tips and tricks

 The SLOB rule is a radiographic rule for determining the location of certain objects intraorally with 2D xrays. I forgot about this rule until very recently when I saw a youtube video on it. There are many helpful youtube videos that will be much more helpful than this post as it is good to see the relationship of the objects in motion and with actual examples of xrays taken.  The SLOB theory is essentially grounded in geometric principles. Use of this rule allows the clinician to determine the buccolingual relationship of two intraoral objects with 2 plain films. SLOB is broken down to " S ame L ingual, O pposite B uccal" meaning that if the objects shift to the same side as the xray tube head is moved, the object is on the lingual and if the object in question moves to the opposite side, it is on the buccal. The SLOB rule is useful in endodontics as it can be used to determine which of the canals or roots is which on the plain film. Once a 2D xray is taken, all spatial rel...

Oral surgery in the dental region requires a good knowledge of the histological layers as manipulation of these layers can be used to serve different purposes. The connective tissue layer is formed of loose collagen, contains blood vessels that run parallel to the surface in the deeper layers. Periosteum is a thin layer of non stretchable fibres that attach directly to the bone. If it is raised as a flap or as part of a full thickness flap, the non stretchable nature of periosteum hinders advancement of the flap unless the periosteum is released with horizontal incisions or split from the superficial tissues. If the flap needs to be advanced to close an extraction site, close an implant site or make room for bone graft material, you may want to release the flap. If you are going to be splitting a flap, it may be beneficial in cases where a bone graft is required as well as advancement of the flap. Splitting the flap allows separation of the connective tissue which allows advancement of...

 Temporary crowns can be tight when seating for a few reasons: -One is that the crown is too well fitting due to the accuracy of the material. Hydraulic pressure from a very parallel crown preparation may stop the crown from seating especially once there is temporary cement in it. Therefore the occlusion may be spot on when trying the crown on but may be too high once it is cemented.  -Deformation on removing the temporary crown can cause it not to seat completely. If the crown comes off in the putty matrix, don't touch it for at least a few minutes to let it fully set before it is manipulated -Shrinkage of the material can cause it not to seat well even if it had fit well initially. This is especially noticeable if there are fine preparation features on the tooth e.g thin slots, grooves or pin preps. -If you have added composite resin to the temporary crown to fix an open contact, it can stop the crown from seating if you have added too much. Therefore it is safer to do one s...

 Lately I've been using alginate in a stock tray for the final impression for chrome dentures. If poured up quickly after the impression, alginate is a fantastically accurate material and has proven more than adequate for chrome impressions. One issue that can arise is bubbles in the mix and on tissue surfaces. To minimise bubbles in the mix, invest in an alginate mixer as this will minimise the problem. Take some alginate on your finger and smear it onto tooth surfaces especially occlusal surfaces and the distal surface of the most distal tooth to explude bubbles from the impression surface. Do this wile your assistant is loading the tray and seat the tray shortly after. For dentures that will be significantly tissue borne e.g free end saddles, avoid over seating the tray which will displace the tissues too far and result in an overextended denture. For kennedy class 3 dentures it is not so critical as the dentures will be mainly tooth supported.