Hemisection in the Age of Dental Implants: A Case Report.

With their popularity and documented success, dental implants have become a common treatment pathway that has allowed for the restoration of otherwise nonrestorable teeth. While dental implants are largely considered to be a modern marvel for treating prognostically difficult cases, advanced implant placement techniques can come with challenging drawbacks that may lead practitioners to explore other restorative options. Hemisection is a unique alternative to dental implants that practitioners can use to save a case where implants would be contraindicated. The case presented examines one such situation in which the patient was unable to undergo the surgery necessary for implant placement. A hemisection procedure enabled an otherwise hopeless situation to be salvaged and a fixed alternative to be provided. This procedure, while rarely considered, can be a viable treatment option in the clinician's armamentarium for fixed prosthodontic treatment planning in complex cases.

The dentist as the gatekeeper of systemic health: A case report.

Many in the dental field often practice with blinders-they focus on the decay in front of them, the crown that must be prepared, the canal that must be shaped. The series of events that led to that existing issue, the underlying habit, disease, etc. is often overlooked. Many in our profession have gotten into the habit of becoming "tooth mechanics," fixing several issues and ensuring that our patients leave with adequate oral health, rather than addressing the larger, often systemic issues that resulted in the state of their oral health. Although the steps within this large diagnostic process often require the formation of a multidisciplinary healthcare team comprised of different fields in healthcare unique to each patient, this idea is often overlooked. Our case report examines unique and surprising oral health findings that prompted the formation of such a team. Our role as a valued member of the healthcare team should be of paramount importance to our practice, and this case discusses a patient whose health required such. The conversation between physician and dentist is of continued importance and in this case one will be able to identify how systemic health is ultimately preserved and improved in this conversation.

Pretransplantation and posttransplantation considerations in the oral healthcare of a patient with non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma: a case report.

Dental practitioners must be comfortable with treating medically compromised patients, including those with cancer. In particular, dental practitioners must be aware of the comorbidities of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in order to treat patients with an appropriate standard of care. This case report describes the oral healthcare of a patient whose recurrent non-Hodgkin lymphoma created a degree of medical complexity that required a unique treatment path. As with many patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the patient's compromised systemic health ultimately contributed to the deterioration of oral health, which in turn perpetuated the deleterious systemic concerns. As a result, both intensive medical and dental interventions were required to salvage the health of the patient. Secondary to the comprehensive medical treatment for managing the patient's cancer, there are several considerations that dentists must consider. This article explores those pretreatment and posttreatment considerations in the context of rehabilitative dentistry.