Clinical Performance of Porcelain Laminate Veneers: Outcomes of the Aesthetic Pre-evaluative Temporary (APT) Technique

This article evaluates the long-term clinical performance of porcelain laminate veneers bonded to teeth prepared with the use of an additive mock-up and aesthetic pre-evaluative temporary (APT) technique over a 12-year period. Sixty-six patients were restored with 580 porcelain laminate veneers. The technique, used for diagnosis, esthetic design, tooth preparation, and provisional restoration fabrication, was based on the APT protocol. The influence of several factors on the durability of veneers was analyzed according to pre- and postoperative parameters. With utilization of the APT restoration, over 80% of tooth preparations were confined to the dental enamel. Over 12 years, 42 laminate veneers failed, but when the preparations were limited to the enamel, the failure rate resulting from debonding and microleakage decreased to 0%. Porcelain laminate veneers presented a successful clinical performance in terms of marginal adaptation, discoloration, gingival recession, secondary caries, postoperative sensitivity, and satisfaction with restoration shade at the end of 12 years. The APT technique facilitated diagnosis, communication, and preparation, providing predictability for the restorative treatment. Limiting the preparation depth to the enamel surface significantly increases the performance of porcelain laminate veneers. (Int J Periodontics Restorative Dent 2012;32:625-635.)

A palaeobiologist's guide to 'virtual' micro-CT preparation

This paper provides a brief but comprehensive guide to creating, preparing and dissecting a 'virtual' fossil, using a worked example to demonstrate some standard data processing techniques. Computed tomography (CT) is a 3D imaging modality for producing 'virtual' models of an object on a computer. In the last decade, CT technology has greatly improved, allowing bigger and denser objects to be scanned increasingly rapidly. The technique has now reached a stage where systems can facilitate large-scale, non-destructive comparative studies of extinct fossils and their living relatives. Consequently the main limiting factor in CT-based analyses is no longer scanning, but the hurdles of data processing (see disclaimer). The latter comprises the techniques required to convert a 3D CT volume (stack of digital slices) into a virtual image of the fossil that can be prepared (separated) from the matrix and 'dissected' into its anatomical parts. This technique can be applied to specimens or part of specimens embedded in the rock matrix that until now have been otherwise impossible to visualise. This paper presents a suggested workflow explaining the steps required, using as example a fossil tooth of Sphenacanthus hybodoides (Egerton), a shark from the Late Carboniferous of England. The original NHMUK copyrighted CT slice stack can be downloaded for practice of the described techniques, which include segmentation, rendering, movie animation, stereo-anaglyphy, data storage and dissemination. Fragile, rare specimens and type materials in university and museum collections can therefore be virtually processed for a variety of purposes, including virtual loans, website illustrations, publications and digital collections. Micro-CT and other 3D imaging techniques are increasingly utilized to facilitate data sharing among scientists and on education and outreach projects. Hence there is the potential to usher in a new era of global scientific collaboration and public communication using specimens in museum collections.

Temperature rise during Er:YAG cavity preparation of primary enamel

This study aimed to assess in vitro thermal alterations taking place during the Er:YAG laser cavity preparation of primary tooth enamel at different energies and pulse repetition rates. Forty healthy human primary molars were bisected in a mesio-distal direction, thus providing 80 fragments. Two small orifices were made on the dentin surface to which type K thermocouples were attached. The fragments were individually fixed with wax in a cylindrical PlexiglassA (R) abutment and randomly assigned to eight groups, according to the laser parameters (n = 10): G1 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 3 Hz, G2 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 4 Hz, G3 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 6 Hz, G4 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/10 Hz, G5 -aEuro parts per thousand 250 mJ/ 15 Hz, G6 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 3 Hz, G7 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 4 Hz and G8 -aEuro parts per thousand 300 mJ/ 6 Hz. An area of 4 mm(2) was delimited. Cavities were done (2 mm long x 2 mm wide x 1 mm thick) using non-contact (12 mm) and focused mode. Temperature values were registered from the start of laser irradiation until the end of cavity preparation. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey test (p a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 0.05). Groups G1, G2, G6, and G7 were statistically similar and furnished the lowest mean values of temperature rise. The set 250 mJ/10 and 15 Hz yielded the highest temperature values. The sets 250 and 300 mJ and 6 Hz provided temperatures with mean values below the acceptable critical value, suggesting that these parameters ablate the primary tooth enamel. Moreover, the temperature elevation was directly related to the increase in the employed pulse repetition rates. In addition, there was no direct correlation between temperature rise and energy density. Therefore, it is important to use a lower pulse frequency, such as 300 mJ and 6 Hz, during cavity preparation in pediatric patients.