Screening of Fixed Prosthodontic Dentures after Five Years of Use in Relation to Material and Construction

The aim of this study was to screen patients with fixed prosthodontic appliances that were in oral cavity for a period of 5 years or more and to assess clinically and radiologically root caries, gingival recession, pocket formation, alveolar ridge resorption, as well as gingival (GI) and plaque index (PI). The aim also was to find out the differences between materials and constructions, between abutment and non-abutment teeth, and to find out the need for replacement. A total of 260 patients and their orthopantomograms were examined, with a total of 2,265 teeth, 610 being bridge abutments and 246 being crowns. The most frequent were metal+ acrylic veneer crowns or bridges. Root caries was found under the abutments in 10–20%; however abutments with ceramic crowns had the lowest percentage of caries (p<0.01). Alveolar ridge resorption, pocket formation deeper than 3 mm and gingival recession of various degree was found in 50% of the cases, again with the lowest percentage of ceramic-fused-to-metal appliances (p<0.01). Pocket depth was registered in significantly higher percentage in metal-acrylic veneer appliances compared to natural teeth (p<0.01), while there was no significant difference between metal-ceramic appliances and natural teeth (p>0.05). Although the worst findings were recorded for metal-+acrylic veneer crowns for PI, no significant difference existed between crowns of different material or non-abutment teeth (p>0.05). There was statistically significant difference between abutments with metal + acrylic veneer crowns, full metal crowns, metal ceramic crowns and non-abutments for GI scores. Higher percentage of scores 0 and 1 was recorded for metal ceramic crowns and non-abutments and significantly higher percentage of scores 2 and 3 was recorded for metal + acrylic veneer crowns and full metallic crowns. Almost 50% of metal-ceramic abutments had no pathologic findings. Almost 30% of the patients needed replacement, or even some abutments to be extracted and therefore a new prosthodontic appliance

Evaluation of Denture Stomatitis in Croatian Adult Population

Denture stomatitis (DS) is often found under the removable partial dentures (RPDs). There are many factors influencing it, such as patient’s age and gender, smoking habits, denture age, denture material, denture wearing habits, denture hygiene habits, oral hygiene instruction, denture cleanness and denture plaque accumulation. The aim of this study was to find out the influence these factors have on the prevalence of DS under RPDs and complete dentures (CDs). A total of 200 patients took part in this study. Half of the examined patients (100) wore CD and the other half (100) RPDs. There were 63 males and 137 females, aged between 45 and 83 years. Different smoking habits, denture wearing habits, denture hygiene habits, denture cleanness and oral hygiene instructions had significant influence on the degree of DS in CD wearers (p < 0.01). In the RPD wearers, denture material and denture support had a significant influence on DS (p < 0.01). The significant correlation was found between the denture plaque accumulation and the DS in complete maxillary and mandibular ( U = 0.85; L = 0.61) and removable maxillary and mandibular partial dentures ( U = 0.45; L = 0.62)

A Comparison of Trace Element (TE) Release from High Noble Au-Pt Alloy and Base Co-Cr-Mo Alloy Under In Vitro Conditions of Imitating Oral Saliva

In a moist environment electrochemical conditions lead to release of metal ions into the patient\u27s saliva. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the types and quantities of metal ions released from two alloys: AuPt alloy and Co-Cr-Mo alloy under in vitro conditions, imitating artificial saliva. We soaked ten sets of Au-Pt alloy pieces having 133 mm2 exposure surface and ten sets of Co-Cr-Mo alloy (WironitR, Bego, Germany) pieces having 497 mm2 exposure surface for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days (six pieces each set) in phosphate buffered saline (pH 6.0) to mimic dental saliva. TE in the phosphate buffered saline (saliva) were assessed by ICP-AES (JY 50P, Jobin-Ywon, France) with the detection limit of 10 mg/L. We found detectable amounts (mg/L) of TE (Mean SD) released from Au-Pt alloy (Mean SD): Zn 124 (51), Cu 53 (63), Fe 15 (11) and Cr 18 (25) and detectable amounts of TE released from Co- Cr-Mo alloy (Mean SD): Co 337 (170), Fe 21 (15) Zn 87 (56), Ni 41 (68), and Cr 49 (42). The manufacturer did not indicate the presence of Zn and Fe in the Au-Pt alloy and the presence of Fe, Zn, and Ni in the Co-Cr- Mo alloy. Significantly higher amount of Zn was released from high noble AuPt alloy than from Co-Cr-Mo alloy (p<0.05) and a significantly higher amount of Cr was released from Co-Cr--Mo alloy than from Au-Pt alloy. There was no significant difference in the amount of Fe ions released between the two alloys (p>0.05). We must keep in mind that the amount of released TE may be much higher than the reported values after laboratory procedures (casting, polishing, etc.) and, moreover, other TE may become detectable

