User talk:John R. Sellers

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In response to your post on the talk:Bridge (dentistry) page, the website you linked to is not authoritative. This is because it fits the mold of the consumerism that all dentists despise but most embrace because they face utter decimation if they choose to ignore it.

The fact is that the Maryland bridge is a fantastic idea, conceptualized in order to protect the two virgin (i.e. non-decayed) teeth adjacent to an edentulous area from being cut down just so that the space can be filled with a pontic (i.e. dummy tooth) that is formed as a single piece with the two adjacent crowns that will go on the two adjacent virgin teeth. How does it work? Well, the Maryland brige is basically a pontic with some metal arms, the latter of which are bonded to the teeth adjacent to an edentulous area.

However, in practice, the bonding is extremely unreliable and, with any real function, the Maryland bridge will be popping off weekly. The one tooth it really is fit for replacing is a maxillary lateral incisor, which, if you check yourself in a mirror, are the two teeth immediately adjacent to the front two teeth in the upper jaw. Because they are very small teeth which, in the vast majority of cases, are not in heavy occlusion if they are in occlusion at all, the bonding that attaches the two metal arms to the two adjacent teeth will probably be sufficient to retain the Maryland bridge for quite some time. Although contested by those performing lesser-than-ideal dentistry and those who contest evidence-based dentistry, any academic in a dental school, like the ones who teach at UMDNJ where I go to school, will tell you what I have told you above.

For it not being included in the article, that's because the article focuses on "bread and butter" crown and bridge, of which Maryland bridges are happily not a member. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 00:43, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear that...but you are not to blame. While it is common courtesy in any profession to not slam a colleage, I must say that when it comes to patient care, the vast gap separating the professional from the layman is so large that the layman really has no choice but to take the word of the dentist as fact, and even when another opinion from another clinician is requested or accepted, the layman is really just taking the word of that other clinician. I don't know which tooth you are missing, but if it's causing you loss of function or esthetics by not having a proper compliment of teeth, I would perhaps suggest obtaining an implant supported crown, if it is financially viable in your situation. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 12:43, 2 March 2007 (UTC)