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Biomedical subjects

B Z Laufer

Publications and source records attributed to B Z Laufer.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Modalities of treatment for the combination syndrome.

A series of destructive changes occurring in the jaws of patients wearing a complete maxillary denture opposed by a mandibular distal extension removable partial denture have been described as the combination syndrome. However, the syndrome does not occur in all patients. Those patients who have not developed signs of the combination syndrome and whose mandibular anterior teeth are well preserved and not overerupted may be treated conservatively with a mandibular removable partial denture. A properly designed removable partial denture that distributes occlusal stresses over hard and soft tissues minimizes the risk of developing the combination syndrome. Nevertheless, the overdenture seems to provide a more predictable prognosis, especially for patients who already have the combination syndrome or whose mandibular anterior teeth are structurally or periodontally compromised or overerupted. The treatment modality is determined by the apparent potential of the patient to develop the combination syndrome and by the condition of the remaining mandibular anterior teeth.

Alveolar Bone Loss

Composite-veneered amalgam restorations.

A procedure is described for the construction of composite resin veneers for large amalgam restorations. The resulting restoration combines the physical qualities of amalgam with the esthetic benefits of composite resins. Among the 14 restorations that have been studied for 2 years, none failed mechanically and minor surface discolorations have been satisfactorily corrected by polishing.

Bicuspid

An investigation on heat transfer to the implant-bone interface due to abutment preparation with high-speed cutting instruments.

Excessive heat generation at the implant-bone interface may cause irreversible bone damage and loss of osseointegration. The effect of heat generation in vitro at the implant surface caused by abutment reduction with medium- and extra-fine-grain diamond and tungsten burs in a high-speed dental turbine was examined. Titanium-alloy abutments connected to a titanium-alloy cylindrical implant embedded in an acrylic-resin mandible in a 37 degrees C water bath were reduced horizontally and vertically. Temperature changes were recorded via embedded thermocouples at the cervix and apex of the implant surface. Analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to compare seven treatment groups. Thirty seconds of continuous cutting with standard turbine coolant caused a mean temperature increase of 1 degrees C with a maximum of 2 degrees C. Similar tungsten cutting caused a mean increase of 2 degrees C with a maximum of 4.7 degrees C, significantly higher than diamond reduction. Additional air-water spray for continuous tungsten cutting had no significant effect, while intermittent cutting for 15-second increments reduced the temperature increase by 75%. Thus, abutment reduction with medium-grit diamonds using intermittent pressure and normal turbine coolant is unlikely to cause an interface-temperature increase sufficient to cause irreversible bone damage and compromise osseointegration.

Acrylic Resins

The linear accuracy of impressions and stone dies as affected by the thickness of the impression margin.

This study compared the dimensional accuracy of impressions and dies made from a metal model simulating prepared abutments and having gingival sulci of varying widths. Measurements of the abutments, impressions, and stone dies were made using a travelling microscope, and the number of defects in each impression was recorded. The impressions and dies made from abutments with narrower sulci showed greater distortions. Analysis of variance and the Fisher PLSD post hoc test indicated significant differences between the group having a sulcular width of 0.08 mm and the groups having larger sulcular widths for the impressions and for the dies (P < .05). The large coefficient of variation occurring groups having 0.08-, 0.13-, and 0.18-mm sulcular widths demonstrated the difficulty of consistently obtaining good impressions of abutments having such narrow sulcular widths. Between 50% and 90% of abutment impressions having sulcular widths of 0.08 and 0.13 mm had defects.

Analysis of Variance