The transition from naturally occurring materials to the application of synthetic resins in denture construction indicates the extent of development taking place. Research carried out by workers has promoted the foundation of future knowledge and it can be hoped that the unending search for denture base materials with desirable qualities will always continue. This article summarizes the historical background as well as the development of denture base materials.

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Xerostomia is a clinical condition caused by a decrease in the production of saliva. It may present itself as a local symptom, as part of a systemic disease, as side effects of medications or following therapeutic radiation to the head and neck regions. Xerostomia can lead to difficulties during management in patients receiving prosthodontic treatment. The comfort and retention of removable dentures depends largely on the physical properties and the lubricating ability of the saliva and dry mucosa. To help overcome this problem, various techniques have been proposed for incorporating reservoirs that contain salivary substitutes into dentures. These techniques have had varying degrees of success. This paper presents the management of a patient suffering from xerostomia who was successfully treated by providing reservoir denture made by dual flasking method. This technique resulted in a reservoir denture that provided good lubrication for the tissues, was hygienic, and was made from routine denture base material.

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The focus of dentistry in the present times is not only on the prevention and treatment of disease but also on meeting the demands for better esthetics. Thus, dentistry has evolved from a curative to a creative science in a very short span and the evolution of ceramics has fastened this shift. This article presents a brief history of dental ceramics and an in-depth analysis of "all ceramic" systems.

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Pontic is the raison`d'etre of a fixed partial denture. The design of the prosthetic tooth will be dictated by aesthetics, function, ease of cleaning, maintenance of healthy tissue on the edentulous ridge and patient comfort. Proper design is more important for hygiene and good tissue health than the choice of material. An ovate pontic has been recommended to fulfill both aesthetic and functional requirements. The convex design of this pontic was intended to form a concave soft tissue outline in the site of the alveolar ridge mucosa. Clinically healthy conditions can be established at pontic sites if appropriate plaque control is performed. As the ovate pontic suffers from certain disadvantages, the modified ovate pontic design was developed to circumvent the problems encountered with the ovate pontic. A report of two cases will be presented where the modified ovate pontic design was employed for replacing upper anterior teeth.

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The treatment goal for cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients is to restore the normal anatomy of the affected structures. Many surgical procedures and infant maxillary orthopedic appliances have been described to achieve these goals. A variety of appliances have been described for maxillary orthopedics in infants. Prior to the fabrication of any of these appliances, we are faced with the challenge of the impression procedure in the CLP infant. This article attempts to briefly describe the appliances in use for infant maxillary orthopedics and the impression procedures followed prior to their fabrication.

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Patients have many restorative options for changing the appearance of their teeth. It is difficult to mask dark underlying tooth colour and retain a natural appearance of the tetracycline stained tooth. While conservation of tooth structure is important, so is selecting the right treatment modality for each patient based on clinical findings. This case is an example to approach a tetracycline stained tooth to achieve a desirable esthetic result.

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Failure of removable partial denture may be attributed to several factors, one of which is failure of extra coronal direct retainer. Direct retainers can serve for a long time if designed and fabricated properly by the dentist and maintained well by the patient. This article is the review of causes of failure of extra coronal direct retainers and prevention of the same.

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Poor and resorbed mandibular residual alveolar ridge result from periodontal disease, trauma or disuse atrophy, which complicate the clinical procedures of fabrication and limit the support for the complete denture prosthesis. Reconstruction of the residual alveolar ridge is challenging because the deformity involves deficiency in both the bone and the mucosa. Alveolar distraction osteogenesis is a relatively recent method that, compared with onlay grafts or guided bone regeneration, has less morbidity, better previsibility, and less bone resorption. Compared with other techniques of regeneration, alveolar distraction osteogenesis permits less treatment time because the distraction segments are well formed in 12 weeks. This article presents a case report of a successful alternative approach prior to prosthodontic rehabilitation of a patient with poor and resorbed mandibular ridges, using alveolar distraction osteogenesis as a preprosthetic procedure and further discusses the merits and demerits of this novel procedure when considering implant placement.

