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.

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