Composites: Composition

Composites are tooth coloured restorative materials that are usually recommended for class III, IV and class I cavities with less or no occlusal stress and esthetics are important. Specially designed composites are used in almost 50% of class II restorations, although less durable in comparison to dental amalgam. Composites can be classified as microfilled, nanofilled, flowable, packable, all purpose and laboratory. Composites are used for provisional restorations and core build-ups and in fibre-reinforced posts.

Abrasion Of Teeth and its Consequesces

Abrasion

It is loss of the tooth substance because of the friction with a foreign substance.The area affected by abrasion are smooth and usually in C shape, more wide than deeper.

Clinical Features 

These are usually facio-cervical concavities that are more broad than deep and can be associated with an abrasive diet. They are usually found on prominent surfaces of the teeth in the dental arch such as canines, premolars, and mesio-buccal aspects of first molars. 

They may affect several teeth in a row with a “band” of abrasive damage. Sometime they may cause hypersensitivity which means the tooth or teeth may have pain while drinking hot or cold beverages like hot coffee or a cold drink.

Figure 1. Abrasion: note the concave smooth cavities in the cervical regions of upper and lower teeth.

Causes of Abrasion

The reason may be one or a combination of following factors. Normally in clinical practice, I see a combination of several factors.

• Excessive tooth brushing for a longer period
• Use of hard tooth brush
• Use of tooth paste containing highly abrasive material
• Use of locally prepared tooth cleaning powder or paste like Gul, Gulak or Lal Manjan (red tooth powder)
• Repeatedly putting foreign objects in the mouth like pipe smoking, pen, bobby pins or any other occupational material

 

Prevention of Abrasion

Use of common sense is the best way for the prevention of the abrasion. If the cause is a hard tooth brush or brushing the teeth for a longer duration or use of an excessively abrasive tooth paste. Then correcting the hardness of the tooth brush which means suggesting a patient to use soft brush, limiting the tooth brushing time for two minutes, and changing the tooth paste manufactured by a reputed company will be sufficient. If the cause is abrasive food or any occupational factor, this may be a bit difficult to arrest the lesion but not impossible.

Treatment of Abrasive Lesions

 The treatment of the cavities created by abrasion is the restoration of teeth by Glass Ionomer or tooth coloured composite filling material. These types of fillings or restoration fall under the category of 'Cosmetic' or 'Aesthetic' 'Restorations'. 

Some times, the depth of the abrasive lesion is so deep that it affects the pulp in an adverse way. In this stage, it is better to get the 'Root Canal Treatment' before going for aesthetic restoration. But, if the lesion had been there since long, the involved tooth may need extraction. 

Tooth abrasion का अर्थ "दांत का घर्षण"  होता है | मै इस लेख को हिंदी में लिखने की पूरी कोशिश करूंगा |