Depending upon the nature and severity of the traumatic incident, patients who experience trauma to the head/face can suffer from a wide variety of physical, functional injuries (medical- and/or dental-related), and psychological ramifications that usually accompany injuries involving broken facial bones, blood vessels and nerves, fractured and displaced teeth, soft tissues (extra- and intraoral), and so on. The impact upon the patient is immediate and dramatic, often requiring thoughtfully planned interdisciplinary treatment. In more serious trauma cases, depending upon the nature of the injury/injuries, and once stabilization and immediate needs are tended to, the definitive treatment plans are often challenging and complex. In some cases, in which a patient has suffered only dental-related hard- and soft-tissue injuries, general dentists (GPs) and dental specialists play the major role(s) in successfully treating the patient.
All GPs should be prepared to efficiently manage cases involving traumatic dental injuries. Learning from other clinicians, by sharing cases that have been successfully treated, can be beneficial when preparing for some of the more common challenges that may arise in treating these patients. In the May 2017 aesthetics-focused issue of Dentistry Today, Dr. Michael Apa demonstrated how he took an interdisciplinary approach to restore aesthetics and confidence for a patient with serious trauma-based dental injuries. In this month’s cover-featured selection, Dr. Amanda Seay shares how she expertly cared for a patient with severe dental trauma via an interdisciplinary approach involving oral surgery, endodontics, and restorative/aesthetic treatment. Especially noteworthy, in Dr. Seay’s successful care of her patient, is the attention that was given to the details of case planning and all aspects of care, before the restorative/aesthetic phase of treatment was begun.
In addition to a variety of other excellent clinically related topics presented in this month’s issue, our peer-reviewed CE selection (available for 2 FAGD/MAGD CEUs) by Drs. Stephen Weeks and James Bahcall focuses on a discussion about continuous and reciprocating endodontic rotary files.
Please enjoy this exciting issue of Dentistry Today!
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