human hearing (1-20 kHz), at the interface of tissues which have different acoustic properties . The echoesare detected by a transducer which converts them into an electrical signal, and a real-time black, white and shades of grey echo picture is produced on a computer screen .

The technique is easy to perform and may show the presence, exact size, shape, content and vascular supply of endodontic lesions in the bone . Ultrasound has been found to be a reliable diagnostic technique in the differential diagnosis of periapical lesions (granulomas versus cysts) with the aid of the echo picture (hyperechoic and hypoechoic) and through the use of the colour laser Doppler effect to provide evidence of vascularity within the lesion .

See more: https://www.alandental.com/category-82-b0-Dental-Pulp-Tester.html

dental tips

How Can You Do a Successful Endodontic Treatment

Various studies around the globe has reported that the most important factor the rotary instrument seperation was the operator. This is probably attributed to their clinical skills or their decision either to use instruments for a specific number of times or until defects were evident.

Successful endodontic motor treatment depends on a series of sequential procedures including shaping and cleaning of the root canal system. Biggest engima for an endodontist is the separation of rotary endodontic instruments .This negates the achievement of efficient bio mechanical preparation , which can result in under-filling of the root canal or the treated case may end in failure.

Preventive procedures related to breakage/ seperation are of utmost importance. Therefore an endodontist should have understanding of the mechanisms and factors contributing to file fracture is essential. It is very essential that both training and adequate skills are imperative for all dental procedures and particularly so in rotary endodontics.

The thumb rule for rotary endodontics as with other endodontic hand instruments is examination of the dental equipment, before and after use, to rule out any stress on the instrument/ stretch marks. Other important rule is that no rotary instruments should not be used in dry canals and or no instrument should be used without any lubrication. Further rotary files should be used according to the manufacturer’s instructions and excessive forces should be avoided. There is a variety of protocols for rotary root canal instrumentation.

Another important factor for rotary instrument seperation is the root canal morphology. More complicated the root canal morphology, the greater the risk of endodontic instrument breakage. A higher prevalence of rotary instrument separation has been reported in molars particularly in the mesial roots of mandibular molars.Further, the risk of instrument seperation in the apical third of the canal is higher when compared with coronal and middle thirds.Rotary files undergo greater fatigue as the curvature increases and the contact surface with the dentinal walls is greater since most curved canals are narrow. Clinically, fatigue of an instrument may be related to the degree of instrument flexure when placed in a curved root canal.

When the curvature of canals is pronounced, the cyclical fatigue of the instrument is greater and thus its life expectancy is lower.The parameters of the angle and the radius of curvature are independent in such a way that even if two canals have the same angle of curvature they may have different radii of curvature, which indicates that some curves are sharper than others.

dental equipment

Dental Implant Treatment has Greatly Improved

Dental implant treatment has greatly improved the level of care offered to patients. According to Misch 2015, implant retained prosthetics are usually installed by a means of intra oral cementation or by a screw-in method, that involves the extra-oral cementation of the abutment-prosthesis complex on a model.

The screw-in technique is commonly referred to as retrievable. It is implied that this installation process allows the prosthesis to be removed from the mouth and reinstalled without any critical damage to the prosthesis. It also implies that a prosthesis that is cemented intra orally is not easily retrievable and that it would have to be critically damaged during its removal.

No differences in complication and failure rates have been found in reviews that compare the two installation systems. The cited reviews indicate that 31- 33% of the fixed prostheses retained by dental implants are associated with mucositis, 10-16% peri-implantitis and that the survival rates of the implants are about 96% over five years and 92% over 10 years. The biological complications of treatment manifest themselves as peri-implant inflammation, exudate, loss of gingiva and supporting hard tissues. All these complications require treatment and can cause a “less than happy” experience for the patient and the dentist. Yes, treatment complications can be emotionally and financially taxing for all involved. The question is, “Can we reduce these complications?”

