Easy Tips for Dentists: dry tooth isolation
Here are some handy tips and tricks if you’re looking for more efficient ways of isolating a dry tooth.
Applying topical with a Q-tip
When you put the topical on the Q-tip put a cotton roll on top of the Q-tip and let the patient bite on the cotton roll.
This will help hold the Q-tip in place and will keep some of the topical from getting on the patient’s tongue: making it a better experience for them.
How cotton rolls can help you do fillings
When doing a filling and you’re working on a lower molar, put two cotton rolls between the tongue and the lower molar.
To do this, put the first one deeper between the tongue and the molar and then put the second one on top of that. Having two will force the first one down far enough to really help hold the tongue in place.
It’ll help hold the cotton rolls in place and give you more space and isolation to keep the tongue away from the molars, especially when the patient’s tongue is numb. When you’re working on the upper molar, use the dry angle triangle.
This is going to make a big difference for keeping the cheek out of the way when you’re working on the upper molar. Additionally, it’ll help keep the tooth dry when you’re restoring that upper molar. After all, you don’t want the saliva from the cheek affecting the restoration.
When you’re working on either side of the frenum on the upper lip, placing a cotton roll on either or both sides of the midline frenum will help to hold the lip in place and it’s better to keep one cotton roll on the right side and one on the left side so the frenum doesn’t push it out.
The best tip when you’re restoring the anterior composites
Use a nylon “plumbers tape” from the hardware store if there’s an inter- proximal cavity between the front teeth and too much space to retain a clear Mylar strip.
You can put the nylon tape on the inter-proximal of the adjacent tooth while placing the composite to cure when you’re doing a mesiolingual or a distallingual anterior restoration.
Hopefully you found these easy tips useful. Feel free to reach out with any dentistry-related questions you might have.