Glossary

There are two types of bone found in the human body — cortical bone and cancellous bone. Cancellous bone is a spongy type of bone and is responsible for producing stem cells and blood cells. Because of these incredible properties, cancellous bone is typically used for bone grafts due to its concentration of osteoprogenitor cells and therefore a greater ability to form new bone as compared to cortical bone. Although all bone is always in a state of renewal, a cortical vs cancellous bone graft is unlikely to be osteogenic or osteoinductive due to its fundamental lack of cellularity. Cancellous allograft bone chips are often used to fill voids within bone and have a wide range of medical applications, including osteopathy and implant dentistry. The gold standard of bone grafts, including cancellous bone grafts, is when bone can be removed from one area and grafted to another area within the same patient.

A Cantilever, or Cantilever bridge, is a special type of dental bridge that features abutment teeth on only a single side of the edentulous gap. In traditional dental bridges, the pontic (the unanchored artificial tooth) is in the center of two anchors. These anchors are often dental implants, especially for patients who are looking for a permanent solution. In a Cantilever dental bridge, however, the pontic is located on the outside of an anchor tooth, also called the abutment tooth. A dental professional may choose a Cantilever bridge when preparing a traditional bridge with abutment teeth on both sides would not be aesthetically appropriate for the patient, usually due to the location of the bridge. Or, a Cantilever dental bridge might be selected if one of the would-be anchor teeth of a traditional bridge is supporting another dental prosthesis that is unable to be replaced.