Bilateral balanced articulation: science or dogma?

A Comprehensive Systematic Review In Search Of Evidence for Pragmatic Altercations in Simplified Denture

Aim:

To explore the evidence available to evaluate if simplified dentures could be as effective as the conventional complete dentures.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 1,482 articles were obtained using keywords in a Boolean search operator in the PubMed search engine, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library. Duplicates were removed and the remaining articles were subjected to a title analysis which yielded a total of 20. Further analysis of the article abstracts led to an exclusion of four articles. The remaining 16 articles were subjected to full text analysis which finally yielded a total of 11 articles.

Results:

The cumulative results of the meta-analysis for oral health-related quality of life, patient satisfaction and professional quality of denture show no significant difference ( P > .05) between conventional and simplified dentures.

Conclusion:

Based on the available evidence adjusted for the potential literature/geographic bias, we conclude that the conventional procedures in complete denture fabrication such as facebow and gothic arch tracing do not improve the quality of the denture outcome from patients’ perspective and simplified dentures are equally effective as conventional complete dentures.

Temporomandibular Disorders: "Occlusion" Matters!

By analogy with the journal's title Pain Research and Management, this review describes TMD Research and Management. More specific are the (1) research aspects of “occlusion,” still one of the most controversial topics in TMD, and (2) as much as possible evidence-based management aspects of “TMD” for the dental practitioner. Research. The disorders temporomandibular dysfunction and the synonymous craniomandibular dysfunction are still being discussed intensely in the literature. Traditionally, attention is mostly devoted to occlusion and its relationship with these disorders. The conclusions reached are often contradictory. Considering the definitions of temporomandibular and craniomandibular dysfunctions/disorders and “occlusion,” a possible explanation for this controversy can be found in the subsequent methodological problems of the studies. Based on a Medline search of these terms over the past 40 years related to contemporary terms such as “Evidence Based Dentistry” and “Pyramid of Evidence,” these methodological aspects are examined, resulting in recommendations for future research and TMD-occlusal therapy. Management. To assist the dental practitioner in his/her daily routine to meet the modern standards of best practice, 7 guidelines are formulated that are explained and accompanied with clinical examples for an evidence-based treatment of patients with this disorder in general dental practices.