Today was a bit of a hectic Monday, with patient after patient coming in and out of the doors. Many of today’s appointments whether they were routine cleanings or other cases, went by quickly and today was absolutely problem or challenge free. And although many of the appointments passed by quickly, there were two appointments in particular that I found interesting.
The first interesting appointment was a sort of precursor appointment for a patient who will soon be treated with a root canal. While this patient did not receive a root canal today, what Dr. Sims did was basically clean out the canals and the tooth overall in general so that it would be ready for the root canal. Dr. Sims took several x-rays in between completing several measurements in order to identify how deep the roots of the tooth were (where the empty canals are now located). Dr. Sims placed a medicine within the canals once he measured how deep they were in order to completely rid the canals of all bacteria prior to the actual procedure. After the appointment Dr. Sims noted that this patient walked in and out with much ease because the specific tooth being worked on was completely dead so that made it easier to work with for this particular operation. Obviously, it has been assumed that the tooth was dead because the patient is on the verge of receiving a root canal, but this tooth had no bleeding whatsoever when operated on today, and that is rare in the sense that the tooth was completely dead. This patient will now be allowed time for the medicine within the canals to do its job before the root canal in a few weeks.
The other most interesting appointment today was with a patient who will soon be receiving a metal partial for her lower right mouth. Today’s appointment only consisted of taking several impressions for the partial, but the appointment was interesting because it was the first partial that I had been exposed to that would not be a normal plastic partial but rather made of metal. The patient did not mind that it would be made from metal because she originally had a metal bridge in the area, but due to a tooth decaying the bridge failed, so a partial was suggested instead. The decayed tooth was removed at a prior appointment and today I was surprised at how well the gum had healed in the area where the tooth was removed. Anyways, the impressions were taken so that her partial can be custom made and fit properly within the patients mouth and a 3D mold of the patient’s teeth was made into office today to be sent off to the lab. What was also interesting about this patient was that I was able to learn what a Nesbit partial is. While this is not the type of partial she was taking impressions for today, the patient has one lower tooth missing on the opposite side of her mouth and Dr. Sims explained to me that the Nesbit partial would be the best fit for her because of the other dental work she has already endured. A Nesbit partial is a partial that hooks to other teeth, but it small and only has one actual tooth. I found it interesting that I was able to learn about two other types of partials that I have not yet seen in action.
The final news I have about today is not about a particular patient but rather a new piece of equipment Dr. Sims received information about. Dr. Sims showed me a new panoramic x-ray machine that not only takes the 2D picture scan but also creates a 3D model of the skull, places the nerves throughout the mouth along with their respective measurements, and can identify other measurements throughout the mouth. This would be particularly helpful in placing implants because it would give more information about each particular patient since all patients have different bone structures and their nerves are in various places. Dr. Sims told me that if he were to purchase this machine it would be likely that he would place more implants than he does now because he would be able to do that more precisely.
After learning about more types of partials that I did not know existed along with watching an impression turn into a 3D model, I thought today’s busy day was a great learning experience. I am looking forward to share my own research that I encounter tomorrow.
