Prashanti Eachempati

Zirconia in dental implantology: A review.

Background: Titanium has been the most popular material of choice for dental implantology over the past few decades. Its properties have been found to be most suitable for the success of implant treatment. But recently, zirconia is slowly emerging as one of the materials which might replace the gold standard of dental implant, i.e., titanium. Materials and Methods: Literature was searched to retrieve information about zirconia dental implant and studies were critically analyzed. PubMed database was searched for information about zirconia dental implant regarding mechanical properties, osseointegration, surface roughness, biocompatibility, and soft tissue health around it. The literature search was limited to English language articles published from 1975 to 2015. Results: A total of 45 papers met the inclusion criteria for this review, among the relevant search in the database. Conclusion: Literature search showed that some of the properties of zirconia seem to be suitable for making it an ideal dental implant, such as biocompatibility, osseointegration, favourable soft tissue response and aesthetics due to light transmission and its color. At the same time, some studies also point out its drawbacks. It was also found that most of the studies on zirconia dental implants are short-term studies and there is a need for more long-term clinical trials to prove that zirconia is worth enough to replace titanium as a biomaterial in dental implantology.

Different Intraorbital Implant Situations and Ocular Prosthetic Rehabilitation.

Enucleation is the removal of the entire globe of the eye and a portion of the optic nerve, while evisceration involves the removal of the contents of the globe leaving the sclera, extraocular muscles, and optic nerve. Following enucleation or evisceration, intraorbital implants are routinely placed to enhance the prosthetic outcome in addition to restoring the lost orbital volume. Current practice employs intraorbital implants made of nonporous silicone, hydroxyapatite, or porous polyethylene. Intraorbital implant selection and placement, being a highly demanding procedure in terms of knowledge, skill, and expertise, may be associated with a multiplicity of technical and surgical errors. Complications are usually minimal with these implants, but they do occur. The literature reveals many articles related to intraorbital implants, their benefits, and complications; however, the literature regarding the effect of various intraorbital implant situations on the subsequent prosthetic rehabilitation is markedly scarce. Moreover, the need for interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic interventions required for successful rehabilitation in cases of compromised implant situations has been underemphasized. Hence, this review aimed to evaluate the effect of different intraorbital implant situations on ocular rehabilitation and the required interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic treatment approach for rehabilitation of enucleated/eviscerated sockets with compromised implant situations, to provide a critical appraisal, and to present a simplified management strategy.Enucleation is the removal of the entire globe of the eye and a portion of the optic nerve, while evisceration involves the removal of the contents of the globe leaving the sclera, extraocular muscles, and optic nerve. Following enucleation or evisceration, intraorbital implants are routinely placed to enhance the prosthetic outcome in addition to restoring the lost orbital volume. Current practice employs intraorbital implants made of nonporous silicone, hydroxyapatite, or porous polyethylene. Intraorbital implant selection and placement, being a highly demanding procedure in terms of knowledge, skill, and expertise, may be associated with a multiplicity of technical and surgical errors. Complications are usually minimal with these implants, but they do occur. The literature reveals many articles related to intraorbital implants, their benefits, and complications; however, the literature regarding the effect of various intraorbital implant situations on the subsequent prosthetic rehabilitation is markedly scarce. Moreover, the need for interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic interventions required for successful rehabilitation in cases of compromised implant situations has been underemphasized. Hence, this review aimed to evaluate the effect of different intraorbital implant situations on ocular rehabilitation and the required interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic treatment approach for rehabilitation of enucleated/eviscerated sockets with compromised implant situations, to provide a critical appraisal, and to present a simplified management strategy.

Different Intraorbital Implant Situations and Ocular Prosthetic Rehabilitation: Intraorbital Implants and Ocular Prosthetic Rehabilitation

