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Some of us only speak English, while some are bi-lingual, others may even speak several languages. What we all have in common is the use of jargon, the terms and phrases unique to the dental profession. Another thing that many of us have in common is that we forget that it is jargon and speak it to our patients who, more than likely, have no idea what we are talking about. Many of them may be reticent or too embarrassed to ask for clarification. As dental professionals we must recognize that clear, unambiguous communication with a patient is crucial to a successful outcome.

With that said, Dental Laboratory London presents here, and in two or three subsequent articles, a brief glossary of common dental words and some suggestions as to ‘plain language’ for the same.

ABUTMENT (For a bridge)

An abutment for a bridge uses two or more teeth to fill the toothless space. An abutment is a prepared tooth.
 

ACRYLIC

This is a plastic widely used in dentistry for various purposes.

1. Acrylic resin is used in making impression trays.
   1. Acrylic veneer is a tooth-collared layer of plastic placed over the surface of a crown or tooth.

 3. Once a tooth is prepared for a crown, a temporary crown is placed in the mouth. The acrylic temporary will provide similar function while your permanent tooth is being made.

ALLOY, DENTAL or METAL

There are numerous alloys used in the making of dental restorations. The following alloy classifications will be helpful for your patient to understand during the planning phase of treatment:

• Noble metals include gold, platinum and palladium.

• High noble alloys have a noble metal content of 60% or greater, of which at least 40% must be gold.
• Noble alloys have a noble metal content of at least 25%.
• Predominantly base alloys are less than 25% noble metal.

ARTICULATOR

A metal or plastic device designed with a hinge to reproduce the open, close and side-to-side movement of the lower jaw.

Dental Laboratory London, as always, welcomes your questions, comments and suggestions.

The wonders of modern medicine allow a huge variety of physical ails to be treated, and managed, which otherwise would severely limit quality of life.

Medicinal intervention comes at a cost though, in the form of side effects. These side effects don’t stop in the mouth.

For this reason today I’ll be discussing drug induced oral disorders:

Anticonvulsants, calcium channel blocking agents, and cyclosporine may all be associated with gingival enlargement. Oral contraceptives may also be a contributing factor in alterations of gingival tissues.

Treatment considerations for patients affected by drug-induced periodontal disease may include:

1.  Consultation with patient’s physician as necessary.

2.  When possible, baseline periodontal evaluation prior to initiation or modification of drug therapy.

3.  Modification of the drug regimen prescribed in consultation with the physician if gingival enlargement or other adverse drug reactions or side effects occur.

4.  Surgery as necessary to eliminate gingival enlargement. Patients should be informed that gingival enlargement may recur if drug therapy can not be modified or if adequate plaque control is not achieved and maintained.

I’d also like to mention hematologic disorders and leukemia:

Hemorrhagic gingival enlargement with or without necrosis is a common early manifestation of acute leukaemia.

Patients with chronic leukaemia may experience similar but less severe periodontal changes.

Chemotherapy or therapy associated with bone marrow transplantation may also adversely affect the gingiva, and considerations for patients with hematologic disorders and periodontal disease should include:

1.  Coordination of treatment with the patient’s physician.

2.  Minimization of sites of periodontal infection by means of appropriate periodontal therapy prior to the treatment of leukaemia and/or transplantation.

3.  Avoidance of elective periodontal therapy during periods of exacerbation of the malignancy or during active phases of chemotherapy.

4.  Consideration of antimicrobial therapy for emergency periodontal treatment when granulocyte counts are low.

5.  Monitoring for evidence of host-versus-graft disease and of drug-induced gingival overgrowth following bone marrow transplantation.

6.  Periodontal therapy, including surgery, for patients with stable, chronic leukaemia.

If you treat patients experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned in this article, Biterite would love to hear from you.

Feel free to leave a comment here or find me on social media:

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IPS e.max CAD – Innovative CAD/CAM technology:

Experience shows that when two processes are combined the end results are quite often less than satisfactory.
Biterite is sure that you will find that IPS e.max CAD presents a very pleasing exception to this general rule with us.

Based on the same materials technology as IPS e.max Press, it combines the benefits of CAD/CAM processing technology with a high-performance lithium disilicate (LS2) ceramic that allows tooth-coloured restorations to be produced which feature high final strength values.

You will find the Medium Opacity (MO) blocks ideal for fabrication of frameworks with final veneering. For fully anatomical crowns with optional cut-back and incisal layering, IPS e.max CAD Low Translucency (LO) blocks are a perfect solution.

Providing high strength and high aesthetics; efficient, economical processing; minimally invasive restorations; three levels of translucency for maximum flexibility; one day for a completed posterior bridge with outstanding overall strength; as well as the options of adhesive, self-adhesive or conventional cementation — the advantages of IPS e.max CAD/CAM technology, for both the practitioner and the patient, are easy to see.

If you have any comments or questions on e.max or CAD/CAM, feel free to leave a comment here or get in touch with me on social media:

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Staggering statistics aside, there are endless reasons to prescribe Lava™ Zirconia. Not the least of which is the explosive growth in patient demand for a crown or bridge with no metal in it.

Add that to the look when a patient sees beautiful Lava zirconia where a large amalgam once was and you’ll see the face of genuine satisfaction.

Lava zirconia takes cosmetic dentistry to a whole new level, exactly where many dentists are aiming to take their practice.

Biterite are more than equipped to help your lab take that step.

