Immediate complete dentures.

When dentists treat patients for immediate complete dentures, they assume responsibility not only for the clinical and laboratory techniques unique to immediate complete denture fabrication, but also the responsibility for informing their patients about their treatment options, instructing their patients in the care of their oral tissues and dentures, and for continuing maintenance of the immediate dentures. Immediate dentures can be a traumatic introduction to complete dentures if patients are not informed fully about the complexity of the clinical and laboratory procedures, the need for immediate denture maintenance, and the costs associated with immediate denture treatment. The importance of 8 to 12 months of continuing care for immediate denture patients must be explained to patients and the dangers of neglecting continuing care must be emphasized.

Do Mouth-Formed Mouth Guards Meet the NCAA Rules?

In brief: The arch lengths of the maxillary casts of 413 university football players were measured and compared with the arch lengths of 12 types of mouth-formed mouth guards to determine how closely each type of mouth guard conformed to NCM rules. The study found that, for a significant number of university football players, currently available mouth-formed mouth guards are not large enough to meet the NCAA rules and that a population of black athletes has a significantly larger mean arch length than a population of racially mixed athletes. The largest mouth-formed mouth guard met the NCAA rule for only 5.5% of football players of a predominantly black team.

An evaluation of mouthguard programs in Texas high school football.

Recent publications have indicated the interest in and controversy surrounding mouth protectors in sports dentistry. Mouth protection for athletes has been and continues to be dentistry's contribution to sports. Perhaps no other item of protective equipment is more effective in reducing injury to football players than a mouthguard. Although protection is no longer doubtful when a mouthguard is worn, there are still many mouthguards used that are not acceptable to the athletes in terms of comfort, durability, and speech. It is the responsibility of the dental profession to develop and dispense the best mouthguards available. From the present study it may be concluded that a properly constructed custom-made mouthguard will minimize the common complaints coaches and trainers have concerning mouthguards. It is apparent that more education about the types of mouthguards, their merits, and their availability is needed.

Laboratory procedures for the maintenance of a removable partial overdenture.

Laboratory procedures in support of maintenance therapy for a typical patient with a removable partial overdenture were described. These procedures consisted of the fabrication of a gold metal coping and the reline of the prosthesis with autopolymerizing acrylic resin. In designing the coping contours, the technician must consider the path of insertion of the prosthesis and the space requirement for the overlying resin tooth. Reproduction of the dowel preparation is facilitated by using a plastic dowel as part of the coping wax pattern. The removable partial overdenture was relined with autopolymerizing acrylic resin in a reline jig. Tooth-colored acrylic resin was used in the concavity formed by the overdenture abutment to enhance esthetics. The requirement of a coordinated effort between the dentist and the dental laboratory technician is critical to the successful treatment of the removable partial overdenture patient.