Question: Are there any new courses from the OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry?

Answer:

Introduction to Level II – Preliminary Bioesthetic Diagnosis

BIOESTHETIC DENTISTRY,
IS IT THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR YOU?
WE INVITE YOU TO FIND OUT!

This is a one day hand’s on demonstration / participation workshop. You will learn the basic procedures for three dimensional study and pre-diagnosis of your chewing system.

Leawood, Kansas
May 4th,2012 
Office of Dr. Craig Herre
11201 Nall Street, Suite 120 
Leawood, Kansas

James R Benson of Ashland, OR has been honored with a recognition by Dentistry Today in its selection of “2012 Leaders In Continuing Education.”

ASHLAND, Ore., Jan. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Announcing a special recognition appearing in the December, 2011 issue of Dentistry Today published by Dentistry Today, Inc.. James R Benson was selected for the following honor: “2012 Leaders In Continuing Education”

About James R Benson: a short profile by and about the honoree:

Dr. Benson has been providing education to dentists and dental laboratory technicians for many years through his teaching with OBI Foundation. His long term commitment and dedication to his profession through education has been a source of joy in his life and he welcomes the opportunity to teach bioesthetic dentistry to all who will listen.

Written by Kenley Hunt, DDS, and Mitchell Turk, DDS and published in Dentistry Today

This article (part 1 of 4) presents the concept of Bioesthetics and the diagnosis and treatment of a dentition in decline. Each of the future articles that will accompany the current one will utilize a case report to develop an understanding of the Bioesthetic occlusal principles and teach how to clinically develop an optimally healthy result. We will begin with the mounted-model diagnosis, continuing through understanding the biologic role of tooth form, stabilizing and healing the joint and muscles, developing the prototypic end result through a wax-up, and then the final application of dental materials to improve the form of the dentition in the oral environment, thereby creating an esthetic smile and facial rejuvenation.

To read the entire article use this link to “Bioesthetic Dentistry, Part 1″

Dr. Hunt is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickerson University Dental School, and maintains a private practice in Brea, Calif.
Dr. Turk is a graduate of the University of Southern California Dental School, and maintains a private practice in Orange, Calif.

Rather than give you a lengthy answer we have prepared an animated video that will provide the answer…

Click “Play” to begin.

Written by Dr. Robert McBride and Published in Dentistry Today

(To read the full article with photo’s and references, click here)

Although tooth wear, or attrition, is considered to be a common attribute of the aging process, a segment of the population with attractive and functional dentitions that experiences no pathologic tooth wear has been and is continuing to be researched. Dr. Robert L. Lee, a dentist and biologist, originally researched people with these qualities—some well into their nineties and beyond—in order to discover whether there were common elements within their oral systems that might account for their enduring state of oral biologic health. His studies disclosed that they all shared several basic attributes, which have become known as the optimal biologic principles of “bioesthetics,” a term he defined as “The Study or Theory of The Beauty of Living Things in Their Natural Forms and Functions.” Besides having no pathologic wear, this population segment also demonstrates healthy periodontal tissues, relaxed muscles, good facial form and esthetics, and asymptomatic temporomandibular joints

Tooth wear is associated with decreased chewing efficiency and teeth sensitivity as well as compromised esthetics both through a decrease in tooth length and consequential midface collapse. With the decline in caries rate coupled with extended life expectancy, tooth wear has increased in magnitude as a concern for dental clinicians. It is also common in the young adult and teenage population, many having had minimal or no restorative treatment.

Addressing this problem first requires an accurate diagnosis of the etiological aspects of tooth wear. Although dental research continues to pour forth an explosion of new technology and workable solutions hardly imagined in the past, any attempt to treat a worn dentition with any of these technologies without an understanding of its underlying cause would carry with it a high probability of failure.

This article will chronicle the diagnosis and treatment of a patient with severe tooth wear and orofacial challenges through a stepwise application of the bioesthetic principles. It will also demonstrate a conservative solution that required no reduction in tooth structure. Although tooth reduction attendant to operative and prosthetic treatment is common procedure, the author knows of no patient that relishes having their teeth “ground down.” Intrusion into tooth structure opens the door to dental discomfort, future endodontic procedures and breakage of teeth as well as their restorations. These inherent sequelae can be greatly reduced, or even eliminated, with new procedures mindful of tooth structure removal. In the world of composite dentistry there are now materials that afford a more conservative approach to restorative and rehabilitative treatment planning. This is especially exciting when considering treatment possibilities available for the younger population.

(To read the full article with photo’s and references, click here)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dr. McBride is in private practice in Long Beach, Calif. He is a member of the ADA, California Dental Association, Harbor Dental Society, Orognathic Bioesthetics International, Academy of Bioesthetic Dentistry, Academy of Prosthodontic Research, Western Society of Periodontology, American Society of Dental Sleep Medicine, Centers for Dental Medicine, and holds a Fellowship and a Mastership in the AGD. He lectures to various professional and lay groups and has had articles published in Dental Economics, Parkell Today, Dentistry Today, and the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) Journal. He can be reached at mcbridedds@aol.com .