Your patients can experience the beauty of a digital Lava restoration that is more aesthetic than pressed ceramics.

And the digital precision of a Lava DVS full contour crown means that manual adjustments are minimized and fit is optimized.

Additionally, Lava zirconia is:

• Available in a variety of shades and translucencies. You’re sure to receive a restoration that closely mirrors your patient’s natural aesthetics.
• Indicated for both posterior and anterior restorations.
• For use with conservative prep and conventional cementation.
• Digital precision ensures consistent strength, minimal adjustments and optimized fit.

The strength of Lava™ DVS crowns makes them an ideal solution. Why? Our controlled CAD/CAM process and a strong zirconia core ensure Lava DVS restorations are strong and beautiful every time.

If you have any questions or comments about Lava, or any of Biterite’s other services, feel free to get in touch. Leave a comment here, send an email, or find me on social media:

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In the past I’ve used this blog to talk about the huge importance of dentist-patient communication.

As important as the patient-practitioner relationship is, the dentist-dental lab relationship is often overlooked.

Today I’m going to take a look at how modern technology can enhance communication between the dentist and the dental lab.

Until very recent advances in computers, digital cameras, and mobile phones, communication was more or less limited to in-person or landline telephone conversations.

Letters and other documents, as well as printed photographs, travelled by post or via fax machines. Now, nearly all communication, verbal and written, has gone digital.

Even in the very recent past, the largest amount of information flowing between a dentist and lab has been by way of the impression.

Now, digital impression systems provide the opportunity for better, more accurate, communication.

The resultant virtual model becomes a powerful communication tool, especially since it allows for the magnification of the image allowing scrutiny of detail not possible a traditional impression.

Complete and accurate information sent from the dentist to the lab can eliminate many questions or uncertainties.

After the scan and prescription are complete, the case is sent electronically to the lab. The dentist almost immediately has confirmation that the case ‘file’ has been received.

For labs with CAD software, like us, cases can easily be scanned and imported into the system.

We can now review cases electronically, and any issues or questions that used to take days being sent back and forth can quickly be resolved via a screen shot, email, or phone call.

If a challenge arises that requires lab-dentist consultation, it can be done online with everyone participating in the discussion.

Dental Laboratory London is committed to providing state of the art products and communications through highly-trained personnel and the latest innovations that technology has to offer.

As always, we welcome any comments or discussion about new modes of communication for labs and dentists. Feel free to leave a comment on this blog, or get in touch on our social media presence:

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The Lava™ Crown and Bridge System: A precise match of aesthetics and strength

Understanding what makes modern dental lab works so impressive helps the relationship between a lab and a dental practice.

Part of the reason modern aesthetics works are so impressive compared to their spiritual ancestors is the quality of the materials labs work with, one of which is Lava 3M ESPE.

Combining the natural appearance and high strength of Zirconium oxide, 3M ESPE Lava crowns and bridges possess a translucent framework unparalleled in dental restorations.

Biterite Lab, an approved Lava 3M ESPE design centre, is able to manufacture framework matched precisely to the colour of your patient’s teeth, down to the translucency, mimicking natural dentine.

Excellent aesthetics are achieved through individually coloured frameworks;  the Lava customised veneer ceramic builds onto this unique framework producing consistently excellent results.

With a perfectly natural transition between veneer ceramic, framework and preparation margin at the tapered edge of the crown, a patient pleasing outcome is assured.

For decades, porcelain fused to metal (PFM) restorations set the standards for strength, durability and marginal fit.  Now, with 3M ESPE Lava Crowns and Bridges, these standards can be achieved as easily and more beautifully.

Due to the outstanding properties of the zirconium oxide framework material, you can prescribe Lava crowns and bridges for both anterior and posterior applications certain of their being the highest strength restorations available today, with no compromise of the lifespan of the restoration.

Any questions, or comments on the experiences you’ve had with Lava are always welcome. Feel free to leave them here, or contact us on our social media outlets:

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Triple tray use it at your peril!! It’s quick and cost effective but will cost heavily when fitting your restoration.

 It sounds like a great idea!! Because you can take both upper and lower impressions and a bite registration all at the same time! Sounds like a great idea! Right?

But is it?

As the patient bites down to engage the impression material when using triple tray, they may bite the thru the impresion materialand onto the tray itself in the process distorting the shape of the tray, the impression material sets and the patients opens there mouth, the pressure distorting the tray is removed and the tray returns to it original shape, the impression material which is attached and supported by the tray distorts due to the tray returning to its original shape.

This resulting elastic distortion  in the impression may cause any restoration made using this information be prone to not fitting at all or having loose or tight  proximal contacts or being high in the bite or short of the margins or baggy or too tight. Inlays and onlays are the most prove to not fitting when triple tray is used.

Bite registration from triple tray tend to be inaccurate due to the thickness of material the patient is biting into

Post and cores are also very prone to impression distortion when using triple tray

So the time that was saved using triple tray is lost at the fit appointment when it takes lots of extra time to fit  and need to adjust heavily or re-imp.

Also the laboratory only receives 1/3 the dentition or at best 1/2. Making articulation often incorrect and time consuming.

The best way to minimise these problems is to use:

Metal impressions trays or special trays they are very rigid and don’t distort

Full arch upper and lower impressions even for and MO inlay

Bite registration taken using a rigid material in low thickness

restoration will fit better and save you time