Foramen Mandibulae as an Indicator of Successful Conduction Anesthesia

Comparative measurements were made of 144 orthopantomographs in 50 patients with successful and 94 patients with unsuccessful inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia. The results show that the bony lingula is prominent in 28.5% of all patients, or in 56.0% of those with unsuccessful anesthesia. The variables mandibular notch vs. mandibular foramen (MN-MF) and the anterior ramus ridge vs. mandibular foramen (ARR-MF) show greater distances in the group of patients with successful anesthesia, while the variables of posterior ramus ridge vs. mandibular foramen (PRR-MF) and mandibular angle vs. mandibular foramen (MA-MF) were greater in the group of patients with unsuccessful anesthesia (p > 0.05). It is concluded that the variability in position of the mandibular foramen among others may be responsible for an occasional failure of inferior alveolar nerve block

Analysis of Occlusal Contacts in Different Types of Prosthodontic Appliances, Eichner Classifications, Presence RCP-ICP Slide and the Type of Occlusion

The aim of the study was to determine the number and the type of the occlusal contacts (strong, weak) with respect to the type of the prosthodontic appliance (fixed, removable, combined fixed-removable) and with respect to the Eichner classification in patients with their appliances being in a good function for a long time. The aim of the study was also to determine the number and the type of the occlusal contacts (strong, weak) with respect to the type of occlusion (canine guided, group function or balanced) and the presence of the RCP-ICP slide. A total of 440 patients with different types of prosthodontic appliances were examined for the antagonistic occlusal contacts using occlusal strips of 11 m and 50 m. The average number of occlusal contacts was 10.5 for the upper and 10.46 for the lower posterior teeth, approximately 5 on each side of the tooth arch. The results of the study suggest that the biggest number of occlusal contacts were recorded for the small span fixed appliances (2 on average), the greater span fixed and fixed-removable prosthodontic appliances exhibited 1.6 occlusal contacts, and the removable complete denture exhibited 1.2 contact per the tooth in the posterior region. The number of the hard occlusal contacts was significantly greater in fixed and fixedremovable prosthodontic appliances in comparison with the complete dentures (p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference between the prosthodontic appliances for the weak occlusal contacts (p > 0.05). The overall number of the occlusal contacts, as well as the number of the hard occlusal contacts was significantly greater in the Eichner class I cases (p < 0.05) in comparison with the Eichner classes II and III. The number of the weak occlusal contacts showed no significant differences with respect to the Eichner classification (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of occlusal contacts between the appliances with RCP-ICP slide and where ICP and RCP corresponded (p > 0.05)

Type And Material of Fixed Prosthodontic Appliances in Patients Living in the Region of Metković

The aim of this study was to evaluate the type and the aesthetic material in relation to age, gender, level of education, employment, socio-economic status and frequency of visits to the dentist. The examination was performed on 212 patients who had a fixed prosthodontic appliance for more than a year (55% males and 45% females, age 18-80 yrs.). The following conclusions were made: 1. The older patients and retired patients had significantly more bridges than crowns (p0.05). Patients who visit their dentist regularly have significantly more crowns than bridges than patients who visit their dentist irregularly or when in pain (p0.05). 2. Almost all fixed prosthodontic appliances older than 10 years were made of porcelain (98%), while acrylic veneer crowns were more frequent in appliances older than 10 or 15 years (p0.05). Patients older than 60 years had more acrylic material compared to younger patients. While patients younger than 39 years had almost exclusively ceramic appliances (p<0.01). Less educated patients had more acrylic veneer appliances. Employed patients had significantly more ceramic appliances than retired patients

Relationship Between the Face and the Tooth Form

The aim of this study was to re-examine Leon Williams geometric theory and to find the degree of correspondence between the face and the tooth form in the population of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two thousand individuals with intact frontal teeth, in age between 17 and 24 years, were measured for 3 horizontal distances on the face: temporal width (Ft-Ft), zygomatic width (Zyg-Zyg) and gonial width (Go-Go) and for 3 horizontal distances on the both upper incisors: cervical width (CW), contact point width (CPW) and incisal width (IW). The length of the face (Tr-Gn) as well as the length of the central maxillary incisors were also measured. The results revealed: 1. Men had significantly larger dimensions for all facial and tooth dimensions (p < 0.05) than women, except for the cervical tooth width (p > 0.05); the left and the right central incisors were of identical dimensions and forms (p > 0.05). 2. The width of upper central incisors were smaller approximately 1.5 mm than in west Europeans. 3. Upon the relation between the 3 horizontal dimensions measured on the face and upper maxillary incisor, 11 facial forms and 10 upper central tooth forms could be recognised in the study population, but 98% of the population had only 3 tooth and face forms. Face shapes: oval face – 83.3%, square-tapered face – 9.2% and tapered face – 7%; tooth forms: tapered-square incisor – 53%, oval incisor – 30%, tappered incisor – 16%. 4. Reversed and enlarged tooth form was in line associated with the facial form in only 30%, while the most common combination was of the oval face form and the tapered-square central incisor (45%). 5. These results disapprove William’s theory and may be helpful for the choice of artificial teeth in complete denture construction and the dental industry