ABSTRACT
Electronic dental anesthesia uses the Gate Control Theory of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. The battery-controlled Ultracalm electronic dental anesthesia unit is a noninvasive procedure to electrically block pain transmissions in dental patients. This pilot study to test the efficacy of electronic dental anesthesia for simple restorative procedures was subjectively reported by 20 patients who had never been exposed to this type of anesthesia. None of the patients indicated the procedure was uncomfortable, and 14 of 20 subjects indicated that they preferred electronic dental anesthesia to local anesthetic injection. Electronic dental anesthesia appears to be an effective means of obtaining local anesthesia for certain dental procedures.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, Dental/methods , Electronarcosis/methods , Adolescent , Adult , Anesthesia, Dental/instrumentation , Child , Contraindications , Electronarcosis/instrumentation , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Satisfaction , Pilot Projects , Transcutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationABSTRACT
This study supports the growing evidence that satisfactory marginal sealing can be achieved with reduced enamel etch-times. It is possible to create good marginal sealing in enamel after a fifteen-second etch--especially beneficial in young patients.
Subject(s)
Acid Etching, Dental/methods , Adhesives , Composite Resins , Dental Bonding/methods , Dental Leakage/prevention & control , Resin Cements , Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate , Dental Restoration, Permanent , Humans , Time FactorsSubject(s)
Crowns , Gutta-Percha , Post and Core Technique , Root Canal Therapy/instrumentation , Dental Instruments , HumansABSTRACT
For 20 dental students the relationships of field dependency, scores on the dental admissions test, grades in technique courses, and time and error scores on mirror-tracing tests were studied. Significant correlations (-.48, -.58, -.65) were found between field-dependency scores and scores on the perceptual-motor abilities subtest of the Dental Admissions Test and between mirror-tracing test and pre-clinical operative grades (-.53). These preliminary results indicate that study of the perceptual-cognitive styles of dental studies is warranted to evaluate the potential utility of these measures in counseling and admissions. The mirror-tracing tests appear to have potential advantages as objective measures of psychomotor skills and learning ability.
