Implant-supported overdenture with prefabricated bar attachment system in mandibular edentulous patient

Implant-supported overdenture is a reliable treatment option for the patients with edentulous mandible when they have difficulty in using complete dentures. Several options have been used for implant-supported overdenture attachments. Among these, bar attachment system has greater retention and better maintainability than others. SFI-Bar(R) is prefabricated and can be adjustable at chairside. Therefore, laboratory procedures such as soldering and welding are unnecessary, which leads to fewer errors and lower costs. A 67-year-old female patient presented, complaining of mobility of lower anterior teeth with old denture. She had been wearing complete denture in the maxilla and removable partial denture in the mandible with severe bone loss. After extracting the teeth, two implants were placed in front of mental foramen, and SFI-Bar(R) was connected. A tube bar was seated to two adapters through large ball joints and fixation screws, connecting each implant. The length of the tube bar was adjusted according to inter-implant distance. Then, a female part was attached to the bar beneath the new denture. This clinical report describes two-implant-supported overdenture using the SFI-Bar(R) system in a mandibular edentulous patient.

Reconsideration of treatment protocol on the reduction of Enterococcus faecalis associated with failed root canal treatment / 대한치과보존학회지

Microorganism survived in the root canal after root canal cleaning and shaping procedure is a main cause of root canal treatment failure. There are several mechanisms for the bacteria to survive in the root canal after chemomechanical preparation and root canal irrigation. Bacteria organized as biofilm has been suggested as an etiology of persistent periapical lesion. Recent studies were focus on removal of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm due to the report that the persistence of this bacteria after root canal treatment may be associated with its ability to form biofilm. Several investigations demonstrated that current root canal treatment protocol including use of NaOCl, EDTA and Chlorhexidine as irrigants is quite effective in eliminating E. faecalis biofilm. However, this microorganism still can survive in inaccessible areas of root canal system and evade host immune response, suppress immune activity and produce biofilm. Up to date, there is no possible clinical method to completely get rid of bacteria from the root canal. Once the root canal treatment failure occurred, and conventional treatment incorporating current therapeutic protocol has failed, periapical surgery or extraction should be considered rather than prolong the ineffected retreatment procedure.

A clinical evaluation of a bleaching strip containing 2.9% hydrogen peroxide / 대한치과보존학회지

This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of an experimental bleaching strip (Medison dental whitening strip, Samsung medical Co., Anyang, Korea) containing 2.9% hydrogen peroxide. Twenty-three volunteers used the bleaching strips for one and a half hour daily for 2 weeks. As control group, the same strips in which hydrogen peroxide was not included were used by 24 volunteers with the same protocol. The shade change (DeltaE*, color difference) of twelve anterior teeth was measured using Shade Vision (X-Rite Inc., S.W. Grandville, MI, USA), Chroma Meter (Minolta Co., Ltd. Osaka, Japan) and Vitapan classical shade guide (Vita Zahnfabrik, Germany). The shade change of overall teeth in the experimental group was significantly greater than that in the control group (p < 0.05) and was easily perceivable. The change resulted from the increase of lightness (CIE L* value) and the decrease of redness (CIE a* value) and yellowness (CIE b* value). The shade change of individual tooth was greatest in canine, and smallest in central incisor. The safety of the bleaching strip was also confirmed.