Enucleation is the removal of the entire globe of the eye and a portion of the optic nerve, while evisceration involves the removal of the contents of the globe leaving the sclera, extraocular muscles, and optic nerve. Following enucleation or evisceration, intraorbital implants are routinely placed to enhance the prosthetic outcome in addition to restoring the lost orbital volume. Current practice employs intraorbital implants made of nonporous silicone, hydroxyapatite, or porous polyethylene. Intraorbital implant selection and placement, being a highly demanding procedure in terms of knowledge, skill, and expertise, may be associated with a multiplicity of technical and surgical errors. Complications are usually minimal with these implants, but they do occur. The literature reveals many articles related to intraorbital implants, their benefits, and complications; however, the literature regarding the effect of various intraorbital implant situations on the subsequent prosthetic rehabilitation is markedly scarce. Moreover, the need for interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic interventions required for successful rehabilitation in cases of compromised implant situations has been underemphasized. Hence, this review aimed to evaluate the effect of different intraorbital implant situations on ocular rehabilitation and the required interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic treatment approach for rehabilitation of enucleated/eviscerated sockets with compromised implant situations, to provide a critical appraisal, and to present a simplified management strategy.Enucleation is the removal of the entire globe of the eye and a portion of the optic nerve, while evisceration involves the removal of the contents of the globe leaving the sclera, extraocular muscles, and optic nerve. Following enucleation or evisceration, intraorbital implants are routinely placed to enhance the prosthetic outcome in addition to restoring the lost orbital volume. Current practice employs intraorbital implants made of nonporous silicone, hydroxyapatite, or porous polyethylene. Intraorbital implant selection and placement, being a highly demanding procedure in terms of knowledge, skill, and expertise, may be associated with a multiplicity of technical and surgical errors. Complications are usually minimal with these implants, but they do occur. The literature reveals many articles related to intraorbital implants, their benefits, and complications; however, the literature regarding the effect of various intraorbital implant situations on the subsequent prosthetic rehabilitation is markedly scarce. Moreover, the need for interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic interventions required for successful rehabilitation in cases of compromised implant situations has been underemphasized. Hence, this review aimed to evaluate the effect of different intraorbital implant situations on ocular rehabilitation and the required interdisciplinary surgical and prosthetic treatment approach for rehabilitation of enucleated/eviscerated sockets with compromised implant situations, to provide a critical appraisal, and to present a simplified management strategy.

Blended learning for reinforcing dental pharmacology in the clinical years: A qualitative analysis

Objectives: Blended learning has become the method of choice in educational institutions because of its systematic integration of traditional classroom teaching and online components. This study aims to analyze student’s reflection regarding blended learning in dental pharmacology. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Faculty of Dentistry, Melaka-Manipal Medical College among 3rd and 4th year BDS students. A total of 145 dental students, who consented, participate in the study. Students were divided into 14 groups. Nine online sessions followed by nine face-to-face discussions were held. Each session addressed topics related to oral lesions and orofacial pain with pharmacological applications. After each week, students were asked to reflect on blended learning. On completion of 9 weeks, reflections were collected and analyzed. Statistical Analysis: Qualitative analysis was done using thematic analysis model suggested by Braun and Clarke. Results: The four main themes were identified, namely, merits of blended learning, skill in writing prescription for oral diseases, dosages of drugs, and identification of strengths and weakness. In general, the participants had a positive feedback regarding blended learning. Students felt more confident in drug selection and prescription writing. They could recollect the doses better after the online and face-to-face sessions. Most interestingly, the students reflected that they are able to identify their strength and weakness after the blended learning sessions. Conclusions: Blended learning module was successfully implemented for reinforcing dental pharmacology. The results obtained in this study enable us to plan future comparative studies to know the effectiveness of blended learning in dental pharmacology.

Cost-effective, expedient, and time-saving surface texturing technique for facial prostheses

This article describes a cost-effective, expedient, and time-saving technique for surface texturing a facial prosthesis with fine sand mixed in resin adhesive glue.

Multidisciplinary approach for management of a patient with fibrous dysplasia of maxilla

Fibrous dysplasia is a non-neoplastic hamartomatous developmental fibro-osseous lesion of bone. Monostotic fibrous dysplasia is more common than the polyostotic form and usually involves jaw bones, ribs and femur. Maxillary lesions may extend to involve the maxillary sinus, zygoma, sphenoid bone and floor of the orbit and require surgical intervention resulting in an acquired defect of the involved site. A multidisciplinary team approach involving an oral pathologist, oral surgeon, oral medicine expert and maxillofacial prosthodontist is required for successful treatment and rehabilitation of such patients. This article describes a case of a patient with fibrous dysplasia of the left maxilla, which was successfully managed by integrating surgical intervention and postoperative rehabilitation, with a surgical obturator and an interim partial denture prosthesis that successfully limited the detrimental effects of surgery, and helped the patient in resocialisation, thereby improving her quality of life.