(To read the full article with photo’s and references, click here)

What is the difference between Bioesthetic dentistry and occlusion as taught in other disiplines ?

Bioesthtic dentistry is the only discipline that uses optimal natural dental system biology as the guide for comprehensive diagnosis and treatment. the best human dental systems are not random. The scientific validity of this approach has been proven at the clinical level with quantifiable, existence-based, living morphology. The optimal model of exceptional biology is not exclusive and is available to anyone interested in its study. Very little formal academic research has been done on optimal dental system health. It is a fertile field for continued endeavor.

Logically, for a living system to have a will-grounded diagnosis, it should require an optimal health standard for comparison. Historically, there has been no specific biologic basis for comprehensive dental system diagnosis and/or treatment. For example, the most predominate activates in comprehensive dental system care today are found in the prosthodontic and orthodontic specialties, and extensive literature review shows that prosthodontics evolved from inventing denture solutions for edentulous patients. Those denture technologies were subsequently applied to people with teeth. The form and mechanics of that effort are embodied in what is known today as the prosthetic model.

It appears that a large number of orthodontists have also embraced some aspect of the prosthetic model demonstrated by the many finished orthodontic cases considered ideal with overbites of 2mm or less.

The optimal model brings organization to the chaotic atmosphere that presently surrounds comprehensive restorative dentistry and orthodontics so practitioners can consider full-mouth problems on a sound biologic foundation. it could serve as the universal standard for dental system care uniting all disciplines and specialties to a common philosophy. Techniques may be different, but the objectives would be the same. An optimal biologic basis for comprehensive care has been discovered, tested, and applied for 20 years. It is now available to the profession as an excellent alternative to the status quo. the great benefit for our patients would be that most confusion about occlusion among the dental community would be resolved.

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Dr. Benson is President of OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry. He maintains a private practice at Ashland Dental Associates, LLC in Ashland, Oregon. He can be reached by email at obi@bioesthitics.com

What kind of patients can be best served with Bioesthetic dentistry, and is it recommended for everyone?

Bioesthetic dentistry, being based on optimal dental system health principles can be of benefit to every human being.  It defines the necessary elements for an esthetic long lasting, trouble free dental system.  Moving a person’s dental form and function toward the optimal health principles, even minimally, has invariably proven to be good therapy.  Simply wearing a MAGO at night can neutralize overload and prevent primary causes of wear and torque on the system.

Bioesthetics is not merely about full-mouth rejuvenation, it is looking at every patient with the optimal model in mind to see how it can be helpful.  Of course, bioesthetic diagnosis and treatment is also exceptionally effective in the most difficult, diseased, deformed, and painful cases.

Children and adolescents are also a part of the treatment mix.  As stated earlier, the incredibly good news is that when recording excellent, unworn, deciduous and mixed dentition, once again the 3 principles are present.

This finding of relation consistency suggests the possibility of diagnosis and beneficial treatment of youg systems that ar “out of centric” because occlusal contact tolerances are very sensitive at all ages.  A small prematurity can activate the neuromuscular avoidance pattern characterized by clenching, bruxing, and anterior mandibular repositioning. Therefore, early treatments can be minimal and effective.  Originally, bioesthtics was discovered in the quest to understand how stomatognathic systems functioned optimally, so that care could be provided for patients suffering from severe occlusal problems with predictable, long-lasting restorative treatment.  Paradoxically, the greatest gift will eventually be its contribution to preventative dentistry.

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Dr. Benson is President of OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry. He maintains a private practice at Ashland Dental Associates, LLC in Ashland, Oregon. He can be reached by email at obi@bioesthitics.com

How is esthetics related to function in Bioesthetic dentistry?

In bioesthetic, we accept that esthetics and function are interdependent components of optimal biology. The bioesthetic process provides numerous possibilities for achieving an esthetic outcome. One of the keys to dental system esthetics is the ability to adjust dentofacial vertical dimension for the best appearance. This can be accomplished after the first principle of stable, seated condylar position has been established with MAGO splint therapy. The case is then ready for diagnosis and discover of applicable treatment options. In the majority of cases, interocclusal space will be restored to compensate for the reduction of facial vertical dimension due to previous tooth wear or loss. Increasing anterior vertical dimension with stable joints can be a very esthetic event. Since it provides a dentoskeletal face-lift plus space for beautiful unworn tooth from (figures 7a and 7b). Relaxed facial musculature is also a byproduct of this treatment. Different vertical dimensions of occlusion are analyzed by photographing the patient with jigs of various thickness placed on the anterior teeth, observing how each affects the face and profile view. Once the most favorable form is determined, the attendant positions and functions of the teeth at the vertical dimension can be validated with mounted models using trial functional coronoplasty and wax-up techniques.

