Archives

As we begin 2021, Claire Berry asks whether patients are beginning to realise the importance of the dental hygienist.

Since returning to work post lockdown 1.0, I find myself busier than ever.

It’s the beginning of January as I write this and I am fully booked until the end of April. That’s including working to see patients through my lunchtime. I am even opening extra days to account for the volume of patients, who seem to have suddenly realised the essential service a hygienist can offer.

The importance of prevention

When I started noting the volume of enquiries and bookings, I thought about what it is that could be causing this influx.

With parts of dentistry not back up and running to full capacity, people are turning to hygienists and are (finally), realising that prevention is an important commodity.

Access to dental care is more difficult right now, especially from … Read the rest

Nikhil Sethi introduces a composite bonding case to resolve chipping on the edges of a patient’s front teeth.

This patient attended with a history of heavy manual tooth brushing and chipping on the edges of his front teeth from nail biting. A habit which has now stopped.

His main concerns were the rough edges on the surfaces and edges of the front teeth. As well as the gaps (diastemas) between his canines.

After examining the occlusion and surface wear we determined that the cause was a mixture of attrition, abrasion and nail biting.

Our aim was to keep treatment as conservative as possible. All whilst improving the colour, surface form and length of the front six teeth. And also to close the diastema.

Composite treatment

After discussions with the patient, a course of tooth whitening was completed using White Dental Beauty 6% hydrogen peroxide for four weeks at two hours … Read the rest

Dentalair introduces its Air Supply service that aims to make sterile air supply to dental practices simple and cost effective.

It’s fair to say that for many professionals, their air compressor is not often at the top of their priority list. However, without this essential piece of equipment, it’s impossible to provide certain treatments.

With air compressor maintenance often quite stressful and taking time and energy away from other parts of your practice, it’s easy to see why professionals don’t put their air compressor first.

But what if there was an easy, stress-free way to ensure your air compressor remains in perfect condition, without any of the hassle?

Air Supply from Dentalair is the new, simple and stress-free way to ensure that you are never caught short when it comes to your air compressor.

New air compressor, no worries

Have you got an old air compressor in your practice that … Read the rest

Adam Nulty provides an evidence-based literature review on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) within the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

In epidemics of highly infectious diseases, such as Ebola, SARS and now the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, those working in the dental setting reportedly stand at greater risk than the general population. This is due to their close contact with patients. Also, their potentially contaminated bodily fluids (Office for National Statistics, 2020).

To be effective and also practical, PPE (such as masks and respirators) must prevent respiration of the bacterial or viral particulate. It should also be comfortable. The use of respirators requires compliance to be effective (Nichol et al, 2008).

When comfort is lacking, overprotection can introduce problems. For example, in proposing the use of masks of higher rating in some scenarios, these higher rated masks (such as N99/FFP3) may make work more difficult and uncomfortable. This is thought to … Read the rest

Join Nikos Donos as he gives an overview of the diagnosis and management of peri-implantitis on Wednesday the 13 January at 19:00.

This webinar will provide an evidence-based update on the diagnosis of peri-implant diseases. It will give an overview of the challenges that the clinician faces during treatment of these conditions.

By the end of this webinar the participant will:

• Have an understanding of peri-implant diseases
• Provide diagnosis for peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis
• Expose themselves to an overview of the treatment modalities.

More about Nikos Donos

Professor Nikos Donos is the chair of periodontology and implant dentistry, the head of the Centre for Oral Clinical Research and also the lead for the Centre of Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine at the Institute of Dentistry, Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

In 2009, Professor Donos was awarded the title of honorary … Read the rest