• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.57 no.8
• /
• pp.428-436
• /
• 2019

In cases of a patient referral, the general dentist should communicate the patient's dental information as clearly as possible to the specialist to whom he/she is referring his/her patient. For this reason, it is necessary to write a referral letter in an accurate and complete manner. The purpose of this study is to analyze the referral letters of patients who are referred to the department of conservative dentistry in a dental university hospital. From January, 2017 to December, 2018, we gathered the information of the patients who were referred to the department of conservative dentistry in a dental university hospital with referral letter. We evaluated the fidelity of a total of 750 referral letters and recorded the information of the referral dentist and the dental clinic. The relationship between each item and fidelity was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The analysis of the contents of the referral letters yielded the following results: The fidelity of the referral letter was higher when the patient was referred during the root canal treatment, or when there was a root canal filling or when there was pain during chewing. The fidelity of referral letter was low in cases where the referring clinic is close to and has cooperative relationship with dental university hospital. Among the factors affecting the fidelity, the year of graduation of the referral dentist was the most influential. This study confirmed the fact that the clinical practice of writing patient referral letters still leaves much to be desired. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to create more clear and standardized guidelines for writing referral letters.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.143-151
• /
• 2023

Background: Dental anxiety is a matter of serious concern to pediatric dentists as it may impede the efficient delivery of dental care. If not adequately resolved, a persistent negative response pattern may emerge. Thaumaturgy, commonly known as magic trick, has become popular recently. It is a tool that distracts and relaxes the child by using magic trick while the dentist performs necessary treatment. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Thaumaturgic aid in alleviation of anxiety in 4-6 - year-old children during administration of local anesthesia using the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) technique. Methods: Thirty children aged between 4-6 years with dental anxiety requiring IANB were included in this study. Patients were divided equally into two groups: Group I, thaumaturgic aid group and Group II, conventional non-pharmacological group using randomization. Anxiety was measured before and after using the intervention with Raghavendra Madhuri Sujata-Pictorial scale (RMS-PS), Venham's anxiety rating scale, and pulse rate. All the data were tabulated and compared using statistical analysis. Results: Children in thaumaturgy group (Group- I) exhibited significantly lower anxiety during IANB in comparison with children in the conventional group (Group- II) and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Magic tricks are effective in reducing anxiety among young children during IANB; Moreover, it expands the arsenal of behavior guidance techniques for treatment of children with anxiety and plays an important role in shaping the behavior of a child in pediatric dentistry.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.106-111
• /
• 2023

Purpose: In this study, we evaluate the potential of the relative ratio of capsular width (RCW) between the affected side (Aff) and non-affected side (Non-aff) in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthralgia. We assessed whether RCW may hold greater diagnostic significance than the objective capsular width (CW) reported in previous studies when diagnosing arthralgia using ultrasonography (US). Methods: Forty-nine patients were assessed using US, excluding four patients with bilateral arthralgia. The patients were divided into two groups: 40 with unilateral arthralgia (UA), and nine without arthralgia (NA). We measured CW and masseter muscle thickness using US. Moreover, we employed RCW to analyze the variances between the groups. The numerical rating scale (NRS) and RCW were compared before and after dexamethasone injection in 10 patients who underwent follow-up evaluations. Results: Within the UA group, CW on the Aff was found to be significantly larger compared to the Non-aff (p<0.001). Additionally, RCW in the UA group was greater than that in the NA group (p<0.01). Furthermore, after dexamethasone injection, a reduction in the NRS and RCW values was observed in the 10 patients who were followed up. Conclusions: While previous studies have suggested a link between arthralgia and TMJ effusion, making CW a possible indirect diagnostic indicator for arthralgia, our findings propose that RCW could hold more diagnostic value than objective CW. However, additional studies are required to standardize the protocols for interpreting US results and determining the cutoff value of RCW in diagnosing TMJ arthralgia.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.61 no.3
• /
• pp.245-256
• /
• 2023

When restoring with a dental digital system for implant-supported prosthesis, a double digital scanning technique is required: an intraoral scan of the three-dimensional implant location and intraoral scan after placement of temporary denture or provisional prosthesis. During the intraoral scan, the use of scan body as a stable landmark can improve the accuracy of digital impression and simplify laboratory process. In this case, a full-digital system was used to plan and fabricate a custom abutment, provisional prosthesis, and definitive prosthesis. After implant placement, the scan area of the intraoral scan body connected with implant and the intraoral scan body marked on the inside of temporary denture were superimposed. Out of the superimposed files, a custom abutment and provisional prosthesis were fabricated which match the vertical dimension of temporary denture, and definitive prosthesis was fabricated based on provisional prosthesis. We report this case because result has been functionally and esthetically satisfactory by using vertical dimension and central relation set during the fabrication of temporary denture to the definitive prosthesis.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.48 no.1
• /
• pp.38-44
• /
• 2010

Nowadays, medically compromised patients who could not receive dental treatments in the past are able to go through minor oral surgeries with adequate preoperative measures. Thorough understanding of the systemic disease and its complications is needed as well as the management them. Frequent complications of surgical procedures are bleeding, infection, delayed healing, systemic reactions by stress and they can be aggravated due to the patients' systemic conditions. Therefore, understanding of the systemic disease of patient visiting dental office and treatment modification according to the systemic status is needed. Also consultation to the medical doctor is imperative, through which perioperative risk and complications can be reduced. Among the high frequency complications of dental treatment of medically compromised patients, bleeding, infection, delayed healing, systemic reactions by stress will be discussed with the management of each one.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.205-217
• /
• 2010

Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate the survival rates and analyze the stability of lateral approach and trans-crestal approach for maxillary sinus floor elevation of simultaneous implant placement. Materials and method 407 patients who have been treated in LivingWell dental hospital between 2003 to 2009 were selected. Lateral window technique, osteotome technique and sinus drill technique were used for sinus floor elevation procedure. A total of 714 implants-MP-1 HA coated implant(Tapered Screw $Vent^{TM}$, $Spline^{TM}$, Zimmer, USA), FBR surfaced implant(Pitt-$Easy^{TM}$, Oraltronics, Germany)-were placed in grafted maxillary sinus simultaneously. The autogenous bone or a combination with the allograft or alloplast was grafted into sinus. Sinus floor elevation was combined with vertical/horizontal onlay bone grafts to reconstruct the defect of alveolar ridge. Results The average preoperative height of the maxillary alveolar bone was 5.78mm(range: 0.4mm~12.5mm). 14 implants failed during the healing period(lateral approach: 4, trans-crestal approach: 10) and 3 implant failed after prosthetic loading(lateral approach: 2, trans-crestal approach: 1). The cumulative survival rate of implants after 6 years was 97.6%. Trans-crestal approach(97.4%) and lateral approach(97.9%) had similar survival rates. Conclusion The results indicate that the trans-crestal approach and lateral approach for maxillary sinus elevation is a acceptable method at atrophic maxillary posterior area.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.12-16
• /
• 2020

Chronic otitis media (COM) is a chronic inflammatory disease which affects the middle ear, mastoid cavity. It presents hearing loss, ear pain, dizziness, headache, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) inflammation and intracranial complication. Intracranial complications such as skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) may occur secondary to COM due to transmission of infection by a number of possible routes. SBO is an uncommon condition with a significant morbidity and mortality if not treated in the early stages. We report a-67-year-old male patient with diabetes and untreated COM who presented atypical severe TMJ, periorbital and postmandibular pain. By computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and whole body bone scan (WBBS), he was diagnosed with SBO spreading from untreated COM via infective arthritis of TMJ. Through this case, we suggest proper utilization of diagnostic imaging, especially CT or MRI for the early detection of SBO in the case of COM accompanying with the greater risk of infection developments such as diabetes.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.41-44
• /
• 2009

Lipoma is most common tumor that compromises 4% to 5% of all benign neoplasm, but in oral cavity it is uncommon. In oral cavity, lipoma presents painless, asymptomatic, slow growing, but sometimes it grows to larger size causing deformities, mastication and speech difficulties. While lipoma in commonly affects female patients (68-73%), oral lipoma appears more frequently in male patients. The majority of oral lipoma is seen after the age of forty (uncommon in children). Lipoma of oral cavity and maxillofacial region occurs most commonly in the parotid region, followed by the buccal mucosa, lip, tongue, palate, mouth floor, gingiva in order. A treatment of lesion is surgical excision with recurrence not expected. In this paper we present the case of a patient who has Lipoma in the mouth floor.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.278-283
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The maxillary sinus mucosa is reported to recover to preoperative sterility after sinus floor elevation. However, when drainage of maxillary sinus is impaired, recovery can be delayed and maxillary sinusitis can occur. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the correlations between anatomic variants that can interrupt the ostium of the maxillary sinus and incidence of complication after sinus lifting. Materials and Methods: The subjects are 81 patients who underwent sinus lifting in Wonkwang University Dental Hospital (Iksan, Korea). Computed tomography (CT) images of the subjects were reviewed for presence of nasal septum deviation, anatomic variants of the middle turbinate, and Haller cells. Correlations between anatomic variations and occurrence of maxillary sinusitis were statistically analyzed. Results: Patients with anatomic variants of ostio-meatal units, such as deviated nasal septum, concha bullosa or paradoxical curvature of the middle turbinate, or Haller cells, showed a higher rate of complication. However, only presence of Haller cell showed statistically significant. Conclusion: Before sinus lifting, CT images are recommended to detect anatomic variants of the ostio-meatal complex. If disadvantageous anatomic variants are detected, the use of nasal decongestants should be considered to reduce the risk of postoperative sinusitis.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.166-170
• /
• 2012

Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (CEOT) is a rarely reported benign tumor, accounting for 0.4-3% of all odontogenic tumors. Approximately 150 cases have been reported in the literature between 1958 and 2003. The age range of CEOT varies from 8 to 92 years with mean of 36.9 years, and the occurrence of the lesion in both genders is almost equal. It has 2 clinico-topographic variants: the intraosseous (94%) and the extraosseous (6%) type. The intraosseous type has a predilection for mandible (maxilla : mandible ratio of 1 : 2). The intraosseous CEOT commonly associated with non-erupted teeth accounts for more than half (52%) of the cases and usually appears as painless swelling that causes bony expansion. The location of diffused round-shaped calcifying material is inside the connective tissue stroma and epithelial islands. The tumors tend to be located toward the tooth crown, which usually has a unilocular radiolucent region containing variant radiopaque materials radiologically. In this paper, we report a case of CEOT occurring in the left mandibular first premolar of a 23-year-old female and present a brief review of the literature.