Teaching dental pain with and without underlying oral physiology: learning implications.

This study investigated whether teaching undergraduate dental students the diagnosis and management of acute dental pain alongside the underpinning oral physiology helped them to understand the topic better than teaching them acute dental pain as a separate entity. Each of three clinical years of dental students at the same dental school was taught in two groups. Each group was taught the signs/symptoms of five acute dental pain conditions by the same member of the staff. However, the teaching for one group of students in each year reminded the students about the physiology that underpinned the clinical symptoms. One week later, the students completed an open-ended questionnaire that required them to list signs/symptoms of the five dental pain conditions. For each year of dental students that was examined, the mean student marks were significantly higher (p<0.05) for those who were taught dental pain and the underlying physiology compared with students who were only taught dental pain as a stand-alone subject. This suggests that integrating biomedical science and clinical teaching is beneficial.

Comparison of wear and clinical performance between amalgam, composite and open sandwich restorations: 2-year results.

There has been some disquiet over the use of mercury containing restorative materials. The most commonly used alternative is composite resin but this has the potential disadvantage associated with wear and marginal leakage, which in turn, has proven to result in secondary caries and sensitivity. To overcome the shortcomings of a directly placed composite restoration, the glass-ionomer/composite open sandwich technique was introduced followed by the subsequent introduction of compomer systems. The aims of this study were to evaluate the wear and clinical performance of a control group of amalgam restorations compared with that of a group of posterior composite resin restorations fillings and a group of compomer/composite open sandwich restorations placed by a single general dental practitioner. The duration of the study was 2 years. One hundred and thirty three (71.4%) patients were successfully recalled and the wear and clinical performance of each restoration after 6, 12 and 24 months was measured, indirectly. There was no statistically significant difference recorded between the groups at 6 months or 1 year (p > 0.05). However, at the end of the 2-year study, there was a significantly lower rate of wear recorded for the control amalgam restorations compared with other two groups (p = 0.033). There was no statistically significant difference in wear recorded between the two groups of tooth-coloured restorations (p > 0.05). With regards to clinical performance of the restorations, occlusal and proximal contacts in each group of restoration remained satisfactory throughout the study.

Infiltration of resin into white spot caries-like lesions of enamel: an in vitro study.

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which caries lesions can be infiltrated successfully with polymerisable resins. This could provide dentists with an additional means of managing white spot lesions in high caries risk patients rather than relying on improved plaque control and fluoride application. Artificial caries lesions were produced in extracted premolar teeth using an acidified gel. The lesions were infiltrated using two of the resins currently available to the dental profession. The effects of acid etching the surface, and of drying the lesion by two methods, were investigated. The degree of resin penetration was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that following a short etch (5s with 36% phosphoric acid), prior dehydration of the lesion with ethanol and the application of multiple layers of bonding resin, lesions could be infiltrated almost completely with organic resin. This approach could offer an alternative approach for the management of uncavitated lesions.