Thursday, August 14, 2008
Saving vital teeth, clearing the oral cavity of infection and preventing re-infection is of vital importance to total body health. Here's a simple pulp-capping technique that makes it possible to retain living tissue by eliminating the practice of pulpal exposure in restorations and fillings, maintaining the health around posts in endodontic procedures and eliminating future decay in all applications.
Step 1. Clean decay from side walls, leaving 2mm decay in vital tooth to prevent pulpal exposure
Step 2. In a dappen dish, add COPALITE® Varnish (4-8 drops) to 1/4 scoop copper cement powder and paint five(5) coats to seal dentinal tubules and to penetrate decay with activated copper ions. This makes decay inactive via Biofilm destruction. COPALITE has penetrating antimicrobial blended solvents.
Step 3.Paint 5 layers of COPALITE + Copper powder slurry directly on decay for instant penetration.
Step 4. Place thick activated copper cement base over COPALITE + Copper Powder liner. Proceed with restoration of choice. Base will continuously provide appropriate ion concentration necessary for decay inactivation and Biofilm retardation INDEFINITELY. Important: Mix the Copper cement as you would Fleck’s cement using a chilled glass slab and a metal spatula. Cement sets in 5 minutes and clean up is easy.
Step 5. Etch the enamel, rinse and place bonding agent before placing restorative material of choice, ie. composite, glass ionomer, gold, porcelain, or amalgam. The important point is that the living dentin is now protected with two layers of antimicrobial material that is not cytotoxic.
We recommend where vitality of pulpal tissue is in question, to temporize the tooth with a well fitting temporary, cemented with Doc’s Best cement for an appropriate time before taking impressions and finalizing the restoration. We find that most vital teeth can be saved while still in a vital condition. Pulpal degeneration, once started, is in most cases irreversible.
We have saved the pulpal tissues in the majority of vital teeth using this method of treatment. Please note that the patient’s age and general health are success indicators.