Odontoplasty and glazing of a carnasial tooth (premolar 4) slab fracture in the dog

This long-haired dachshund chewed on something hard and created a small chip (arrow) on the enamel of the side of his upper left premolar 4 also known as the carnasial tooth. If not treated appropriately this chip, commonly known as a slab fracture, can lead to a big problem- devitalization of the tooth's live dentin lead to a ‘dead' tooth, or infection with possible abscess formation and loss of the tooth. Since this tooth is one of the primary teeth used for chewing we would like to preserve it.

When caught early, infection can be prevented, pain reduced, and tooth vitality preserved by applying a bonded sealant to the exposed dentinal tubules. The first step in this process is to remove the loose slab of broken tooth and file the area smooth (odontoplasty). Here Dr. Poutous starts with a coarse dental file attached to our dental drill and smooths the rough edges of the tooth fracture site.

Four different white stone polishing discs, coarse, medium, fine and ultrafine are used, in that order, to smooth the slab fracture site.

At this point the slab fracture site is etched with 37% phosphoric acid for 30 seconds and dried thoroughly.

Fracture site etching is followed by the glazing process where a bonding agent is applied to the fracture site and light fixed in order to harden and stabilize. This is followed by a resin sealant which is also light fixed for 30 seconds.

The high intensity LED curing light being used here causes the bonding agents and resins to harden quickly so that they stay in place.

The finished product….beautiful! Sealants provide 3-12 months of protection by which time the tooth will have healed itself internally and no longer be at risk of becoming devitalized (dying) or infected. These tooth enamel fractures have to be treated soon after occurrence in order for this bonded sealant process to be a success.