Cosmetic Dentistry in the Era of COVID-19

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With coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the U.S. continuing to reach record highs – averaging over 100,000 cases this past week in the U.S., as shown for example by the New York Times, you may be surprised to hear that many dentists are reporting a boom in interest in cosmetic dentistry. As has been discussed before on this site, this is because of widespread adoption of teledentistry, see the prior post Delivering Dentistry and Counseling to Patients using Telemedicine. This is also known as the Zoom boom, due to the popularly of software made by the company Zoom Video Communications, Inc., although many other video conferencing platforms exist such as WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, and Skype. Patients also have extra money to spend, that may have been used in the past to spend on travel and leisure activities that now … Read more

4 Serious Infections You Can Pick Up in Hospital

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A common concern from patients who are undergoing surgery is the risk of infection at the site of their surgery, particularly caused by bacteria that are commonly found in hospitals. While hospitals and operating theatres are kept spotlessly clean to an obsessive level and the risk of these infections is very low and made even lower by proper post-operative wound care, knowing about the common ones and how to spot them can be beneficial. Even if you do happen to pick up a bacterial infection, they are almost always easily treatable, apart from these few which might mean a longer hospital stay. Royalty Free Photo Staphylococcus Aureus The staph infection is one of, if not the most notorious hospital-acquired infections on this list. You might be surprised to learn that about one-third of us actually carry the Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria … Read more

Do People Know about Coronectomy For Management of Wisdom Teeth?

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An interesting article titled “Coronectomy: a recognised procedure?” appears in the 2018 edition of Oral Surgery written by Dhanrajani and Smith (vol. 11, pp. 273-281). The article discusses a review of the literature on coronectomy to treat wisdom teeth along with a retrospective study. Coronectomy is often suggested to treat wisdom teeth when there is a high risk of nerve damage and is associated with a low rate of complications, see for example the past posts Care Guidelines for Wisdom Teeth: 2014 Finnish Guidelines, A Study of 185 Coronectomy Procedures of Wisdom Teeth, and Complications Associated with Coronectomy. In the article by Dhanrajani and Smith the authors discuss how the inferior alveolar nerve or lingual nerve can be damaged during wisdom teeth removal and that patients seek to avoid such a complication. Coronectomy is a procedure that removes only the … Read more

Does Intravenous Ibuprofen Reduce Pain After Wisdom Teeth Surgery?

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An interesting article titled “Does Single-Dose Preemptive Intravenous Ibuprofen Reduce Postoperative Pain After Third Molar Surgery? A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Study” appears in the 2019 edition of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The article explores if intravenous ibuprofen given either shortly before or after wisdom teeth surgery has any any effect on pain experienced in the subsequent 24 hours. In the article a study is conducted using 75 patients who presented at Erciyes University in Turkey over the time period from March to October 2018 for removal of impacted lower wisdom teeth. The 75 patients were randomly divided into 3 groups with 25 patients in each. The first group of patients received 800 mg of intravenous ibuprofen 60 minutes before surgery and intravenous placebo 60 minutes after surgery, the second group of patients received intravenous placebo 60 … Read more

How to Get Low Cost Dental Implants Done

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A smile is one of the few natural qualities that endear someone to others. And because it wields such an enormous influence as a first impression, the condition of our teeth, gums and mouth can really influence our confidence level. If you are dissatisfied with your teeth in a way that makes you keep mum or feel uneasy around people because you don’t want to show your dentition, then you need a denture. Dental implants are a smart choice for people who were born with a missing tooth or had a tooth extraction due to infection, decay or even an injury. They are the most natural and functional solution used for replacing a missing tooth. Most people who find themselves in this situation are sometimes discouraged from going for implants due to the huge financial cost. In some dental facilities, … Read more