Mandibular overdentures when treating failing dentition with immediate prosthetic loading.

Patients may present with failing mandibular dentition either involving the entire arch, partial arch that currently has a partial denture to replace the prior missing teeth or wearing a full denture. Finances may limit restoration of the arch with an All-on-X concept and the patient's goals are a stable prosthesis that does not move whenconcept and the patient's goals are a stable prosthesis that does not move when eating or speaking is the patient's expressed goal. Overdentures can fulfil that goal and provide a stable restored arch at a lower treatment cost than treatment with a fixed hybrid prosthesis. Traditionally, when these type cases have been treated, the remaining dentition has been extracted, depending on availability of bone, implants are placed. Those typically were left to osseointegrate and loaded several months later with a delayed loading approach. This requires relining the denture and the patient having a loose, non-stable prosthesis during that healing phase. An alternative approach utilizes immediate activation of the implants with overdenture attachments thus, providing an immediate stable retentive full arch mandibular removable prosthesis (overdenture) by immediate activation of overdenture attachments (ie.Locators) aids the patient in their goals without delays in treatment. This article will present two case examples of mandibular arches with failing dentition related to caries and periodontal issues and their treatment with immediate implant placement and loading with Locator attachments. Long-term follow-up of 1-year 8-months in one case and 33-months in the other case demonstrate crestal bone stability with this immediate overdenture loading protocol.

Implant Placement When an Impacted Tooth and Supernumerary Teeth Are Present in the Maxilla.

The presence of impacted and/or supernumerary teeth in the maxillary anterior region can cause complications when attempting to perform restorations with implants. Extracting these structures can lead to adverse issues related to the adjacent dentition and require osseous grafting to provide a base to house the planned implant, but such an approach increases treatment time and cost. In this case report, a patient presented with an impacted permanent canine oriented on the horizontal plane with several supernumerary teeth coronal to the impacted canine. CBCT analysis revealed a very thin buccal plate over the impacted supernumerary teeth. The proposed treatment followed the principles of partial extraction therapy (PET) whereby the impacted structures were treated like bone, and implants were placed in contact with them or through them to achieve the desired osseointegration and provide long-term survival of the restored implants.

Digital Workflow as an Aid to Complex Multidiscipline Dental Treatment for Improved Esthetics.

Complex treatment frequently requires the often challenging task of cohesively melding multiple disciplines of dentistry. The use of a digital workflow aids in simplifying the flow of treatment from start to finish and can result in faster and better outcomes for the patient as compared to traditional analog methods. Digital workflows allow the clinician to design esthetic outcomes and occlusion first virtually, communicate these esthetic designs to the patient, and then transmit digital files to chairside milling and printing devices as well as to dental laboratories for permanent restoration fabrication. In the case presented-a complex implant case in which multiple areas of dental care were incorporated to achieve the patient's desired esthetic goals-the benefits of a digital workflow, including efficient soft-tissue management and streamlined fabrication of custom abutments, are demonstrated.

Treatment of an ossifying fibroma of the mandible with endodontic microsurgery and grafting with a biphasic calcium sulfate material: a case report.

A significant percentage of lesions of endodontic origin require surgical management due to the possible diagnosis of odontogenic cysts and tumors in the maxilla and mandible. Ossifying fibroma is a benign fibro-osseous lesion that typically presents as a painless, slow-growing, and expansile lesion that appears as a well-demarcated lesion with a variable degree of internal calcification on radiography. Treatment results in a large osseous defect, utilization of a graft to fill the void accelerates healing and prevents complications that may result from failure to fill by the host response. Case presentation: Following endodontic surgery placement of osseous graft material via Guided Tissue Regeneration to fill the defect aids to accelerate fill of the defect on a healthy 26-year-old female patient. A case discussing the one-step treatment of an ossifying fibroma of the anterior part of the mandible following endodontic microsurgery with associated retrograde fill of the apex, then site grating with biphasic calcium sulfate (Bond Apatite®) used in regeneration of the osseous defect related to the lesion and resulting surgery. Clinical discussion: Histologically, the ossifying fibroma is dominated by connective tissue containing cell rich areas with a few fragments of fibrosis. Moreover, in the connective tissue numerous small fragments of spongy and compact bone with areas of partial necrosis present and a significant number of inflammatory cells are observed. Surgical removal of the cyst with thorough curettage of the osseous walls and grafting of the defect provides predictable healing and the desired clinical results sought. Utilization of the biphasic calcium sulfate graft material allows the elimination of the need to overlay the area with a membrane before the flap due to its hard set and the prevention of soft tissue ingrowth into the graft material during the healing phase. Additionally, the hard set of the material allows tenting of the area to maintain the desired volume and ridge contour. Conversion of the graft material depending on the volume placed to host bone occurs over a 3-6 month period. Conclusion: The case report presented, as well as the authors experience mimics the literature on biphasic calcium sulfate in its use as an osseous graft material and is an effective method for the repair of osseous defects that result from the removal of tumors and cysts of the maxilla and mandible. Treatment of an ossifying fibroma is an ideal application of the use of this biphasic calcium sulfate material allowing tenting of the surgical site over the defect created after cyst removal without the need for resorbable collagen membranes. This simplifies its use and decreases material costs that may hamper patient acceptance of treatment without a decrease in expected clinical results.

