A guide to minimally invasive crown lengthening and tooth preparation for rehabilitating pink and white aesthetics.

The rehabilitation of anterior dental aesthetics involves a multitude of disciplines, each with its own methodologies for achieving a predefined goal. The literature is awash with different techniques for a given predicament, based on both scientific credence, as well as empirical clinical judgements. An example is crown lengthening for correcting uneven gingival zeniths, increasing clinical crown lengths, and therefore, reducing the amount of maxillary gingival display that detracts from pleasing pink aesthetics. Many procedures have been advocated for rectifying gingival anomalies depending on prevailing clinical scenarios and aetiology. This paper presents a minimally invasive technique for crown lengthening for short clinical crowns concurrent with excessive maxillary gingival display, which is expedient, maintaining the inter-proximal papilla, mitigating morbidity, reducing post-operative inflammation, and increasing patient comfort. In addition, with a similar ethos, a minimally invasive tooth preparation approach is presented for achieving optimal white aesthetics.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia: experience with preoperative stabilization and delayed surgery without ECMO and inhaled nitric oxide.

Despite many advances in the management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), the condition carries a mortality rate of 40-50% usually consequent to pulmonary hypoplasia and/or persistent pulmonary hypertension. Several centers have reported improved survival with preoperative stabilization and delayed surgery, which is now an accepted method of management. This is a retrospective analysis of all neonates with respiratory distress at birth due to CDH who were treated at our institution with neither extracorporeal membrane oxygenation nor nitric oxide being used. The medical records of all neonates with CDH and respiratory distress at birth who were treated at this institution from August 1, 1992 through March 1, 1997 were reviewed. There were 21 patients, 11 male and 10 female. There were 17 full-term and 4 premature infants; two premature infants at 30 and 34 weeks' gestation were not resuscitated because of severe associated congenital anomalies. Surgery was performed from 5 to 144 hr (mean 45 hr) in 18 infants. One infant died during preoperative stabilization from severe pulmonary hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension and one infant died postoperatively from the same conditions. Seventeen of 19 infants (89.5%) survived and were discharged home. Three infants (17.6%) who failed to thrive due to severe gastroesophageal reflux (GER) required fundoplication. Eleven infants (64.7%) who had sepsis proven by blood culture responded satisfactorily to appropriate antibiotics. Preoperative stabilization and delayed surgery has been a satisfactory form of management in our series. The significant complication was sepsis, which must be addressed.