Dental Preventive Practices

2-Dental Facility Preventive Practices

• Fluoride application: a professional application of fluoride in various forms to tooth surfaces
• Sealant application: placement of gel or liquid acrylic material on clean and prepared occlusal surfaces of teeth to cover and protect tooth surfaces
• Selective adjustment: elimination of deep occlusal pits or fissures by selective abrasive or grinding of some enamel surfaces

Pain Management during Dental Procedures

• Local anesthesia: blocks nerve endings from transporting pain messages to the brain
• Topical analgesia: application of topical anesthetics to pain sites, minor operative procedure areas, and places about to receive injections
• Methods of administration of local anesthesia:
  • Infiltration anesthesia: directed into the tissue near the nerve ending of the operative site
  • Regional or field anesthesia: around the nerve ending for anesthesia of a block of two or three teeth apices
  • Block anesthesia: injection into a nerve bundle to enable anesthesia to a wider area
  • Interpulpal anesthesia: injecting directly into the pulp chamber using a long needle
  • Intraligamentory anesthesia: also called periodontal ligament injection, done for one or two teeth in the same quadrant

Terms in Conservative Dentistry

• Patient preparation: preparing the patient to restore their tooth, including choosing technique, materials to be used, anesthesia, and isolation
• Isolation: isolating the tooth or teeth to receive treatment, presenting better viewing and access

Periodontal Treatment Methods

Non-Surgical

• Scaling: removing supragingival and subgingival plaque, calculus, stain, and irritants through tooth-crown and root-surface scaling and root planing (SRP)
• Tooth surface polishing: polishing surfaces to remove accumulated extrinsic stains on the tooth surface
• Patient education: customized instruction in oral hygiene and care of teeth and gingival tissue
• Antimicrobial therapy: includes prescription mouthwashes and systemic antibiotics

Maintenance and Preservation of the Pediatric Dentition

• Prophylaxis treatment: may include gingival care in gingivitis as well as periodontitis, viral infections, and candida infections
• Fluoride application: application of fluoride to prevent tooth decay
• Pit and fissure sealant application: covering occlusal surfaces with a sealant to eliminate deep pits or fissures
• Oral surgery: surgical intervention may be used to prevent future problems for developing teeth
• Space maintenance: placement of fixed or removable appliances to maintain or reclaim premature spacing in the arch until eruption of the secondary teeth

Tooth Filling or Bonding

• Veneer: a thin layer of material bonded to the front of the tooth to improve appearance and protect the tooth from damage

Periodontal Tissue Surgery

• Gingival reduction: removal of excessive gingival tissue by laser, periodontal knives, or bipolar electrosurgery
• Gingival augmentation: building up or reconstructing the gingiva to repair or replace tissue where needed

Dental Implants

• [No detailed points]

Orthodontics Appliances

• Malocclusion can present an unattractive smile, and may cause a patient to seek accelerated orthodontic treatment

Prosthodontic Dentistry

• Replacement of missing tooth by prosthesis, including:
  • Fixed Prosthodontics: a cemented crown, bridge, or veneer is placed in the mouth and is not intended for removal
  • Removable Prosthodontics: placed in and out of the mouth at the patient’s will, like acrylic dentures (partial and complete denture)

Fixed Dental Prosthesis

• Bridge
• Crown

Removable Prosthesis

• Partial denture
• Complete denture

Terms of Periodontal Diseases

• Plaque or pellicle: an adhering biofilm that harbors bacterial pathogens and enables plaque to build up
• Calculus: the addition of calcium and phosphorus salts found in saliva and mouth fluids form a hard substance called calculus
• Gingival erythema: the gingiva is red and appears inflamed
• Gingival hyperplasia: the tissue is overgrown from pocket formation
• Tooth mobility: the tooth seems loose and moves under pressure because of loss of attachment

Classification of Periodontal Diseases

• Gingival diseases
• Periodontal diseases

Examination of Periodontal Diseases

• Periodontal probe: a round- or flat-bladed hand instrument marked in millimeter increments used in measuring periodontal diseases