Let’s just image, for an example, a patient requests that a functional and non-defective amalgam restoration be replaced. Let’s go even further, suggesting that even after the clinician, doing his full and ethical duty, has disclosed and explained all of the potential consequences to alternative restorations. The patient digs their heels in, and persists in…
What I quite often hear from our clients is how pleased they are when placing an IPS e.max restoration, mostly due to the flexibility of cementation selection. Crowns and bridges, for example, can be cemented according to adhesive, self-adhesive and conventional methods, whereas inlays and veneers can be cemented adhesively as usual. The Ivoclar Vivadent…
We’ve talked before about the increasing importance placed on veneers, and the explosive demand for veneers in recent years. A patient today isn’t just looking for a healthy and functional restorative solution: They also want an aesthetically pleasing result. All-ceramic veneers, being both biocompatible and aesthetically pleasing, are rapidly growing in popularity. IPS e.max allows…
Yesterday’s innovation, today’s standard. Almost 3000 years ago, around 700 BCE, the Etruscans in northern Italy made dentures out of human or other animal teeth. They didn’t last long, but being easy to produce, were popular through the middle of the 19th century. The oldest useful complete denture, however, appeared in Japan in the second…
Cosmetic dentistry’s rise to public awareness carries a delicate question about ‘selling.’ As we established ealier, the private dentist must operate as a business, and will often use aesthetic dissatisfaction as the genesis of a treatment plan. We also established that this is acceptable behaviour in today’s age of demand for aesthetic treatments. However, we…
Combine more cosmetic dentistry awareness with increased media attention, and we find clinicians treating and managing many requests for personal image enhancement. Previously, patients wouldn’t ask for the treatments, or maybe even the requests were ignored. To some patients today aesthetics are of such importance that —even if clinically unnecessary— these procedures can no longer…
In 2011, an age of extraordinary advances in dentistry, we can look with pride at the advances made in the products and services we are now able to offer patients, and see how far we’ve progressed. A dentist is no longer the ‘tooth drawer’ of the 1500s, nor even the same practitioner he or she…
The Lava™ Crown and Bridge System: A precise match of aesthetics and strength Understanding what makes modern dental lab works so impressive helps the relationship between a lab and a dental practice. Part of the reason modern aesthetics works are so impressive compared to their spiritual ancestors is the quality of the materials labs work…
We all know what a veneer is, and many reading this will be well versed in how to apply them to a patient. However, do we all know where the veneer came from, from its humble roots to its explosion in celebrity? I’ll explore this history, in case a patient or partner ever asks. Dental…
Imposing Aesthetic Preferences While it is their proper role to advise and guide a patient toward a treatment plan, aesthetics clinicians should not impose their own preferences rather than comply with the patient’s wishes. It can be argued that the success of any treatment or procedure is directly related to patient satisfaction. These days, patients…
