Flapless dental implant surgery and use of cone beam computer tomography guided surgery.

Flapless implant surgery is increasing in popularity, particularly due to advances and increased usage of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and dental implant treatment planning software allowing three-dimensional assessment of the implant site. It is the aim of the article to provide an overview of flapless implant surgery and CBCT guided flapless implant surgery and summarise the literature with regard to the effectiveness of this surgical technique.

The Current Evidence on Retaining or Prosthodontically Replacing Retained Deciduous Teeth in the Adult Hypodontia Patient: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: This systematic review aims to evaluate the survival of retaining or replacing deciduous teeth in hypodontia patients with a variety of prosthetic tooth replacement options, to evaluate prognostic factors associated with retaining deciduous teeth, and report on patient based outcomes with these treatment modalities. METHODS: MEDLINE, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Science Direct databases were searched (01/1980 - 08/2017) for studies reporting outcomes associated with retaining or replacing deciduous teeth via prosthetic means in adult hypodontia patients. RESULTS: Twenty-one articles were included. The following survival figures were reported; retaining deciduous tooth/teeth (83%-93%), resin-bonded bridgework (59-96.9%) and implants (86-100%). No survival data was reported for fixed or removable partial dentures. Prognostic factors for deciduous tooth survival, quality of life and patient satisfaction data were also reported. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this review, retaining deciduous teeth have reasonable survival; however, studies beyond the third decade of life are lacking. Dental implants appear to be a highly successful long-term tooth replacement option with high patient satisfaction within this patient group, as have resin-bonded bridgework, albeit over the short to medium term. Tooth replacement options in the form of fixed and removable partial dentures were poorly reported upon.

Implant retention systems for implant-retained overdentures.

Implant retained overdentures are being increasingly utilised in both general and specialist practice to rehabilitate patients with missing teeth, particularly those that are edentate. This article aims to inform the reader of a variety of retention systems that are available to retain an implant overdenture and to understand how these systems work, their advantages and disadvantages and to outline some of the clinical and treatment planning considerations involved in selecting the most appropriate retention system for patients.

The restorative management of microdontia.

Microdontia is a dental abnormality that will often present to the dental practitioner due to the aesthetic concerns of the patient. Treatment is therefore aimed at addressing the aesthetics issue of the patient and this can present a number of challenges which may require a multidisciplinary approach in its management. This article presents the restorative management of localised and generalised microdontia.