Sebastian Evans

Understanding how our teeth meet and function can help us appreciate the inter-relationship of the masticatory system: the teeth, bone, gingivae, temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) and the muscles of mastication. This, in turn, will open our eyes to the cause and effect scenario, and help us identify why parts of the system may be breaking down.…

Four-handed dentistry is synonymous with the term close support dentistry. This concept is built around increasing efficiency during treatment, increasing patient care, reducing stress and fatigue of both the operator and the dental nurse, and maximising the skills of the dental team. The whole idea of dentistry is to offer patients treatment in a safe,…

Recently, literature from the health sciences field has suggested important oral/dental implications for patients with a history of bisphosphonate drug use. Bisphosphonates have been approved for the treatment of osteoporosis, metastatic cancer involving the bone and Paget’s disease. Chemists have known of bisphosphonates since the middle of the 19th century. At first they were used…

In November of last year the Irish Examiner reported that the average lunch break in the Republic of Ireland is just 38 minutes long. This shocking statistic is superseded by those in the North who take an average lunch ‘hour’ of 31 minutes. Further figures from the Eurest Lunchtime Report 2006 show that one in…

Every practice wishes to improve. Yet when practices want to make improvements, hygiene productivity is often overlooked. Generating a higher percentage of practice income from hygiene services is only possible by expanding the role of dental hygienists. The hygiene department can become a doorway to other services that have the potential to significantly increase production.…

Adequate nutrition is of importance in two key developmental stages in childhood: the pre-school years and the adolescent growth spurt, as these are times of rapid growth and development. The school years before adolescence represent a time of more gradual, steady growth, with nutritional risks being lower. As far as oral development is concerned, the…

A friend of mine recently experienced a revelation. She had been sleeping badly and couldn’t get to the bottom of why. Lying in bed she felt stressed and anxious, making it all but impossible to nod off. One evening she realised the problem. Over a series of nights she had been woken up by inconsiderate…

During the 10 years that I have been working in the digital X-ray market there have been many changes in the products that are available. The market moves so quickly that it is sometimes difficult to keep abreast of the changes and to decide which new features are useful and which are not. Different types…

There are several misconceptions out there that not only damage the reputation of digital X-ray but can also have an impact on the treatment you offer your patients. I hope that by the end of this series of articles you will understand more about digital X-ray and that if you are going to buy a…

With the ever-increasing cosmetic dentistry market, many dentists are choosing to send their smile makeover cases to laboratories outside of their immediate working environment. Laboratories that have invested heavily in their education and the technology required to produce the latest materials do not always exist in the same geographic location as our practices. Even when…

‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’ – Albert Einstein. Never has this been truer than in dentistry today. I write this because, firstly, the media is highlighting the political problems affecting the delivery of dentistry and the difficulty in practising quality care for all patients. Secondly, there is new concern coming from the medical…

When you are thinking of buying an OPG, the question of justification is increasingly being raised. Due to the number of poor panoramic X-rays taken, the resulting lack of detail and the influx of cheap, featureless OPGs onto the market (by featureless I mean basic ethical requirements, for instance a true paediatric mode), it’s no…

‘When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.’ – Friedrich Nietzsche. For me, Nietzsche hit the nail on the head. Aside from the physiological symptoms of tiredness, which I will address a little later in this article, the biggest problem with feeling fatigued is that it prays on our insecurities…

The Institute of Dental Ergonomics states that: ‘Seventy-five percent of dentists and hygienists suffer from musculoskeletal disorders that affect occupational health and the quality of practice life. In fact, according to a 1997 study, musculoskeletal disorders are the leading reason for early retirement among dentists; 29.5% of dentists cut their career short because they are…

Medical Protection Society (MPS) statistics tell us that, on average, we can expect to be sued twice in our professional careers. On Thursday 7 December of last year I faced my first case in Cork Courthouse, when a former patient alleged I had extracted the wrong tooth on 4 July 2002. The gap will show…

There is currently a debate in the USA on the virtues or vices of the Waterlase. Some swear it’s the greatest boon to their practice from a treatment and marketing point of view. Others claim it’s the most expensive pot-plant holder they’ve ever invested in, and at $50,000 I can understand their point. As a…

When I returned to Ireland from the UK in 1990, one of the first courses I attended was a day-long course at UCC on the subject of computers in dentistry. At the time I didn’t even have a home computer and considering it was 17 years ago, you can imagine the difference in both size…

This young woman presented requesting the replacement of a retained upper right deciduous canine with an implant-supported crown and closure of the space distal to the upper right central incisor. Her age on presentation (in September 2002) was 27-years-old. She was medically fit and healthy, and a non-smoker. At this time a complete dental, periodontal,…

Avulsion is defined as the exarticulation of a tooth, i.e. the tooth is displaced completely out of its socket. The incidence is approximately 0.5% to 16% of dental injuries to the permanent dentition (Andreason, 1994), with over 60% occurring close to the home or school (Hedegard et al, 1973). Predisposing factors include class II div…