On Tuesday the 13th of February, the MUDR Society held the first of their talks in their Dental Fundamentals series – Dentures. There was a healthy turn out for this event as students were able to gain knowledge from our speakers as well as ask their own case-related questions.
The first of our talks was from Dr Mark Shupac, clinical tutor at the University of Manchester and former Manchester graduate. Dr Shupac’s talk focussed on complete dentures and how best to create them in a way that is both pleasing for patient and clinician. His talk focused on tooth positioning, vertical dimensions and free way space, which are areas he thinks students can make easier for themselves. He introduced the Alma Mater Denture Gauge, which is available on clinic, and explained the use of it. The gauge uses the indent of the incisive papilla of the old dentures to give measurements in both vertical (tooth height) and horizontal aspects of the patient’s mouth. The gauge can prescribe measurements for the occlusal bite rims, define tooth position and can copy over the good aspects of the old dentures whilst improving the ‘bad’ areas. Dr Shupac’s talk stressed the importance of using the old dentures, in line with a good history, oral exam and special tests in order to solve the problems and create a well fitting new denture.
Our second talk was from Dr Phil Dawson, clinical tutor at the university of Manchester and dental foundation trainer. In contrast, Dr Dawson’s talk focussed on Removable Partial Dentures in general practice. He talked through the provisions needed to make a partial denture the correct option for the patient and the resulting risks and benefits of these appliances. After showing a good amount clinical case examples, he then talked through the steps needed to create the appliance. He stressed the need to prepare rest seats before taking secondary impressions and the importance of a good history, as well as how to adjust teeth on the wax try in by using the patients bite to reset tooth height. Then using a general practice aspect, he talked through acrylic, flexible and cobalt chrome dentures including prices and appointment times. He made sure to be realistic in what to expect to charge for specific denture materials and the amount of work and time that would need to go into it, including lab fees. Overall, Dr Dawson was able to provide our students with a solid understanding of RPD’s as well as give them some more information on use of dentures in general practice.
We would like to thank both of these tutors for taking time out of their days to speak with us and sharing their wealth of knowledge. You can find the presentations from the talks below.
[sdm_download id=”1479″ fancy=”0″ color=”blue”] RPD
[sdm_download id=”1476″ fancy=”0″ color=”blue”] Complete Dentures