.Comment: (Research Update: Direct Pulp Capping with MTA)
Although I am naïve to the field of endodontics, I found your post intriguing because, on the other hand, I am very aware of the issue involving the health hazards of certain materials used in dental work. It was only recently brought to my attention that harmful substances are found not only in fillings, but in dentures, veneers, and in capping agents as well. From my understanding, MTA is a type of cement that is easy to use, more predictable than traditional materials used for capping, and more importantly, safe for the patient. As I am sure you are aware, many practitioners are unfortunately reluctant to incorporate the use of newer and safer material in their practices, so the inclusion of the data that supports the use of MTA as a direct pulp capping agent is appropriate and necessary in your post. You state that, “Over a 9 year period of observation, the authors found that 49 of 53 teeth had a favorable outcome on the basis of radiographic appearance, subjective symptoms & cold testing,” which seems remarkable. Since practitioners are trained to rely solely on evidence based dentistry and medicine, it might be beneficial to include additional cases similar to the study in your post to sell other dentists on this new product. Regrettably, the fact that it can do wonders for the patient, by inducing cell proliferation, cytokine release, and hard tissue formation, is still not enough to convince all professionals to use MTA. As you have mentioned, it can also potentially be used by a wide variety of specialists and general dentists, which should also add to the benefits of MTA and encourage its use. My question to you is, how can other specialists besides endodontists employ this material? I am curious to know because, although I do not expect to enter the field of endodontia, I want to integrate the best and safest materials in my own practice in the future. By informing dentists of all types about the applications of MTA, perhaps more MTA will be put to use, making the dentist’s job easier, which could ultimately yield more successful and safer outcomes.
First, I want to say that I think it is excellent that you are making the public aware of the potential harmful consequences resulting from toxins that may be found in their dental repair components. Your brief post regarding this topic was the only one I encountered in my exploration throughout the blogosphere. It is unfortunate that other professionals are not showing as much concern for their patients’ safety. This issue was brought to my attention after recently publishing my own post regarding the health hazards of amalgam fillings. Reading the research on the subject of the consequences of mercury within these restorations and how some dentists are reluctant to discontinue their use was disturbing. It was even more appalling to read in your piece that this is not only an issue with fillings, but that there are also dangerous materials within caps, crowns, dentures and veneers. The fact that millions of dental prostheses are actually made in labs in
2 comments:
As someone who has made many trips to the dentist throughout my life, I found your post to be thoroughly enlightening. It is worrisome that we as patients who are not necessarily well versed in the field of dental technology are left in the dark about these troubling findings. We pretty much rely on the word of our dentist to provide us with the best advice for our teeth. If my dentist told me to use a certain type of filling, cap, or veneer because it was cheaper and would not have any adverse side effects, I would probably listen. I like that you chose to discuss an issue of relevance to everyone, not just professionals in dentistry. You provided great resources and information and it made your entry easy to understand for even the layman. I noticed however that the post for Dr. Ellyn was dated for early March. Perhaps a more newly updated blog would have provided even more recent cases where patients have suffered from poor quality dental materials. On a more technical level, something strange seems to have occurred in your first comment on The Endo Blog. For some reason the text seems to change colors midway through. A minor detail but somewhat distracting. I also think that if you had oriented your images to either the left or the right you could have utilized the text space more efficiently. You posed some interesting questions and did a good job of encouraging the authors to respond back. Your knowledge and passion for this area of study comes through, especially in the manner that you drew the topics back to yourself. It gave your post a personal but still professional touch. Good work!
MTA is a great material. It was developed by an endodontist and is currently being used mostly by endodontists. It has been used mostly for perforation repair & as retrofilling material in endodontic surgery. In endodontics we have expanded its use into treatment of teeth with immature apices as well (apexification). Most of these applications are more specialized and usually done under a microscope.
Studies like the one discussed show the potential use for this material outside the specialty of endodontics.
Good luck with your blog & your pursuit of dentistry!
Post a Comment