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A method of facilitating the fabrication of access openings for implant-supported complete fixed dental prostheses
This report describes a method for fabricating access openings for implant-supported complete fixed dental prostheses (ICFP) by using a dental milling machine and silicone putty matrix. The method can help clinicians achieve the accurate and precise fabrication of access openings for ICFPs without excessive grinding.Color-to-grayscale conversion using a smart phone camera for value comparison
Color has 3 different dimensions: hue, value, and chroma.1 Hue describes the dominant color of an object. Value is often referred to as lightness and is the measurement of the lightness or darkness of a color. Chroma refers to the degree of saturation of a particular hue. To select tooth shade, value should be chosen first and then chroma and hue are determined later.1 Among many different methods of evaluating tooth shade, comparison of a series of values with several shade tabs is the most common method,2 especially as value selection is less affected by color vision deficiency than hue or chroma.Using a thermoplastic sheet to add palatal rugae to a complete removable dental prosthesis
One of the common complaints of first-time complete removable dental prosthesis wearers is difficulty speaking.1,2 The severity of the speech problem depends on the reaction of the denture patient to speech sound distortion. Although most patients with dentures do not encounter any difficulties, some have mild to moderate problems with speech both socially and vocationally.3Customized occlusal reduction guide made from a thermoplastic sheet
Estimating linear distances is of great importance to dental practitioners. In several studies it has been shown that dental students and dentists underestimate and undersize linear measurements.1-8 Clinically, this results in excessive extensions of tooth preparations that can compromise restorations. Even though resources are available for measuring the depths and distances of tooth preparations, a keen visual perception of measurements can benefit a dentist or dental student.1,7Morphologic custom shade guide fabricated with feldspathic ceramic
Clinicians have successfully used commercial shade guides for many years. However, many studies have demonstrated the inadequacies of the existing shade guides: shade variations exist between different batches of porcelain from the same manufacturer, and the thickness of the shade guide tooth is different from the real tooth or may not have the correct core or backing.1-3 In addition, the actual porcelains may not match the shade guides’ tabs.4