What is the main difference between the two installation systems? The main difference appears to be related to where the prosthesis is cemented to its’ abutment or abutments. In a traditional setting, the screwed-in prosthesis is assembled on a model that is not a precise representation of the mouth. This extra-oral assembly of the abutment-prosthesis complex thus forms an imprecise rigid structure that, when transferred to the mouth, causes a misfit at the implant-abutment junction. This misfit problem can be exacerbated by tight contacts with adjacent tooth structures, which also can prevent the abutment from seating fully onto its implant retainer.

A misfit at the implant-abutment junction is not optimized for stability and is also more susceptible to invasion by oral pathogens. This can create problems for the patient. These problems can include loose and broken screws, foul odour and taste, and the abovementioned complications including mucositis, peri-implantitis and implant failure. The misfit of the implant-abutment junction is a known risk factor for peri-implant disease. These complications can be difficult to mitigate because the implant-abutment misfit cannot be easily rectified. In addition, one must consider the possibility that uneven loading of an ill-fitting connection by the abutment screw tightening process and/or intraoral camera function could also cause damage to the adjoining components. It is possible to replace a damaged abutment, but how does one repair a damaged implant top? In conclusion, the major weakness of the screw-in prosthesis technique, appears to result from a misfit at the implant-abutment connection that is difficult to correct.

For more information, please visit: https://www.alandental.com/category-16-b0-Dental-Handpiece.html

dental health

What Are The Advantages Offered By Prosthesis Retrievability

When prosthetic materials are not durable, like with acrylic based hybrid fixed prosthetics, retrievability may have a relatively high value, so that it will be possible to make necessary repairs or refurbish the prosthesis. When prosthetics are durable, like solid zirconia bridges, do you ever expect to take them out for repair? If they have porcelain on them and the porcelain has a critical fracture, can the dental laboratory equipment really fix the prosthesis or will it be a remake anyway?

I would suggest that it will usually be the later. What about loose screws? What do you think will have more loose screws? A prosthesis with a misfit at the implant-abutment junction, like a screwed-in multi-unit hybrid, or one with an optimized implant-abutment fit? So, optimizing the fit of the implant-abutment junction and proper torqueing and re-torqueing of the abutment and would be expected to further reduce abutment screw loosening to an unusual event.

Do you need to be able to remove a prosthesis from the mouth in order to tighten a loose abutment screw? That is usually not necessary. In most locations, an access hole can be made through the prosthesis and the loose abutment screw can be tightened without removing the prosthesis. In the anterior maxilla, there might be an advantage to have a lingual access channel for possible screw tightening procedures, because making a facial screw access channel opening could render the prosthesis unaesthetic. This could be a cause for prosthesis replacement.

It is also unfortunate that the lingual access channel may require the clinician to build a facial cantilever into the prosthesis. This may also cause additional mechanical stresses on the abutment screw and make the prosthesis difficult to maintain by the patient. Both of these problems may feed into the peri-implant disease process and cause the failure of the retaining implant(s) and their attached prosthesis. So, building retrievability into a treatment is dependent on many elements that are not free of cost and risk.

Dental milling technologies, that are CAD/CAM based, have allowed the dental industry to create increasingly precise implant-abutment components. Milled components can be made to fit better and thus be more stable and resist bacterial penetration better. Beware of older technologies that require a casting process that can distort the milled implant-abutment connection. The UCLA bases are precision milled, but the casting process can damage their fit by temperature related distortion and mechanical removal of investment material. 29 A poor implant-abutment fit can lead to increased complications.

For more information, please visit: https://www.alandental.com/category-135-b0-Portable-Folding-Chair.html

dental equipment

The Benefits of Protecting Dental Handpiece

Most dental practices have anywhere from 8 to 12 working handpieces that get rotated throughput the practice on a daily and weekly basis. But we all have our “favorites” and tend to use them more often than others, because it’s human nature to use what we are most comfortable with. If you tend to use your “favorite” handpieces at higher RPM’s than what is suggested by the manufacturer, and ignore the daily and weekly maintenance, then those handpieces will need to be repaired more often.

