Lietuvos rytas / July 1, 2000, No. 154
Good dentists take the most care of patients' gums
Competes for the beauty of teeth
Not only sportsmen can compete to achieve better results. Dentists, specialists of direct aesthetic restorative dentistry compete every year - who will nicer restore defective teeth. The International contest of professional excellence, Prisma championship takes place in Ukraine every year. This year, at the seventh championship, Ms Ingrida Ivanciute, a dentist from Vilnius, has won the main prize "Teeth violoncello". Ms Ingrida Ivanciute entered the International direct aesthetic restoration contest after she had won Lithuanian direct aesthetic restoration contest. The dentist who owns a private dentistry office, and her assistant Ms Ieva Kazlauskaite are the prizewinners of direct aesthetic restoration contest in Baltic countries as well as in Lithuania.
Men have been outdone at the competition
Each year men dentists were becoming the winners of Prisma championship that have been taking place for seven years. However, Ms Ingrida Ivanciute has become the first woman who has outdone her men colleagues. "I was looking at the patient and I was amazed myself that I can fix a patient's teeth so beautifully", Ms Ingrida Ivanciute rejoiced. There are more women working as dentists than men. In the contests, as noted by Ms Ingrida Ivanciute, almost the equal number of men and women take part. "It's not clear, why men win more frequently, but not women. They probably do direct aesthetic restorations more beautifully " reasoned Ms Ingrida Ivanciute.
At the contest teeth (fixing) for free
According to the regulations of the contest, dentists have to fix four front teeth. Teeth may be significantly damaged by caries or even completely crumbled off. The organizers of the contest choose even such patients whose teeth line isn’t completely smooth. Casting lots determined which patient would be assigned to a competing dentist, in what rooms they would be working and what team of assistants will help. Other specialists continuously were watching the work of competitors. "Work could have been terminated at any moment if we had started harming the patients" affirmed Ms Ingrida Ivanciutė. According to the specialist of direct aesthetic restorative dentistry, even in such contests where dentists compete for victory, attention first of all is paid to how a patient feels. Ms Ingrida Ivanciutė had to fix front teeth for a woman. "That wasn't especially difficult case. The teeth needed to be slightly turned, so that the teeth line would become ideal.”
The whole day at the chair
Three participants of the contest stared fixing teeth at nine o’clock in the morning. They spent the whole day standing at the dentist's chairs. "I worked seven and a half hours with a break of one hour. My colleagues, who started working at nine in the morning, finished their work only at 11 pm or 12 pm", told Ms Ingrida Ivanciute. The patients were given local anesthesia, that's why they didn't feel what and for how long were being done in their mouths. Having video glasses on, they could watch films even the whole day. The patients had an opportunity to have a meal and the dentists had their meals together. According to Ms Ingrida Ivanciute, the fact that patients were eating didn't harm - if all rules are followed, eating doesn’t harm teeth restoration. "Of course, it was tiresome for them to sit for so long and impossible to watch films the whole day. However, after the end of the contest the patients felt satisfied" claimed Ms Ivanciute. At the International contest, the patients of the dentists became their colleagues i.e. a student and two doctors. According to Ms Ingrida Ivanciute, they agreed their teeth to be fixed at the contest, because the dental services in Ukraine are even more expensive than in Lithuania.
The results had to be awaited for three days
The dentists waited for the results of the contest for three days in Ukraine. During that time it should have become clear if the patient's mucous membrane of the gum was not strongly damaged. "It was true suffering to wait for the three days to pass" , the champion of the direct aesthetic restorative dentistry shared her impressions. The lesions of the gums are an important indicator of work of dentist. Last year the champion of the contest wasn't declared, because all the dentists damaged strongly the gums of the patients. Ms Ingrida Ivanciute stated, that she especially safeguarded the patient's mucous membrane of the gums. " It doesn't take long for mucous membrane to heal up, but a dentist has to try to damage it as little as possible. If you want to become a champion, that doesn't mean yet that you can torture a person. The goal is not a show or doctor’s prize but self feeling of a patient. Jury records everything from the moment when one meets the patient for the first time, how one communicate and behave with him” asserted Ms Ingrida Ivanciute.
The new teeth are taken care a lot
Thirty year old Egle from Vilnius has no regrets about being an object at the contest of dentists when doctors demonstrated their mastership. The women had her teeth restored in Vilnius, where a tour of Lithuania championship was taking place in April. Egle states that for three years she had been looking for a dentist who could beautifully restore her front tooth that was treated 15 years ago, still looked firm but wasn't beautiful any more. Egle was glad when, after her efforts to find a qualified specialist, she received an invitation to be a patient for the dentists who took part in the contest. "At the beginning I had doubts. I was anxious the most that I would be filmed and photos would be taken. I was continuously watched by 3 or 4 people, however I didn't feel discomfort and I didn’t get tired" - the woman told. When an hour long brake was announced, Egle had a small drink and she didn't want anything to eat. "I had a meal only the next day after the contest. When walking I still was looking around for two days not to stumble over any obstacle to break my newly restored teeth." said Egle.
Restorations are entirely unnoticeable
Direct aesthetic restorative dentistry is a field that is mastered well only by few dentists in Lithuania. Patients know little about the possibilities of direct aesthetic restorative dentistry as well. My colleagues dentists often skeptically estimate direct aesthetic restorative dentistry. This is probably because they haven't studied this field,” claimed Ms Ingrida Ivanciute. If patients have any doubts, Ms Ingrida Ivanciute asks them to have look at her own teeth. Her teacher has even improved the shape of the teeth using the method of direct aesthetic restorative dentistry. Direct aesthetic restoration of teeth, using restorative materials, differs from an ordinary treatment, as restorations are entirely unnoticeable. The specialists of direct aesthetic restoration, using modern materials, restore eroded teeth, can improve their form, and eliminate gaps between teeth and in some cases - to straighten a teeth line.
Prostheses look poorly
Direct aesthetic restoration costs less than indirect aesthetic restoration. The teeth after direct restoration look more beautiful than those after indirect aesthetic restoration as they remain lucid. Prosthetic teeth look lifeless. The edges of mucous membrane of the gum becomes of a blue shade because of the pressure of the teeth crowns. It is possible to restore front teeth and molars when restoring natural occlusive surface of the teeth necessary for mastication. The argument that a teeth restored using fillings won't be durable is unjustified. The teeth after restoration are given a three-year guarantee, but usually they remain firm much longer.