ABSTRACT
As Penn Dental School prepares for its Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-approved dual-certificate periodontics/prosthodontics program, this article looks back at the roots of these specialties at the university via the renowned Periodontics and Periodontal Prosthesis program co-founded byCompendium's founding editor Dr. D. Walter Cohen as seen through the eyes of one of its graduates. The article commends the program's impact on public health today.
Subject(s)
Oral Health , Humans , Periodontics , Prosthodontics , Dental ProsthesisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability, ease, and efficiency of data entry for an oral health screening app that allows iPad® entry of data, including permanent versus deciduous teeth present, visual image comparison grading of demineralization/caries, fluorosis, periodontal inflammation, oral hygiene status, identification of sealants/restorations, dental trauma, orthodontic malocclusion, mandibular joint dysfunction, and early childhood caries. METHODS: 89 consented children were examined first by a public health dental hygienist in a dental office reception area and then by a dentist in a treatment operatory. The same research associate was used to prompt and record both examinations. RESULTS: The screenings prompted by the electronic oral health screening system were completed in 2 to 3 minutes each with favorable levels of comparison between examiners as assessed by weighted Kappa scores measuring 0.531 for all teeth examined, with the lower back teeth showing the greatest agreement (K = 0.601) and the upper back and upper front demonstrating less agreement (K = 0.446 and 0.468, respectively). Neither examiner identified any carious lesions among the lower front teeth. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first description of an oral health screening entry app with visual image comparisons and touchscreen data entry for efficient collection of oral health information.
Subject(s)
Dental Records , Diagnosis, Oral , Mass Screening/methods , Oral Health , Software , Child , HumansABSTRACT
The purpose of this article was to determine the individual visual perception thresholds of certain facial and dental discrepancies for a symmetric face model (SFM). A facial photograph of a female subject's smile was digitally manipulated into an artificially symmetric picture. Modifications were made on the SFM for shifts in the dental midline, nose, and chin (group 1) and cants of dental midline and incisal plane (group 2), resulting in a total of 24 different images divided into two groups. One-hundred randomly selected laypersons divided into two groups were used to evaluate each image according to their own personal beauty and esthetic criteria using a visual analog scale. The visual perception thresholds found for the SFM were 2 mm for a dental midline shift, 4 mm for nose deviation, 5 degrees for dental midline cant, and 3 degrees for frontal incisal plane cant. Chin deviations of 6 mm or less were not noticed. Dental midline shift, nose deviation, dental midline cant, and incisal plane cant relative to an SFM have an impact on the perception of facial attractiveness. Chin deviations did not have a statistically significant impact.
Subject(s)
Dentition , Facial Asymmetry , Visual Perception , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Observer Variation , Young AdultSubject(s)
Cementation , Dental Porcelain , Denture Design , Denture, Partial, Fixed , Female , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Delivery of Health Care , Dental Care for Children , Health Promotion , Oral Health , Child , Child, Preschool , Community Health Workers , Community Networks , Community-Institutional Relations , Health Education, Dental , Health Literacy , Humans , Information Dissemination , Needs Assessment , Patient Advocacy , School Health ServicesABSTRACT
The young dental patient with maxillary lateral incisor agenesis, maxillary canine impaction, and cystic fibrosis presents considerable challenges to the dentist. An interdisciplinary approach is described here for the orthodontist and restorative dentist to plan and work together with the patient's and parents' cooperation and consent. Despite some compromises, a successful outcome was achieved, as demonstrated in this case report. The use of conservative yet esthetic and durable fixed replacement prostheses is highlighted. Congenitally absent maxillary lateral incisors, impacted maxillary canines, and cystic fibrosis are clinical conditions that can significantly complicate and compromise dental treatment for any young patient. All three can be present simultaneously, as described in this case report.
Subject(s)
Anodontia/therapy , Cystic Fibrosis/complications , Dental Prosthesis Design , Incisor/abnormalities , Orthodontics, Corrective , Child , Cuspid/pathology , Denture Design , Denture, Partial, Fixed, Resin-Bonded , Diastema/therapy , Esthetics, Dental , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Malocclusion, Angle Class I/therapy , Maxilla/pathology , Patient Care Planning , Patient Care Team , Tooth Bleaching/methods , Tooth Movement Techniques/methods , Tooth, Impacted/therapyABSTRACT
A dental esthetic checklist form has been introduced for use in the diagnostic work-up of a patient accepted for treatment in an Advanced Education in General Dentistry program. The checklist, divided into seven basic criteria, is not a complete list of all possible categories and nuances that an esthetic restorative assessment might include. The correct initial identification of these criteria does not limit the dentist from pursuing more detail; in fact, this checklist is an introductory organizer that invites further exploration. In the authors' experience, the use of this form prompts the student to broaden his or her vision from purely a dental/periodontal focus to one that encompasses lip, cheek, and tongue configurations; smile; facial features; and related planes of symmetry. This approach directs the dental treatment plan toward the important additional goal of dentofacial harmony.
Subject(s)
Esthetics, Dental , Checklist , Dental Occlusion , Face/anatomy & histology , Facial Asymmetry , Humans , Patient Care Planning , Smiling , Speech , Tooth/anatomy & histologyABSTRACT
Human dental anatomy has not changed significantly in hundreds of years. Dental students and students of dental laboratory technology learn human dental anatomy as fundamental to their didactic work. Yet, so often we see dental restorations that do not follow the accepted basic design criteria of natural teeth. A possible conclusion is that the information was correctly presented as a basic science, but not completely carried over into clinical practice. When visually essential aspects of dental anatomy and composition are not accurately incorporated into esthetic restorations, patients are not completely served, and practitioners may be frustrated as well. This article reviews four essential aspects of anterior dental morphology--anterior tooth width/length proportions, bilateral symmetry, incisal edges, and incisal embrasures--that often are not accurately incorporated into dental restorations, and positions them in an easy to remember format: opposites.
