Maintaining the vitality of the dental pulp, the highly innervated and highly vascular, innermost layer of the tooth, is a critical goal of any dental procedure. Upon injury, targeting the pulp with specific therapies is challenging because it is encased in hard tissues. This project describes a method that can effectively deliver therapeutic agents to the pulp. This method relies on the use of nanoparticles that can be actively steered using magnetic forces to the pulp, traveling through naturally occurring channels in the dentin (the middle layer of the tooth). This method can reduce the inflammation of injured pulp and improve the penetration of dental adhesives into dentin. Such a delivery method would be less expensive, and both less painful and less traumatic than existing therapeutic options available for treatment of injured dental pulp. This technique would be simple and could be readily translated to clinical use.
Patients with periodontitis were identified as high risk and very high risk compared with the rest of the risk categories by the risk assessment tool. The study population, categorized mostly as very high risk, showed high detection of putative periodontal bacteria.
The use of dental implants in pediatric patients may create unique complications. A 38‐year‐old patient presented with a mobile, cement‐retained implant crown due to an abutment screw loosening. The maxillary right central incisor implant was placed when the patient was 10 years old. Pus discharge from the peri‐implant sulcus was observed. The mucosal margin of the implant was at the level of the mucogingival junction of neighboring teeth. Radiographically, the platform of the implant appeared to be at the level of the apical third of the adjacent roots. After removing the existing implant‐retained crown, the inflamed peri‐implant tissue covering the implant platform was removed and the stability of the implant was confirmed. A new screw‐retained implant crown was made using an angulated screw channel to correct the labiopalatal angulation of the implant and allow for retrievability. Pink porcelain was used to match the mucosal margin of the implant crown to that of the maxillary left central incisor. This case report highlights the risk of implant placement in pediatric patients and agrees with previous reports that implants should be delayed until growth is complete.
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