Since a high speed handpiece drill runs at 400,000 to 500,000 RPI’s, and is sterilized at 275 degrees after each use, its parts tend to wear out. The turbine is the only moving part in an air-driven handpiece, and takes the most abuse during sterilization, so it needs to be replaced frequently.

Care and regular maintenance of these instruments is essential to preserving their lifespan and proper function. Whether your dental practice uses air driven handpieces, electric handpieces, or both, these little instruments are the workhorse of your practice and a large investment.

Effective and Efficient Patient Treatment: If the turbine is the brains of the handpiece, then the tiny little bearings are the heart. When the bearings start to wear down, the turbine no longer rotates at optimal performance, causing it to fail and eventually stop holding the bur in place during a procedure. When the bearings start to fail, the handpiece makes a loud high pitch sound or vibration. Avoiding the warning signs of an inferior performing handpiece has a number of pitfalls, including loss of patient treatment.

Patients Satisfaction: Dental handpieces are the number one tool in any successful dental practice, allowing for a high degree of productivity that patients appreciate today. The history of dental handpieces have drastically evolved over the last 150 years. Early handpieces were big and clunky, running at a maximum speed of 3000 rpm’s, which meant procedures took longer and were more painful. Today, handpieces run at a much higher speed and with more efficiency.

Protecting your Investment: Protecting your investment and ensuring your dental handpieces are working to the best of their abilities is essential to running a profitable dental practice. Building a working relationship with a reputable dental handpiece repair company will ensure you are working more effectively and providing quality patient care without worrying about the performance of the handpiece.

dental equipment

The Advantages of Using Dental Scaler

Many of the recognized brand names have survived the test of time, offering the benefit of reducing hand and wrist fatigue as well as tissue trauma. Common in today’s hygiene and periodontal armamentarium is the sonic or ultrasonic handpiece. Whether used only occasionally or on a routine basis, most dental professionals are familiar with sonic or ultrasonic technology in some capacity. With the utility of the products that are available today, there is no reason why every operatory should not be equipped with this technology.

The use of ultrasonic devices has dramatically improved the practice of supragingival scaling and periodontal debridement. Although ultrasonic technology has been around for decades, improvements in recent years have allowed its use to become mainstream. Ultrasonic technology in general, whether magnetostrictive (long inserts with metal rods that flex) or piezo-electric (small tips that screw onto the dental handpiece), and sonic scalers to a lesser degree, offer several advantages over hand scaling:

(1) less hand and wrist fatigue due to the light touch necessary to merely guide the scaler tip along the tooth surface.

(2) decreased treatment time, especially with heavy deposits, leaving more time for patient education or procedures such as placement of chemotherapeutic agents (ie, Arestin [OraPharma], Atridox [Collagenex Pharmaceuticals], or PerioChip [Dexcel Pharma]).

(3) more efficient removal of dental plaque and calculi with ultrasonic instrumentation.

(4) water provides continuous tissue lavage, thereby reducing the need for rinsing during scaling, since the water flow allows for high visibility throughout the procedure; this lavage also increases tissue comfort for the patient during and after the procedure.

(5) antiseptic solution can be substituted for the water to provide simultaneous irrigation/disinfection of the region being treated.

(6) gritty, pumice-based polish may no longer be necessary or indicated following scaling with ultrasonic; due to the efficient stain removal during scaling, a milder, minimally invasive paste or polish can be used, preserving the glaze on composite and porcelain restorations; less abrasive polish enhances patient acceptance and lowers post-scaling sensitivity.

Hygienists in our office rave about our new piezo-electric scalers and, more importantly, patients are very complimentary about how their mouths feel after their maintenance visits. If you have the desire to move into the world of electric scalers, or are ready to upgrade, give considerable thought to the purchase of a piezo-electric scaler. This technology will stand the test of time. It is the ultimate in ultrasonic scalers.