Immediate anterior tooth replacement using fibre-reinforced composite

The loss of anterior teeth can be psychologically and socially damaging to the patient the trauma of which can be minimized by immediate replacement of the teeth, preferably using a fixed prosthesis. This paper describes the immediate replacement of a lateral incisor using a fibre-reinforced composite with the natural tooth as the pontic. The abutment teeth can be conserved with minimal or no preparation, thus keeping the technique reversible, and can be completed at the chairside thereby avoiding laboratory costs. It can be used as an interim measure or as a definitive prosthesis. The advantages of this technique over other methods are also discussed.

Diamond-coated sonic tips are more efficient for open debridement of molar furcations. A comparative manikin study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of open debridement of class II and III furcations by a new diamond-coated sonic instrument tip (Sonicparo) with a conventional sonic insert (Sonicrecall) and hand instruments (Gracey curettes).

METHOD

Open debridement was simulated using a manikin head and standardised plastic teeth. The efficacy of debridement was examined by 3 parameters: residual root surface marker, 'tooth' weight loss and time taken for debridement. The teeth used were 1st and 2nd upper and lower molars. Upper left and lower right molars were chosen to represent class II furcation involvements and upper right and lower left molars class III furcation involvements. Each tooth was debrided 4 times with each instrument for both class of furcations.

RESULTS

The results of this study showed significantly less residual marker area comparing Sonicparo with Gracey curettes (mean difference 2.52 mm2, p<0.001). However, no significant differences in marker removal were observed between Sonicrecall inserts and the other instruments. Sonicparo inserts also took significantly less time to debride the furcation than Gracey curettes (mean difference 98.3 s, p<0.001) or Sonicrecall instruments (mean difference 74.3 s, p<0.001). However no significant differences were found between instruments concerning weight loss of the plastic teeth.

CONCLUSIONS

It was concluded from this in-vitro study that the Sonicparo insert was a more efficient instrument for open molar furcation debridement than Sonicrecall and hand instruments (Gracey curettes) when considering both marker removal and debridement time.