The term "esthetics" has recently been also used in the dental field, and a field called esthetic dentistry is increasingly being noted. The number of not only adult but also pediatric patients who visit for treatment aiming at esthetic recovery is being increased. Inpedodontics, composite resin of the coronal color is generally used in the restoration of deciduous incisors. However, the method using metal crowns for the deciduous teeth is used for the deciduous molars at present. We applied a composite resin jacket crown to the deciduous molar in a way similar to that of esthetic crown restoration for the anterior teeth. The surgical procedure before crown preparation varied slightly according to the presence or absence of pulpal treatment of vital teeth and with non-vital teeth, but the application was performed as follows: 1) Desensitization of pulp, pulpal treatment and core construction. 2) Preparation of crown. 3) Selection, trial set and occlusal equilibration of a metal crown for the deciduous tooth. 4) Precision impression with a silicone impression material. 5) Removal of the metal crown for the deciduous tooth from the impression material. 6) Making of an under-cut to the abutment tooth on the buccal lingual side. 7) Filling of the impression with chemical polymerization resin. 8) Application of pressure in the oral cavity. 9) Adjustment of edge and crown forms. Thus, the preparation method for the composite resin jacket crown was relatively simple. Since this surgery, the patient has been followed up for 1 year and 6 months, and no specifically troublesome points have been observed clinically. The patient and her parents are satisfied with the results.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

There are various restrictions on the root canal filling of deciduous roots after root canal treatment unlike in the case of permanent teeth, because deciduous molars undergo physiological root resorption with aging. Among the restrictions, it is most important that the root canal filling material be similarly absorbed and disappear along with the deciduous root so that it does not prevent the eruption of the permanent successors. Hardly any of the root canal filling materials currently on the market, however, are suitable for deciduous molars because some of them disappear earlier than the deciduous root without becoming indurated in the root canal, while some delay tooth replacement because they are resorbed with great difficulty, and continue strongly to stimulate the surrounding tissue of the root apex. Root canal filling materials utilizing alpha-TCP and hydroxyapatite with excellent biocompatibility have recently been put on the market by Sankin Kygyo Co. Type-III, in particular, contains only 5% iodoform, causing only very slight stimulation, and is a relatively good product from a practical standpoint, i.e., filling the root canal using a lentulo. Root canal filling was performed immediately after dental pulp extraction from the deciduous mandibular molars of juvenile dogs to determine the feasibility of filling deciduous teeth with root canal filling materials. Three dogs were then observed for sequential changes in the resorption of the deciduous roots, presence/absence of adverse effects on permanent successors, and influence on the process of eruption by means of radiographic examination every week. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The type-III apatite root sealar or Vitapex used for root canal filling was not absorbed, and there was almost no resorption of the root. Thus, the deciduous teeth on the experimental side were ejected and shed. 2. There was no significant difference in the amount of tooth germ formed between the experimental and control sides. 3. The amount of eruption tended to be delayed because of insufficient resorption of the root of the deciduous predecessor, but this tendency was considered to be due to the influence of the timing of root canal filling and individual difference. In the final analysis, no definite conclusions could be drawn.

Three patients who had had trauma of the lower primary central incisors at the age of 1.5 years or less were observed with regard to the IIIB and/or IVA after eruption of the permanent dentition, and the findings were discussed from the viewpoint of space control. Patient 1 suffered shedding and loss of A perpendicular A following a fall downstairs at the age of 1.5 years. Measurement of the distance between B perpendicular B teeth revealed a tendency toward space closure and decrease until the age of 4 years and 6 months. At the age of 5 years and 11 months, the space was greater than that at the age of 4.5 years. The patient was also found to have brownish, partially parenchymatous defects of the permanent dentition, which were considered to be a sequela. Patient 2 suffered dislocation of A perpendicular A and root exposure at the age of 1 year and 1 month, and received treatment involving restoration and fixation for a 10-day period using a resin splint. Because of a fistula at the apical region of A and a discolored brown with internal resorption revealed by roentgenography, which were observed at the age of 4 years and 10 months, tooth extraction was performed and the course was observed with local space maintenance. When the patient was 6 years and 4 months old, eruption of 1 perpendicular 1 and hypoplasia of the labial surface were recognized. Since it proved possible to preserve A perpendicular A until the patient was 4 years old, the course was observed without any decrease in space until permanent dentition was accomplished. Patient 3 suffered shedding and loss of A perpendicular A at the age of 8 months. When the patient was 1 year and 3 months old, eruption of B perpendicular B occurred with mesial inclination. At the ages of 2 years and 7 months and 6 years and 4 months the patient underwent treatment with a space retainer and eruption of 1 perpendicular 1, respectively, without association of abnormal findings on the labial surface, probably because crown formation of 1 perpendicular 1 had not yet occurred due to the trauma suffered by the patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)