Case report: utilization of Z-Point fixture "Trans-nasal" implants.

Severe bone loss in the anterior maxilla poses challenges to implant placement, especially when treating the entire arch. Utilization of zygomatic implants may not allow positioning of the implant platform anterior enough to properly support the full arch prosthesis, leaving an anterior cantilever in some clinical cases. Importance: Placement of implants into the trans-nasal bone between the pneumatized maxillary sinus and nasal fossa allows utilization of an extralong implant in this residual bone to augment zygomatic implants placed distal to this for better support of a full arch prosthesis. Case presentation: A typical case is presented with insufficient alveolar height for traditional implant placement in the anterior maxilla following extraction of the dentition related to bone loss resulting from periodontal disease. Review of the anatomy and technique for placement of implants into the Z-point area for trans-nasal implants. Clinical discussion: This article discusses the utilization of trans-nasal implants into the Z-point and the technique for placement in this residual bone with a case example. Conclusions: The Z-point implant aids in the elimination of the anterior cantilever that may be present due to the most anterior the platform for the zygomatic implant can be placed. Trans-nasal implants should be considered as part of the treatment plan in severely resorbed maxillary arches to allow better implant to spread and load management during functioning.

Sinus Augmentation for Implant Placement Utilizing a Novel Synthetic Graft Material with Delayed Immediate Socket Grafting: A 2-Year Case Study.

Frequently, sinus augmentation is required when replacing failing or missing molars in the maxilla due to loss of alveolar bone related to periodontal disease, pneumatization of the sinus or a combination of the two factors. Various materials have been advocated and utilized; these fall into the categories of allograft, xenograft and synthetic materials. This article shall discuss a study of 10 cases with a 2-year follow-up utilizing a novel synthetic graft material used for sinus augmentation either simultaneously with implant placement or in preparation for sinus augmentation and implant placement in the posterior maxilla. The results of the 10 cases in the study found consistent results over the 2-year study period with maintenance of the alveolar height at the maxillary sinus. A lack of complications or failures in the study group demonstrates the technique has useful applications in increasing ridge height to permit implant placement inferior to the sinus floor.

The severely atrophic maxilla: Decision making with zygomatic and pterygoid dental implants.

The severely atrophic maxilla can present with some challenges during treatment planning with communication between those performing the surgical and prosthetic aspects of the treatment as well as communication with the patient as to what is being suggested for treatment. This article simplifies the communication and understanding of treating the severely atrophic maxilla and based on the Bedrossian classification gives a guideline for the surgical approach to be adapted based on the patient residual anatomy.

Utilization of Low-Magnitude High-Frequency Vibration (LMHFV) as an Aid in Treating Peri-Implantitis: Case Presentations.

Peri-implantitis is an inflammatory process initiating in the soft tissue and then progressing to the hard tissue surrounding dental implants leading to loss of osseous support and potential loss of the implant if not identified early in the process. This process initiates in the soft tissue, which become inflamed spreading to the underlying bone leading to decreases in bone density with subsequent crestal resorption and thread exposure. In the absence of treatment of the peri-implantitis, the bone loss at the osseous implant interface progresses with inflammatory mediated decrease in the bone density that moves apically, eventually leading to mobility of the implant and its failure. Low-magnitude high-frequency vibration (LMHFV) has been shown to improve bone density, stimulate osteoblastic activity, and arrest progression of peri-implantitis with improvement of the bone or graft around the affected implant with or without surgery as part of the treatment. Two cases are presented using LMHFV to augment treatment.

Trans-sinus dental implants, for immediate placement when insufficient alveolar height is present: an alternative to zygomatic implants - surgical case series.

Low maxillary bone density associated with physiological bone remodeling and resorption accelerated by the presence or history of periodontal disease can prevent implant placement without either ridge and/or sinus augmentation in atrophic maxillary edentulous cases. As an alternative to avoid bone grafting and provide immediacy in restorative treatment care for the patient, remote anchorages to the basal bones of the maxilla of the patient are being used with zygomatic or pterygoid implants. The trans-sinus implant, when indicated can offer a reliable alternative to the zygomatic dental implant in that treatment of the severely edentulous maxilla. This approach is suggested in Bedrossian zones I and II atrophy and when an 'L' (or concave) anterior sinus wall anatomy is present. This approach will be discussed utilizing two case examples on how trans-sinus implants may be considered in treating the maxillary arch.

