Why it’s so important to find root fractures before endodontic treatment, and how to do it.

Offering sedation dentistry is not only rewarding, it opens up opportunities for practice growth.

These hands-on models will prepare you for a variety of implant cases—without having to get real patients involved until you’re ready.

In the first installment of this two-part series, I discussed the value of estimating root length and offered insight into some unrecognized challenges that may affect case selection. But once cases are selected, the skill of establishing radiographic estimates continues to carry forward to clinical treatment.

Implants are replacements for teeth—they are not teeth. This might sound obvious, but it’s a simple reality implant surgeons must remember, as there are key differences between natural teeth and implants that must be observed. This simple yet complex arrangement is very strong, and is nourished by an abundant blood supply coming from the periodontal ligament and periosteum. 

Oral surgical procedures necessitate some degree of trauma to the bone in the upper and lower jaws. When the patient is taking prescribed medications that impact how bone heals after dental surgery, the potential for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) exists.

Three key rules to consider for whole face beautification and optimal long-term results. Despite being a cosmetic surgeon focused on injectable based treatments, I have come to appreciate the importance of a beautiful smile and the role it plays in facial esthetics. The lips are an important esthetic subunit in repose, but the smile in animation is equally, if not more, important.

Using digital radiography to estimate pre-operative root lengths can help clinicians better evaluate endodontic cases. An estimate is nothing more than a prediction. It is an approximation or projection of something based on experience and/or available information, with the understanding that all the facts remain uncertain. Depending on the content, an estimate can be leveraged to address multiple goals. In the context of endodontics, that leverage comes in the form of digital radiography.