Dental unit water lines decontamination with the aid of nanotechnology.

Aim: This article reviews the issue of dental unit waterline (DUWL) contamination which affects all the clinical and hospital settings. The contaminating microorganisms commonly isolated from these settings and the most pathogenic among them have serious consequences. Over the years several measures are inculcated for decontamination of water, their advantages and shortcomings have been addressed. Options using nanotechnology which are available in the market are described briefly. Materials and Methods: A manual and electronic search was conducted. Google and PubMed were searched for relevant material from studies up to 2013. Medical Subject Headings words looked for were “Nanotechnology,” “Water purification,” and “Biofilms.” Reviewed findings were summarized by topic, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‑analyses statement for reporting. Seventy articles were shortlisted for articles pertaining to our topic of discussion. A systematic approach was followed by two independent reviewers and included eligibility criteria for study inclusion, data extraction, data synthesis, and drawing of conclusion. Results: Dental waterline contamination is widespread in any type of dental setting having serious implications on clinicians and patients alike, especially elderly and immune‑compromised. Hence, international bodies like center for disease and control and American Dental Association have come up with stringent measures for maintenance of water quality. A gamut of procedures has been tried to overcome this problem ranging from chlorinated products, water filters to the usage of distilled water. The use of nanoemulsions, nanofilters, nanomembranes, etc., and their applicability for routine usage is discussed. Conclusions: Biofilm formation in DUWLs is inevitable with the subsequent release of part of microbiota into the otherwise sterile dental settings. These consequences can be quite serious on clinicians and dental patients. Though conventional measures in water decontamination have been partly successful, the quest for more foolproof methods has led to the use of latest technology, i.e., nanotechnology. The most practical option has to be chosen based on the ease of their usage.

Orthdodontic Management of Medically Compromised Patients.

The nature of the orthodontic patient base seeking treatment continues to grow. Some of these patients may have potentially medical compromises or conditions. As such there is no absolute contraindication of orthodontic treatment in most of these conditions but may require a slightly modified protocol. This article reviews the orthodontic treatment Protocol for some common medical conditions.

Valplast(R) flexible removable partial denture for a patient with medically compromised conditions: a clinical report / 대한치과보철학회지

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: As the number of elders is growing with the advancement of medicine, partially or fully edentulous patients have increased. Medically compromised conditions are common in the older population so that it should be taken into account in prosthetic treatment planning as well as their economic conditions. In the older patients, removable prosthesis has been preferred to implant prosthesis. However, cast metal based removable partial dentures also has several limitations. PURPOSE: In this report, we present several cases of Valplast(R) flexible denture which were fabricated in patients who had medically compromised conditions or whose remaining teeth showed a relatively poor prognosis. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: This article describes an alternative treatment for a partially edentulous patient with mouth opening limitation, after cancer surgery, compromised general condition and questionable remaining teeth. In these patients, Valplast(R) flexible denture was used because of its unique characteristics and the results were all satisfactory. Patients had 1-2 check-up and there were no postoperative pain or fracture of denture up to now.

Retrospective study on prognosis of the medically compromised patients in department of oral and maxillofacial surgery

Stress reduction protocol for proper extraction of advanced infected teeth in medically compromised patients: Review of literature & report of cases

Common dental procedures(dental extraction & minor operation) are potentially stress-inducing in many patients, especially medically compromised patients. The body's response to dental stress involves the cardiovascular system(an increase in cardiovascular workload), the respiratory organ and the endocrine system(change in metabolism). To minimize the stress to the medical risk patient, the stress reduction protocol was established. The obtained contents were as follows: (1) Recognize the patient's degree of medical risk (2) Complete medical consultation before dental therapy (3) Schedule the patient's appointment in the morning (4) Monitor and record preoperative and postoperative vital signs (5) Use psychosedation during therapy (6) Use adequate pain control during therapy (7) Short length of appointment: do not exceed the patient's limits of tolerance (8) Follow up with postoperative pain/anxiety control (9) Telephone the higher medical risk patient later on the same day that treatment was given Though the stress reduction protocol above was applied to the dental extraction in medically compromised patients with the advanced infected teeth, the final responsibility for the complications (syncope, bleeding & infection, etc.) in a patient rests with the dentist who ultimately treats him. For the prevention of postextraction complications & poor prognosis, the authors treated the advanced infected teeth with the pulp extirpation, opening drainage through the canal and complete occlusal reduction. The final extraction and wound closure were then done after 1~2 weeks. The final prognosis was comfortable without common complications.