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Hannah Hook breaks down the guidance around the extraction of primary teeth, including balancing and compensating extractions, and how to minimise early space loss. Primary teeth with poor prognosis may require extraction some time before their natural exfoliation. However, a dilemma is posed as to whether only the poor prognosis tooth should be removed, or…
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This month, Hannah Hook breaks down everything you need to know about NHS-funded implants, including priority patient groups, contraindications, maintenance and the discharge process. Dental implants are screw retained prosthesis which are surgically inserted into the bone under a strict criterion to enable ‘osseointegration’. The prosthesis retained by the screw portion can be a single…
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In this month’s Dental Student Guide, Hannah Hook discusses the extraction of first permanent molars in children, including complications, timings and guidelines. First permanent molars (FPMs) with poor long-term prognosis may require elective extraction at an appropriate time to enable the spaces to be closed orthodontically. Radiographs should be taken to enable evaluation of the…
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This month, Hannah Hook discusses when and how to assess for the presence of impacted maxillary canines, and how to manage and treat them once identified. Affecting approximately 1.5-1.7% of the population, impacted maxillary canines present a common challenge faced by the dental profession. Maxillary canines are the second most frequently impacted teeth, following third…
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In this month’s Dental Student’s Guide, Hannah Hook discusses the most recent updates to the guidelines for managing dental trauma. Dental trauma most commonly occurs in children and young adults under the age of 19. Approximately 33% of adults have had trauma to their permanent teeth. In addition, 25% of all school children have encountered…
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For this month’s Dental Student’s Guide, Hannah Hook breaks down hypodontia, including its causes and how to identify it. Hypodontia is the most common type of craniofacial malformation, affecting between 1.6-36.5% of the population (this percentage varies based on the population studied). It refers to the absence of up to five primary or permanent teeth.…
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This month, Hannah Hook discusses the importance of knowing the signs of facial nerve palsy and the impact it could have on the oral cavity. Facial nerve palsy often has a rapid onset and can cause great deal of worry to patients experiencing it. There are various causes of facial nerve palsy, each of which…
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This month, Hannah Hook explores Le Fort fractures, including classifying each one and the best treatment option for the patient. In 1901 French surgeon Rene LeFort published a classification of midface fractures. It was based on his studies conducted on cadavers. He assessed predictable patterns of fracture of the midface and ultimately described three lines…
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This month Hannah Hook explores different odontogenic cysts, including their diagnoses and treatment options. Odontogenic cysts are described as an epithelial lined fluid filled cavity, with the epithelial lining arising from the odontogenic epithelium. They are generally categorised by origin; this is either developmental or inflammatory. They may be identified as an incidental finding on…
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This month Hannah Hook explores white patches in the mouth and explains the reasons behind these and the treatment required. During regular dental reviews you are bound to see a variety of white patches in the mouth. These white patches are likely to have numerous differential diagnoses. Some of which may be managed by the…
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This month Hannah Hook explores mandible fractures, how to diagnose and work out where the fracture is, as well as how to treat it. Whilst it is unlikely that you will see a patient present with a mandible fracture in general practice, if working in a hospital role you will definitely encounter a few of…
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In this month’s Dental Student’s Guide, Hannah Hook covers infective endocarditis, explaining what to look out for and treatments. Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but potentially life-threatening infection. Transient bacteraemia most commonly causes it. The bacteria in the blood stream reach the heart. This leads to inflammation of the endocardium of the heart valves.…
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This month, Hannah Hook explores the autoimmune diseases pemphigus and pemphigoid and outlines how it manifests in the oral cavity. Pemphigus and pemphigoid are rare autoimmune diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. They result in the formation of blisters. Both diseases are characterised by the presence of autoantibodies against antigens on keratinocytes. Pemphigus affects…
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To kick start this year’s dental student guides, Hannah Hook covers Ludwig’s angina – its causes, symptoms and treatments. What is Ludwig’s angina? Ludwig’s angina is a medical emergency caused by bilateral cellulitis of the submandibular, sublingual and submental spaces (Main et al, 2016). It most commonly arises from a lower molar tooth whose roots…
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In this month’s Dental Student’s Guide, Hannah Hook looks at sepsis and how to react if you have a suspected case. What is sepsis? Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which a dysregulated host immune response to infection leads to organ dysfunction and tissue damage (Dave et al, 2021). Any type of infection can trigger…
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In this month’s dental student’s guide, Hannah Hook explores odontogenic infections and how to manage them. The need for management of odontogenic infections is a daily occurrence in dentistry. Whilst most odontogenic infections may cause no more than pain and mild swelling, some may progress, leading to severe complications such as deep-neck space infections, tissue…
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In this month’s guide, Hannah Hook looks at the pre-operative assessment of mandibular third molars. Extraction of mandibular third molars (M3Ms) has progressively become an increasingly common procedure. However, despite this, it carries various associated risks. And whilst some of which are considered relatively minor and infrequent, the severity and incidence can vary significantly (Al…
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Following on from last months ‘A dental student’s guide to…luting cements’, this article will focus on their adhesive counterpart, resin cements. Introduced in the mid-1980s, resin cements are a much more recent addition to the dental market (Ramaraju et al, 2014). These cements are largely composed of a resin matrix and filler or fine inorganic…
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In this month’s student’s guide, Hannah Hook explores luting cements, their uses and the pros and cons to the different cements available. The long-term success of an indirect fixed prosthesis is influenced by a variety of factors. One of these is the selection of a suitable luting cement. Luting cements hold indirect restorations (such as…
