Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Thought For Today !

                                                            
                                                                                                 "Persistent Precision Provides Predictable Prognosis"
                                                               P.I.Branemark

Optra Gate - Great Tool for Implant Surgery!


Many of you are probably familiar with the Optra Gate self retaining lip and cheek retractor from Ivoclar Vivadent and have used it for restorative procedures. But did you know that its also a great retractor when doing implant surgery specially in the posterior quadrants ? It's like having an unobtrusive extra assistant who gently retracts the lips and cheeks and doesn't get in the way. As one of my patients pointed out, it also prevents your retractors traumatizing the corner of the mouth !
Optra Gate is disposable, non-latex , hypoallergenic, highly flexible and available in three sizes - Regular, Small and Junior.
Available from N.K.Patel in Mumbai and most dental dealers.
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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Luxators, Periotomes & Other Magic Wands - 1 !

Removing teeth as atraumatically as possible preserving the maximum possible surrounding bone is a relatively new idea. It was not always so. Some 20 odd years ago when I was a student, getting the tooth and the whole tooth out was the paramount objective. Never mind if you had to destroy the surrounding bone to do it and macerate the gingiva in the process . "Compress the socket walls" was a commandment !
How times have changed !
We no longer advocate "compressing the socket walls". In fact we attempt to preserve the original anatomy of the socket as much as possible. Multirooted teeth are carefully sectioned into individual roots and extracted preserving circumalveolar and interradicular bone. In progressive practices the dreaded "bayonet" has been banished to the nether regions of the remotest drawers !
As an oral surgeon I am glad this revolution has come about.Now oral surgeons can with honesty include themselves with "conservative dentists" and oral surgery has gone some way to be seen as part of 'conservative dentistry"
Even with all this paraphernalia extracting a tooth or root piece atraumatically isn't still a simple process. There are a wide variety of tools and a number of specialised instruments that are available to make the atraumatic extraction of teeth more predictable. Over the next few posts I shall try and describe the various tricks and tools that have been developed to make extractions more predictable.

--
Dr.C.P.Mathai MDS
Oral Surgery, Dental Implants, Oral Reconstruction.
Restoring Smiles! Building Confidence!
http://www.implantsutra.com

Friday, October 16, 2009

Happy Diwali !

Wishing all of you out there " A Very Happy Diwali and a Osseointegrated Prosperous New Year".