Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Do you have an opinion or some- thing to say on any Dental Tribune UK article? Or would you like to write your own opinion for our guest comment page? If so don’t hesitate to write to: The Editor, Dental Tribune UK Ltd, 4th Floor, Treasure House, 19-21 Hatton Garden, London, EC1 8BA Or email: lisa@healthcare-learning.com Editorial comment United Kingdom Edition March 11-17, 2013 3News D ental techniques to modify the alveo- lar ridge have been around for many years, often as a means of support for den- tures. As dental implants have now become common pro- cedures, so has pre-implant preparation of the bone. The ridge-split procedure is one such method of widening and augmenting the alveolar ridge that is finding renewed inter- est. A new article in the Journal of Oral Implantology presents a detailed description of the alveolar ridge-split procedure. The alveolar ridge is the bony ridge on both the upper and lower jaws that contains the sockets of the teeth. Establish- ing an alveolar ridge of proper dimensions has become es- sential with the advent of root- form endosseous dental im- plants, the most common type of implants. The ridge-split procedure described in this article is a form of ridge widening or aug- mentation. In cases of narrow alveolar ridges, it has proven to be consistently successful. Use of this minimally inva- sive technique has many ad- vantages in the pre-prosthetic stage of dental implants; low risk of inferior alveolar nerve injury, less pain and swelling, and no need for a second sur- gical site as donor are among the benefits. Because of differences in bone density, the ridge-split technique requires a single surgical stage in the maxilla, or upper jaw, and a two-stage approach in the mandible. The two stages of mandible sur- gery consist of corticotomy, a bone-cutting procedure, followed by splitting and graft- ing performed three to five weeks later. The staged ap- proach of the ridge-split pro- cedure has shown a higher implant success rate and better buccal cortical bone preservation. DT New application offered in implant surgery L ast week saw the Dentistry Show, the first major event of the dental calendar. This show has been going from strength to strength and really is becoming a major force in the dental exhibition sector. One of the big talking points at the event was the al- lowance of an illegal whiten- ing company to take a stand. Due to a sustained protest by event goers this stand was withdrawn a few days before the opening of the show. This story is interesting for a couple of reasons. One – it shows that the companies pro- viding illegal whitening ser- vices and training are coming to realise that they need to be a bit more legit to survive in the era of new regulation; and two – practitioners are becom- ing more united in protecting their patients and promoting best practice of whitening pro- cedures. Groups such as Stamp out Illegal Whitening and the Tooth Whitening Action Group are beginning to make a lot of noise against illegal bleach- ing… we should be ap- plauding their efforts and getting behind the cause. DT