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The temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) consists of three basic components: The TMJ, the teeth, and the neuromuscular component. The neuromuscular system consists of nerves and muscles which help in the functioning of the TMJ. The nerves transmit messages to the muscles for jaw functioning. They also transmit pain signals to the brain causing discomfort. Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) occur in many forms and varying degrees of severity. The symptoms of TMD can be an obvious jaw pain in the muscles, but can also exhibit as headache at the temporal region. Patients often feel this symptom as a tension or a sinus headache. Patients understandably fail to make this connection between TMD and headaches. Sometimes the symptoms may also be found in other facial structures; such as dull ear pain, toothache, and neck pain, etc. The pain of TMD can arise from either the muscles or the TMJ itself; or a combination of the two. TMD conditions are not "cured" but are managed instead. The goal of treatment is to allow the muscles and joints to heal through rest and care. Often damage to the joint itself cannot be reversed, but the body can often heal it enough to return to function without pain. The basic philosophy of treatment is to do the conservative and reversible treatments first. Irreversible procedures, such as surgery or orthodontics are only considered if conservative steps have failed to bring relief. Through this paper, we intend to present the successful results that can be achieved in patients with TMJ pain through conservative Occlusal Splint Therapy.

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Aim: The main purpose of this study is to determine the dimensional accuracy of digital models as compared to that of study models and the reliability of electronic surveying. The study aims to measure and compare distances between selected landmarks on study models and digital models, angles of cervical convergence and undercut depth at predetermined points on the abutment teeth. Material and Methods: The study used partially edentulous study models of each of Kennedy's class I, II and III classifications. All the three models were scanned using multislice helical computerized tomography (CT) scan and digitized on the computer. The physical model and digitized models were surveyed and measured using various parameters and study designs. Measurements were conducted directly on study models and computer models using Altair Hyper mesh network version 7.0. The differences between the two sets of measurement were statistically analyzed using a suitable method. (t- Test). Results: The differences between measurement of distance on study models and digital models were found to be within the precision of 0.17mm, 0.08, o for the angle of cervical convergence and precision of 0.04mm for undercut depth of the abutment teeth. All these measurements were statistically slightly significant and well within the range of intraoperator variations. Conclusion: This study shows that dental cast can be scanned with the help of an accurate and sophisticated scanner and the scanned data can be transferred to the computer and used for the purpose of digital or electronic surveying.

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This clinical report describes the use of alveolar ridge augmentation procedure using connective tissue graft, cast post, and metal-ceramic fixed partial denture for a patient with ridge defect to enhance the esthetic result for a metal-ceramic fixed partial denture (FPD). This ridge augmentation procedure significantly increased the functional and esthetic outcome of the final FPD by restoring the alveolar ridge defect to its original dimension.

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Background: Rehabilitation of complicated cases poses difficulty in clinical practice, both with respect to restoring function as well as esthetics. One such condition where the clinical practitioner has to give importance to proper planning of the treatment and execution of the plan is amelogenesis imperfecta, wherein both esthetics and function are compromised. A review of literature showed that there are no reports of management of amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) in twins. Case Description: This report discusses the esthetic and functional rehabilitation of a pair of fraternal twins with amelogenesis imperfecta. Both patients presented with esthetic disharmonies and sensitivity of teeth. The treatment plan was custom made for both the patients and executed successfully. Clinical Implications: Cosmetic rehabilitation of patients with AI has been open to a variety of treatment options. There is no set rule in planning the treatment for such cases. The aim is to properly diagnose the case and provide durable functional and esthetic management of these patients, where the unaesthetic appearance has a definite negative psychological impact.

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Cranial defects result either from trauma or after intentional osteocraniotomies or external decompression craniectomies. These lead to mechanical vulnerability of the brain, esthetic disfigurement, and transmission of vibrations and pulsation of the brain that cause disconcerting sensations to the patient. Subsequent cranioplasty may be required to compensate for the defect and alleviate various signs and symptoms. A referred posttraumatic patient of a cranial defect that was restored with an alloplastic heat polymerizing methyl methacrylate cranial implant is presented in this case report.

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