Working with an established center of mandibular rotation also allows multiple choices in fulfilling the second principle, incisive and lateral guidance, and the third principle, ideal, occluded tooth anatomy. After the most esthetic facial heights is selected, the length and thickness of the teeth complimentary to the lips and tongue are developed. then, the remaining variables of tooth space and color can be considered.

Bioesthetics has been simplistically characterized as “painting by the numbers”

In severely worn down and mutilated dentitions, dental landmarks appear to be lost.  Knowledge of optimal dental system can provide guidelines (numbers) that are helpful.  As the hardest tissue in the body, teeth are readily measurable.  For example, if one determines the lengths of the healthiest unworn dentitions in nature, one will find that the length of the maxillary central incisors often is in a range between 11 and 13 mm with mandibular central incisors 9 to 11 mm.  Occlusal vertical dimension of central incisors from CEJ to CEJ in maximum contact is regularly between 16 and 19 mm with 3 to 5 mm of vertical overlap.  These are just a few of the guidelines of optimal health that serve as starting points in deformed and challenging cases.

Following a bioesthetic wax-up on mounted models a preview try-in guide can help the patient visualize the esthetics and form.  During treatment, the wax-up is the source of bioprovisionals that provides a positive “biologic response” plus facilitating critique and contouring to the most esthetic form before moving to the final restoration.  The patient is informed and included in all of the esthetic decisions along the way.

The above process also provides a treatment differential diagnosis for precisely determining whether orthodontics or orthognathic surgery should be considered to best serve the patient.  Esthetic form and ideal function are seamless coordinated entitles in bioesthetics just as they are in optimal nature.

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Dr. Benson is President of OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry. He maintains a private practice at Ashland Dental Associates, LLC in Ashland, Oregon. He can be reached by email at obi@bioesthitics.com

Exactly what does it take to make a “bioesthetic diagnosis” with stable and seated condyles?

We do not find that a manually manipulated CR (“CR du jour”) in a threatened system produces the necessary alignment. People who have had an adaptive malocclusion for years require a more exacting process to achieve a stable and seated condylar position.

Following an in-depth clinical examination and documentation of pretreatment condition (patient history, baseline records, necessary radiographs/scans, and photographs), the diagnostic process is initiated using a bioesthetically designed and adjusted maxillary anterior-guided orthosis (MAGO). This process brings new precision and meaning to the embattled subject of “splint therapy” Properly managed, the MAGO will deliver the benefits of the optimal model with the exception of cuspal anatomy. The primary objective for this “24/7, eat-and-speak-with” appliance is to calm the neuro-musculature and to guide the condyles into stable, seated positions in the glenoid fossae replicating the best of nature. Customized, periodic adjustments can take from 2 to 9 months, depending on the severity of the malocclusion, tissue damage, and misalignment. Multiple criteria are used to judge whether a case is stable enough to diagnose, ie, when the MAGO centric contacts remain the same and the condyles have not changed position for 3 weeks. At that time, accurate dental models are mounted on a jaw movement simulator (Panadent) via axis transfer instrumentation and open CR intejaw registrations. It is then that the diagnostic questions of “What is happening?” “Why is it happening:” and “What can be done about it?” can be answered.

With the first principle of stable and seated condyles achieved, mounted models can be evaluated with the goal of incorporating the remaining 2 principles of incisal and cuspid guidance and full, genetic dental anatomy into the solution.

Treatments can include the thoughtful implementation of the full spectrum of general and specialty dental techniques; being as minimal as a limited joint seating subtractive coronoplasty; or as complex as a combination of orthodontics, orthognathic surgery, and/or full mouth rejuvenation.

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Dr. Benson is President of OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry. He maintains a private practice at Ashland Dental Associates, LLC in Ashland, Oregon. He can be reached by email at obi@bioesthitics.com

It seems that Biosethetic dentistry has an extreme focus on diagnosis.  Is that perception correct?

Yes.  In traditional disease-based medicine, the term “diagnosis” is defined as the analysis of signs and symptoms of disease and/or deformity that depart from “normal.”  Normal, while implying “well” does not translate to optimum health, nor does it establish a standard of health goal for treatment in dentistry.  Bioesthetic diagnosis utilizes the optimal biologic principles as a standard for comparison and critical analysis relative to all human dental systems.  It determines the problems as well as the possibilities for treatment.  Systems that depart from the optimal health principles commonly have problems that eventually require treatment.  Recognition of early signs and symptoms of challenged health can “jump-start” effective preventative care.  The bioesthetic diagnostic process demands that the relationship between the patient’s cranial base and the mandible be established precisely with stable and seated condyles prior to making a final diagnosis.

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Dr. Benson is President of OBI Foundation for Bioesthetic Dentistry. He maintains a private practice at Ashland Dental Associates, LLC in Ashland, Oregon. He can be reached by email at obi@bioesthitics.com