Are you compliant with the current regulated IPAC protocols in your clinic? By now, every dentist should be acutely aware that changes are necessary to traditional IPAC processes. All clinics must now follow the latest protocols created by the Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) and the RCDSO Standards of Practice for Infection Prevention and … Read more
The two most common methods for administering systemic medications to dental patients is by enteral (PO) or intravenous (IV) routes. In an emergency, the PO route has a slow onset of action. The drug, administered PO, needs to be absorbed before being systemically available.1 The IV route will offer faster onset, but IV access can … Read more
Current nil per os (npo) standards promote pre-operative fasting as an approach to reduce the volume and acidity of a patient’s stomach contents to reduce the risks of regurgitation and subsequent pulmonary aspiration. Pre-anesthesia fasting standards apply to any procedure where sedative medications reduce the protective airway reflex that under normal conditions prevent aspiration. The … Read more
Epistaxis (nasal bleeding) is a relatively common complication that may arise during a dental visit that utilizes sedation/anesthesia. While rarely fatal, appropriate and prompt management of peri-operative epistaxis is critical in order to prevent further harm. This article will discuss a case report of epistaxis encountered during dentistry under deep sedation. In addition, the anatomy, … Read more
All practitioners who deliver nitrous oxide to their patients should be intimately familiar with the relative and absolute contraindications to its administration. Relative Contraindications Nasal obstruction: Nitrous oxide sedation can proceed if despite some degree of nasal obstruction, the patient is still able to respire through the nares (or one naris) in such a way … Read more
Abstract When difficulty in obtaining adequate mandibular anesthesia is encountered a systematic approach incorporating the evaluation of patient factors and operator technique will substantially improve outcomes. Even for the most experienced dental practitioners, consistent, profound mandibular anesthesia remains difficult to achieve 100 percent of the time. This can be stressful for both dentist and patient … Read more
Pre-operative airway assessment and management is essential to successful dental treatment under procedural sedation. In the event of oversedation, defined as the transition from an intended level of sedation to an unintended deeper level of sedation, the patient’s ability to independently maintain ventilatory function may be impaired. This can result from an inability for the … Read more
“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign/Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind/Do this, don’t do that/Can’t you read the sign?” – Signs by The Five Man Electrical Band A repeated discussion that I have with colleagues is that dentistry, as a profession, is over-regulated. While it’s true that we have rules governing everything in our practices … Read more
Abstract The identification of lesions within the osseous structures in children is essential to ensure timely surgical intervention, and to minimize or correct hindrances to the development of a healthy dentition and bone structure. These lesions tend to present in the absence of symptoms, are slowly growing, and are commonly identified either as a secondary … Read more
Résumé Les malformations artérioveineuses (MAV) sont des lésions vasculaires rares issues d’artères et de veines qui présentent des défauts structuraux d’origine congénitale. Leurs présentations clinique et radiographique particulières en rendent l’identification et le diagnostic complexes par les professionnels dentaires. Cette étude de cas révèle l’histoire d’un jeune homme de 14 ans, autrement en santé, s’étant … Read more
Every day children of all ages are sedated or anaesthetized for dental treatment both in the hospital and more commonly now in the dental office. The use of physical restraint for a dental procedure in a child has largely been replaced or significantly reduced with the use of sedative or general anaesthetic drugs. Previously it … Read more
Early orthodontic treatment refers to orthodontic intervention before the eruption of permanent dentition (except third molars) is complete.1 In orthodontic literature, the benefits of early orthodontic treatment have been a topic of much debate.2-10 Some clinicians may prefer to defer orthodontic treatment to the adolescent age period, however many others attempt to intervene in the … Read more
It is difficult these days to walk down the street and not have a cloud of smoke engulf your face from a nearby electronic vaping device. My first response to this occurrence is to hold my breath or attempt to dodge the cloud altogether. When I am unable to do so, I am always shocked … Read more
Many parents collect their kids’ baby teeth as keepsakes when they fall out. But imagine doing it to help determine if the child has experienced emotional trauma that could lead to bigger problems later on. A team of researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital say they plan to recruit hundreds of Boston-area women who had children around the … Read more
“Environment” is a real buzzword in the news today. Pollution, climate, sustainable, maintainable, crisis, emergency. Do we have control or not? One area where we as dental professionals have some control is the oral environment! We are the custodians of our patients’ oral environment. Of course, things can spiral out of control when our patients … Read more
The challenge currently facing reconstructive dentistry is how to obtain excellent esthetic results while preserving the biological structures involved as much as possible. Today, the clinician and the technician have materials and procedures at their disposal which make it possible to recreate esthetics and function in a simpler and more predictable way.1,2,3 One of the … Read more
The World Health Organization estimates that nearly all adults have dental caries at some point in time.1 Resin composite is the most used restorative material in dentistry;2 most resin composite restorations are placed due to secondary caries or recurrent caries that cause restoration failure at a cost of $30 billion a year in North America.3 … Read more
Single dental implant placement immediately post extraction for the rehabilitation of esthetic areas is a predictable procedure characterized by high survival rates in the short and long terms.1,2 However, this is challenging to achieve as the restoration is required to mimic the natural profile in near perfect symmetry along with the contralateral tooth present.2 To … Read more
Introduction Many patients present in their mid-forties with shortened anterior teeth. While not severe enough to warrant crown placement, early composite augmentation restores cuspid guidance and incisal length before wear destroys anterior teeth, flattens posterior cusps and exposes dentin generally throughout the mouth. This article, written by Dr. Peter Walford, a general dentist and dental … Read more
Many restorative procedures are limited by the relatively low fracture toughness of composite resins. Improving the fracture strength of these materials enables dentists to provide their patients with a possible alternative to indirect restorations that inevitably require further tissue preparation and tooth loss. Fibre reinforcing of composite resins is not a new idea and several … Read more