A new procedure to reinforce fixed provisional restorations.

The typical unreinforced fixed partial denture provisional restoration commonly fails because of fractures and loss of cement retention. A procedure to reinforce the provisional restoration with a substructure of orthodontic band material has dramatically increased the longevity of this restoration. The procedure requires commonly available materials without a significant increase in cost or construction time.

Diagnosis and dental management of eating disorder patients.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are serious eating disorders that affect a significant number of young adults. Dentists play an important role in the early diagnosis and implementation of comprehensive treatment of patients with these disorders. Dental treatment modalities vary with the severity of the erosion of the dentition and the mental health status of the patient. The decision to proceed with definitive treatment is predicated upon the patient seeking psychotherapy and ceasing to vomit. A description of the early signs with various degrees of dental destruction, are presented.

Influence of reinforcement design on the loss of marginal seal of provisional fixed partial dentures.

Loss of marginal cement seal, initial fracture, and stiffness of three four-unit provisional restorations were tested. Loss of marginal cement seal was monitored using strain gauges located occlusogingivally at the distal of the second molar abutment and the mesial of the first premolar abutment of a four-unit posterior fixed provisional restoration with two pontics. The provisional restorations were then placed in an Instron testing machine and loaded to initial fracture. Stiffness was calculated from the Instron recordings. The provisional designs were permachrome band-reinforced, wire-reinforced, and a nonreinforced control. Analysis showed: (1) the band-reinforced design withstood a significantly greater load before loss of cement seal (P< or =.05); (2) the band-reinforced design had a significantly higher stiffness (P< or =.05); and (3) there was no difference between the three designs for load at initial fracture. Within the same sample it was found that for both band- and wire-reinforced designs the premolar abutment lost the marginal cement seal at a significantly lower load than the molar (P< or =.05). For the control there was no significant difference for load at marginal cement seal loss between abutments.

Retention of ERA direct overdenture attachments before and after fatigue loading.

This in vitro study investigated the retention of the four different color-coded ERA attachments prior to and after various levels of fatigue loading (at baseline, at 500 cycles, and after every 500 cycles up to 5,500 cycles). Samples were placed in the Instron testing machine for determination of initial retentive values and then cycled in a specially designed fatigue machine and retested. The results of this study demonstrated that although there are four different retentive elements supplied by the manufacturer of the ERA system, there were only two significantly different groups; (1) the white attachments and (2) the orange, blue, and gray attachments (P < .05). After 500 cycles, there was a loss in retention of 60% for the white, 60% for the orange, 56% for the blue, and 54% for the gray. After 1,500 cycles there was no difference in retentive values for any of the four colored attachments (P < .05). Microscopic examination of worn specimens supported the findings of the fatigue testing.