Dental clinics of North America
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The emergency of a traumatically injured tooth occurs frequently in a general dental practice. Patients, staff, and dentist should know what restorative techniques are available to manage the crisis. When the emergency occurs, the patient is probably going to call the dental office. ⋯ Clinically, the traumatized anterior tooth needs immediate attention. The pulpal status of the tooth needs to be assessed and in the case of tooth or restoration fracture, the circumstances many times dictate an immediate restorative treatment to correct an unaesthetic situation. This article provides the dentist and staff with a variety of restorative techniques that address the aesthetic management of anterior teeth that have been traumatized.
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Local anesthetics have been especially important in establishing pain control as a fundamental accomplishment in clinical dentistry. When used conscientiously, local anesthetics are effective and safe. It is helpful for clinical dentists to understand the workings of these adjuncts. The more we understand them, the better we will be able to use them.
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Drug administration to geriatric patients in the dental office requires special care. The margin of safety, or therapeutic window, in which the drug is safely effective may be greatly decreased because of physiologic changes with age, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic alterations. Realizing that the elderly are, as a group, more susceptible to adverse drug reactions, the addition of new medications must be undertaken with caution. Consulting with the patient's physician and a close working relationship with clinical pharmacists specializing in geriatrics can facilitate safe and effective drug prescribing.
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Dent. Clin. North Am. · Oct 1994
ReviewNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for acute pain control.
This article reviews the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, both alone and in combination with opioids, for pain of dental origin. Therapeutic recommendations, which balance therapeutic efficacy and the side effects associated with the use of analgesics in ambulatory patients, are described for preventing and managing acute postoperative pain.
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After almost falling into obscurity, smokeless tobacco use began to increase almost simultaneously with the reduction in cigarette smoking that was influenced by the Surgeon General's first Report on Smoking and Health in 1964. Consumption of smokeless tobacco was stimulated by media promotion using professional athletes; and large numbers of impressionable male teenagers, assuming that it was a safe alternative to smoking, began to use this product, particularly snuff. The nicotine content of smokeless tobacco is equivalent to that of cigarettes and, therefore, will produce habituation and addiction. ⋯ A hazard of short-term use is irreversible gingival recession. The contact of snuff with the oral mucosa can produce leukoplakia that is readily visible and will alert the dentist. The dental professional team must actively strive to prevent initiation of smokeless tobacco use and assist with cessation of this habit.