In March 2022, the Edelman Trust Barometer provided a significant warning that eroding trust has harmed, and is likely to continue to damage, individual and public health outcomes in the post-COVID-19 era.1 More than 50 percent of those surveyed worry that science has become politicized. Fully 63 percent say that the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased … Read more
In order to achieve long-lasting adhesive restorations, each detail in the bonding process must be considered. One often over-looked aspect of bonding is the step in which the bonding agent is agitated while being placed on the tooth. Manufacturers of dental bonding agents will often recommend a 10-20 second application time of the adhesive, during … Read more
Introduction The typical Class II posterior composite restoration is “placed on blind faith” using techniques and armamentarium designed specifically for amalgam placement. It is extremely difficult to evaluate the quality of composite layering in an interproximal preparation that is between the buccal and lingual line angles and thus, not clinically visible. Unlike amalgam, composite is … Read more
In recent history, in situations when the world was facing global calamity, our leaders countered with great initiative and unflagging hope. The Lincolns, Churchills and Roosevelts rose to the challenges and overcame extreme odds. In the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, hope, positivity and confidence have largely been absent. … Read more
Esthetic Dilemma of the Gingival Margin The data is unambiguous; both porcelain and composite resin are biocompatible with the gingiva and well tolerated.1-3 The caveat is that composite tends to cause tissue irritation if it comes into intimate contact with the gingiva.4-6 This ultimately causes unesthetic gingival recession. Porcelain is less problematic, but plaque build-up … Read more
COVID-19 has raised new concerns about respiratory viral infections (RVI). This virus can reproduce within the cells that line the human respiratory tract and the resulting infections cause respiratory issues and may infect multiple other sites. At this time, there are more than 200 known viral strains that cause respiratory infection, including the coronavirus, influenza … Read more
Lips are defined as “either of two fleshy folds that surround the mouth in humans and many other vertebrates and are organs of human speech essential to certain articulations”1. Lips are unique oral structures, as individual as fingerprints, that play important roles in mastication and deglutition, sound articulation, facial expression and physiological protection. Lips are … Read more
Robotic guidance has enhanced and improved various surgical specialties and is now available to implant dentistry for both partially and fully edentulous patients through the Yomi platform developed by Neocis Inc. (Miami FL)1,2 Accuracy of implant placement has been shown to have a direct correlation with the prosthetic results.3 The Yomi platform provides visual, audio … Read more
When I discovered CAD/CAM technology more than 10 years ago, I was amazed at the technological world that I was entering. It was novel and it was creative; but it was also rather daunting. My student years had provided some abstract images of various scanners and milling machines that were available at that time, but … Read more
Background The exponential growth of digital technology in dentistry is inherently accompanied by a significant expansion of 2D and 3D dental image records. Traditional stone models are impractical to keep long-term due to storage volume and fragility. Comprehensive and accurate models offer an excellent record of the preoperative dentition for the complete restoration of a … Read more
It became painfully obvious to those of us practicing in the 1980s that those new-fangled “posterior” composites were just never going to handle like amalgam. For starters, composites cannot be “condensed” or “packed.” Ever since then, clinicians, academics, and manufacturers have sought to create or re-design the successful armamentarium for direct esthetic posterior restorations. Most … Read more
Practicing dentistry at a distance, utilizing instantaneous virtual mobile technology, was the stuff of science fiction just a few decades ago. We were taught in dental school that our capacity to diagnose disease and to perform dentistry relied entirely upon our hand instruments and our clinical abilities. Thus, the stereotype of the dentist holding a … Read more
COVID-19 (the SARS-CoV-2 virus originating in Wuhan, China) has devastated the world. By July 2020, more than 11 million cases worldwide resulted in over 500,00 deaths. Untold misery, families shattered, businesses shuttered. Canadian dentists have faced practice- and career-threatening disruptions that will continue for many months. Most Canadian dentists were totally shut down by government … Read more
The July edition of Oral Health regularly highlights new products, new techniques, and new technologies. These are the innovations that improve our patients’ oral and general health, and make clinical dentistry better, faster, and easier. Inventive approaches make the practice of dentistry more exciting, something to look forward to each and every day. It should … Read more
Bonding agents were tentatively introduced in the early 1970s. Since then, the evolution of adhesive techniques has transformed the scope of dental practice. Arguably, the high impact of bonded, appearance-transforming dental restoratives has propelled the dental profession into its greatest prominence in history. In fact, most direct and indirect restorations are adhered to natural tooth … Read more
Introduction The last few years a plethora of 3D technology seems to have inundated the dental market(Fig. 1). Whereas the initial efforts to 3D scan the dentition of a patient or to convert dental impressions or study casts to 3D digital models appealed mostly to the 3D cognoscenti, current technology and end-users seem to have … Read more
Technology is changing the way we live and work, improving our lives. Smart phones and watches keep us connected to the world, monitor our heart rates, detect and alert atrial fibrillation, check glucose levels, count our steps, record our hours of sleep and keep an eye on numerous vital statistics (Fig. 1). Devices respond and … Read more
Nowhere in dentistry is technical progress as rapid as in modern endodontics. The development of flexible nickel-titanium files in the late 1980s created entirely new and hitherto unknown opportunities in the mechanical preparation of root canals. Numerous recent innovations have made endodontics significantly easier. The introduction of nickel-titanium alloy rotary files was a major milestone. … Read more
The goal of the implant surgeon is to place an implant in the ideal position, that will support a prosthesis with the best long-term prognosis, while managing important anatomical landmarks. With the aid of Cone Beam CT scans the implant surgeon is able to evaluate, in three dimensions, the ridge, important anatomy, as well as … Read more
Introduction Normal pneumatization of the maxillary sinus frequently when combined with the loss of teeth provides inadequate volume of bone, specifically related to height to house an implant. This process is further complicated with periodontally failing posterior teeth are to be extracted. To achieve sufficient bone height to allow implant usage, augmentation of the maxillary … Read more