Category: Operative
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What to do Before a Patient Starts Cancer Treatments
This guide can be useful for patients who will be undergoing radiation to the head/neck area, beginning to take myelosuppresive drugs, or going to begin chemotherapy. Step one involves getting the patient in for examination at least a month before treatment begins. Coordination with the Oncologist is helpful here to determine where the proposed radiation…
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What to do for SDF Stains?
If you have ever handled Silver Diamine Fluoride in the dental office you have probably stained something, or a lot of things… chairs, countertops, instruments, and the list goes on. The Best way to get rid of SDF stains? – Prevention. Now with that being said we can take all of the precautions in the…
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Sensitive After a Filling?
‘Well it didn’t start hurting until you started messing with it!’ We get this as dental professionals a lot. And we understand. Let’s talk about why post-operative sensitivity can happen and why it (usually) isn’t something to worry about. What Is Post-Operative Sensitivity? A study in 2013 decided to determine what different types of variables…
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What Is Oil Pulling?
Charcoal toothpaste, sucking on lemons, placing aspirin in your mouth – there’s never a shortage of new tips and tricks in dentistry. There’s always going to be changes and claims in medicine as well as new methods to treating disease. It’s our job as practitioners to question these ideas and find research that supports or…
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How Long Will My Crown Last?
More often than not, patients ask me how long their restorations will last. Why should they get a crown when they have a filling that’s doing just fine? There’s a lot of factors that go into the treatment plan a dental practitioner creates, but I think it’s important to understand the longevity of the restorations…
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Comparing Bulk Fill Composites With Conventional Composite Materials
What Is A Composite? Resin composites consist of four parts: An organic polymer matrix Inorganic filler particles A coupling agent An initiator-accelerator system. The organic polymer matrix usually consists of dimethacrylate. The inorganic filler particle can be finely ground quartz or glass, or other materials. These provide a number of characteristics, including reinforcing the matrix,…
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How Often Should I Brush My Teeth?
Dreading a visit to the dentist is a tried and true tradition – along with the age old question that every patient is asked – ‘Have you been brushing and flossing?’ I get asked more commonly than ever about when, how, and what my patients should be brushing with. Electric or manual? What type of…
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Understanding Tooth Pain: When Do I Need To Make An Appointment?
The correct answer is every 6 months – prevention is key to identifying disease and making sure gum disease, caries progression, and cancer are caught early. With this in mind, it’s important to understand tooth pain and why it is beneficial to catch it early, rather than later. In future topics, gum disease and oral…
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Top Ten Drugs Prescribed – #3 Amlodipine
What is amlodipine? Amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker, meaning it reduces the calcium influx into vascular smooth muscle cells. This causes a cascade of factors such as: Selective vasodialation A decrease in peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure A decrease in coronary vascular resistance Increase in coronary blood flow What is amlodipine used for?…
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Summarizing the Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block According to the Handbook of Local Anesthesia
For quadrant dentistry, anesthetizing the inferior alveolar nerve is essential. This nerve block is achieved by targeting the nerve as it passes towards the mandibular foramen. The area of injection can be established by three parameters: Height of injection Anteroposterior placement of the needle Depth of penetration The height of the injection should be based…
Teeth & Chiefs 