This is a preliminary survey on cast partial denture designs in the commercial dental laboratories. This survey was carried out for a month in three commercial dental laboratories in Klang Valley and Shah Alam which produce metal dentures in cobalt-chromium. One hundred and ten questionnaires with the designs were collected and analysed. The framework design on the cast was transferred into the design sheet section of the questionnaire. The aim was to investigate communication regarding denture design between clinicians and dental technician and the dentists' dependency on the technician. The design of cobalt-chromium partial dentures in relation to oral health was also assessed. The results indicated that 43.6% of the dentist who used the three laboratories delegated their removable partial design work to the dental technician. More than half of the dentists had some communication with the technicians, and only 18.2 % of the dentists prescribed clear instructions with details of components regarding denture design. Continuing dental education on partial denture design for both clinicians and dental technicians would be of value to provide reinforcement in the knowledge of the basic concept on denture designing. Communication and understanding between both parties would probably improve the quality of cobalt-chromium dentures constructed.
The CO2 laser has been actively used clinically for soft tissue surgery. The advantages have been widely acknowledged. In implant related tissue surgery, the use .6f CO2 laser has been debated on whether the heat generated during the procedure would be detrimental to the bone thus losing the implants through disosseointegration. In this preliminary work, CO2 laser was used to perform a simulated gingivectomy of tissue surrounding plasma coated titanium implants. The purpose was to observe the pattern of heat generated at different levels of the implant body. The safe power range and standard precaution was also identified. The results suggested that power output between 6 Watt to 8 Watt in repeated pulsed mode with duration of 5 seconds is considered safe. With this mode the operator