Horizontal Ridge Augmentation Under a Removable Partial Denture and Implant Placement.

Implant planning has moved in recent years to virtual planning with a CBCT scan and fabrication of a surgical guide based on that virtual planning. Unfortunately, positioning based on prosthetics is typically missing from the CBCT scan. Use of a diagnostic guide fabricated in office permits information from ideal prosthetic positioning to improve virtual planning and subsequent fabricated of a corrected surgical guide. This becomes more important when insufficiencies in the ridges horizontal aspects (width) will require ridge augmentation to allow later implant placement. This article discusses a case with insufficient ridge width and determination of where augmentation is required to house implants in ideal prosthetic positions, the subsequent grafting, implant placement and restoration.

Peri-implantitis and the Effect of the Implant Surface at Placement.

Modern root-form endosseous dental implants have been used to successfully replace missing teeth for more than four decades. The implant industry has grown substantially during this time, with many hundreds of dental implant manufacturers providing components for clinicians around the globe. Increased acceptance of dental implants has greatly amplified the number of dental implants placed worldwide. As the dental implant patient population continues to age, long-term follow-up after implant placement has become increasingly important due to various factors associated with the condition and maintenance of implants placed. Although dental implants exhibit a high success rate as a medical device, their life expectancy may be limited depending on the patient's changing health, use of medications, lifestyle changes, nutrition, occlusal/bite issues, loss of additional teeth, experiences of trauma, lack of sufficient keratinized soft tissue, loss of bony support, and oral hygiene habits. When loss of soft-tissue coverage and/or bone occurs, the resultant inflammation surrounding the implant is known as peri-implantitis.

The systemic oral health connection: Biofilms.

Frequently, periodontal health and it's associated oral biofilm has not been addressed in those patients who have systemic health issues, especially those who are not responding to medical treatment via their physician. Oral biofilm may be present in the periodontal sulcus in the absence of clinical disease of periodontal disease (bleeding on probing, gingival inflammation) and periodontal reaction is dependent on the patient's immune response to the associated bacterial and their byproducts. Increasing evidence has been emerging the past decade connecting oral biofilm with systemic conditions, either initiating them or complicating those medical conditions. The patient's health needs to be thought of as a whole-body system with connections that may originate in the oral cavity and have distant affects throughout the body. To maximize total health, a coordination in healthcare needs to be a symbiosis between the physician and dentist to eliminate the oral biofilm and aid in prevention of systemic disease or minimize those effects to improve the patient's overall health and quality of life. Various areas of systemic health have been associated with the bacteria and their byproducts in the oral biofilm. Those include cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, pulmonary disease, prostate cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, pre-term pregnancy, erectile dysfunction Alzheimer's disease and Rheumatoid arthritis. This article will discuss oral biofilm, its affects systemically and review the medical conditions associated with the oral systemic connection with an extensive review of the literature.

A Digital Approach to Immediate-Load, Full-Arch Implant Dentistry: A Case Report.

Conventional approaches to full-arch implant dentistry require a verified master model created by luting together impression jigs. This process involves numerous steps and is sometimes prone to errors that require subsequent correction. A novel approach involving an extraoral scanning technique using an Imetric 4D Imaging system demonstrates an alternative for same-day delivery of printed full-arch prosthetics. Advantages include the ability to offer a same-day provisional restoration without needing to verify an analog master cast.

Increasing Lateral Ridge Width for Implant Placement Using Calcium Sulphate Bone Cement Technique.

Dental implant practitioners are often faced with a presentation of a narrow crest, making it difficult or impossible for implant placement and requiring modification of the ridge to allow implants to be utilized. Many different factors need to be considered when choosing the technique to expand the ridge laterally. Ideally, the technique should facilitate the goal of ridge width increase while reducing inflammation and postoperative pain for the patient. In this study, patients were treated for lateral ridge augmentation to improve ridge width using a calcium sulphate-based bone cement with a protocol that does not require membrane placement at the time of grafting. This minimally invasive, relatively economical surgical technique is aimed at improving postoperative comfort for patients while permitting widening of the lateral ridge.

Novel Protocols for the Production of Autologous Blood Concentrates With High Platelet Volume.

Autologous blood concentrates (ABCs), specifically platelet-rich plasma (PRP), were originally discussed in the literature more than 60 years ago. Since then, protocols to fabricate PRP from patient-derived blood have steadily evolved with the aim of creating better products with more effective clinical results. Key to the protocol evolution has been the development of ABCs with higher concentrates of platelets and other blood components that enhance soft- and hard-tissue healing and, hence, regeneration. The authors present a protocol for obtaining high-platelet-concentration PRP and autogenous thrombin. This fifth-generation protocol allows PRP to be attained with a platelet concentration six times higher than that which is present in the original clot. This double-centrifugation PRP protocol is relatively simple and inexpensive, as it does not require special equipment or advanced technical knowledge by the practitioner and can readily be conducted in a private dental clinical setting.

