Everything about Dental Dam totally explained
Dental dams or
rubber dams are rectangular sheets of
latex used in
dentistry, specifically
endodontic therapy. They are also used during
sexual activities as a
safe sex technique.
In dentistry
A dental dam, also known in Europe as a "Kofferdam" (from
German), is used mainly in
endodontic treatment and when putting
fillings into teeth. They are thin squares of
latex rubber. For those with latex allergy, they're also available in
silicone.
The main function is to isolate the tooth being treated from its environment, in particular from the
bacteria in the
oral cavity. The rubber dam is held over individual teeth or groups of teeth by appropriate rubber dam clamps or threads (ligatures) along the edge of the gum. The tooth crown stands out from the rubber dam through individual holes made by a hole punch. This permits a clean and dry operative field, retracts the lips and cheeks, and enables treatment of the appropriate tooth without contamination from blood or saliva. Another function of rubber dam is to protect the patient's airway from any materials which may fall down there during treatment.
Routine use of dental dams isn't always appropriate because of some difficulties: for instance communication with the patient is strongly reduced and the patient may feel restricted. However for
endodontic procedures it's considered mandatory. For adhesive dentistry procedures involving bonding
dental composite it's to be encouraged as the operative field must avoid moisture contamination in order to get maximum bond strength from restorative material to tooth substance.
Glass ionomer cement is affected by moisture during its setting reaction and thus rubber dam is considered advisable during placement.
Safe sex
In regards to
safe sex practices, dental dams are most commonly recognized for their use during
cunnilingus and
analingus, to protect against the transmission of
sexually transmitted diseases. An unpunctured dental dam may be held over the
vulva or
anus, allowing oral stimulation of these areas without transmission of
body fluids.
Rubber dam in hydraulic engineering
The term rubber dam is also used in dam and hydraulic engineering. Rubber dams are long tubular-shaped fabrics placed across channels, streams and weir crest to raise the upstream water level when inflated. The membrane is a multi-layer fabric made of synthetic fibre which may be rubberised on one or both sides, and possibly coated with plastic film. The fabric is quite flexible and yet exhibits very large resistance characteristics. The inflatable flexible membrane dams (IFMD, or rubber dams) were developed in the early 1950s. In open channels, they're used to divert water for irrigation, for raising existing dams, for flood controls. Other applications include remedy measure to prevent dam overtopping and control of chemical spills in streams. Inflatable dams can be filled with water, air or both. The present trend suggests an increased use of air-filled membranes because they can be deflated or inflated more rapidly, and they're little affected by freezing conditions. Characteristic dimensions cover typically lengths of about 100 m with specially-made membranes up to 200-m wide, dam heights usually less than 5-m but some special designs might be up to 10-m high. The membrane is usually deflated for large overflows. It is however common practice to allow small spillages over the inflated dam. During overflows, vibrations might result from fluid-structure interactions (for example OGIHARA and MARAMATSU 1985), and the instabilities might damage and destroy the rubber membrane. Several failures were experienced (for example CHANSON 1996). In practice, a deflector (for example fin) is installed on the downstream face of the rubber dam to project the nappe away from the membrane, hence preventing rubber membrane vibrations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dental Dam'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://dental_dam.totallyexplained.com">Dental dam Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