Evaluation of the Accuracy of a New Geometric Approach to Implant Guidance.

PURPOSE: Implant surgical guides are often fabricated using CBCT technology. In this study, an alternative technique is proposed. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the accuracy of the guide sleeve corrections of a geometric approach to guided surgery to the accuracy of in vitro studies of stereolithographic guides. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four arch forms were milled from acrylic blocks each with 12 root form sites. Root form inserts were made. Holes were milled in the inserts at arbitrary angles. Guide posts were placed in these sites. Guide sleeves were placed on the posts and connected with light-cured resin to form verification jigs. The goal was to correct the angles of the guide sleeves to a vertical position 90 degrees from the base of the arch forms. The initial angles from the vertical and horizontal positions of the center of each guide sleeve were determined radiographically and geometrically. Horizontal and angle corrections were made using two-piece guide posts. Guide sleeves placed over the corrected guide posts were connected with light-cured resin, forming new verification jigs. The accuracy of the angle correction and the coronal horizontal and apical horizontal deviations of the 3-mm guide sleeves were determined. The experimental sites were divided into two groups to determine if the size of the initial angles of the guide sleeves had any effect on the accuracy of the corrections. RESULTS: The initial angles of the guide sleeves before corrections revealed the mean difference between the two methods of measurements in groups 1 and 2 as 0.36 degrees (P = .14) and 0.69 degrees (P = .07), respectively. A comparison of the angle error measurements from 90 degrees after corrections between the two groups in the mesiodistal and buccolingual planes was not significant. The coronal and apical horizontal deviations after corrections revealed a significant difference between the two groups at the coronal level (P = .005) but not at the apical level (P = .14). In comparison of the methods of the two measurements of the angle error from vertical after corrections, the mean difference was 1.23 degrees (P = .01) and 0.69 degrees (P = .02). CONCLUSION: The in vitro accuracy of the guide sleeve corrections made with the geometric approach for implant guidance was compared to the results of the meta-analyses of in vitro studies of implant placement with stereolithographic guides. The mean errors were smaller and within the recommendations of the EAO Consensus Conference of 2012.

Utilization of Biphasic Calcium Sulfate as Socket Preservation Grafting as a Prelude to Implant Placement: A Case Report.

Extraction of the natural tooth may be a prelude to implant placement. This may be done using an immediate placement protocol or require a delayed approach depending on multiple factors that include residual infection related to the failed tooth being extracted, availability of bone to stabilize the implant at placement, or soft tissue issues. Socket preservation is recommended when the delayed approach is selected to create an osseous bed with adequate height and width that can accommodate the implant that is planned.

Socket Preparation for Delayed Implant Placement Using a Mineralized Cancellous Allograft.

Various materials have been used for extraction socket preservation in anticipation of implant placement or to limit resorption of socket walls. Materials have ranged from autogenous bone, allografts, and xenografts to synthetics. Ideally, the graft material being placed into the socket at the time of extraction should fully convert to host bone to yield vital bone that will permit implant osseointegration with as much contact between bone and the implant surface as possible. This article reviews different materials and presents two cases in which extraction of a molar was required and future implant placement planned.

Implant Restorations: Establishing a Proper Emergence Profile.

The replacement of missing teeth is more complex than simply placing a dental implant and restoring it, especially when a single implant site is involved. Implants have a round cross-section, whereas natural teeth do not but instead have crestal cross-sections that vary in shape from ovoid to triangular to rectangular depending on which tooth is being replaced. When this factor is combined with the zone between the crestal bone and adjacent proximal contacts, an emergence profile presents that will govern the esthetics of the restoration. The emergence profile will also guide and maintain the soft tissue, preventing potential food accumulation areas interproximally. This article defines an emergence profile and reviews the importance of establishing it and how to develop it based on the tooth being replaced to achieve natural-appearing restorations.

Oral Fibroma Removal With a Er,Cr:YSSG Laser.

Fibromas often occur orally and are typically due to trauma to underlying connective tissue resulting in tissue enlargement. To prevent continuing trauma to the tissue, excision may be recommended, and biopsy is often indicated for these masses to confirm their diagnosis and to rule out a potential malignant cause. This article presents a case report in which a Er,Cr:YSSG laser was utilized for excision of an oral fibroma. This approach enabled excellent tissue response compared to the use of a scalpel or monopolar electrosurgery, with minimal patient postoperative discomfort and improved healing.