Glossary

Endodontic treatment, or root canals, are a common, although often dreaded, dental procedure. They are often successful at preserving a natural tooth instead of having it extracted, which can cause bone loss and other complications. Endodontic treatment was introduced by Hermann in the 1920s, when he outlined the administration of calcium hydroxide for pulp therapy. This essentially created the foundation for modern endodontic therapy as it is known in dentistry today. Ideally, the outcome of a root canal is the removal of diseased pulp and the replacement of healthy pulp that begins to regenerate itself. To control the differentiation, metabolism, and proliferation of stem cells and to provide spatially correct positioning, appropriate scaffolding is necessary. Different types of scaffolding facilitates the regeneration of various tissues, making it critical that the treating dentist has a robust knowledge of which scaffolding is suitable for the type of tissue attempting to be regenerated.

A scalloped dental implant is an older style of implant that was created to biologically facilitate and guide interproximal bone remodeling during procedure healing and to retain papillae and bone height during functional loading. The scalloped implant design includes areas for both soft and hard tissue apposition, which are set parallel to each other, mirroring the cementoenamel junction. The area for the apposition of hard tissue is meant to facilitate osseointegration, while the area for soft tissue is designed to create a space for the subgingival margin of the restoration and to support various connective tissues. While the design was well-intentioned, it did not work as well as expected during application. A study of 17 scalloped implants that were evaluated for 18 months revealed that the scalloped design increased bone loss more than conventional dental implants that were properly placed. There were no differences in papillae formation in the study.

A scanning abutment is a type of abutment that is used to transmit data related to the angulation and position of seated implants. The data is collected with a digital desktop scanner or an intraoral scanner and is extremely accurate. A scanning abutment includes a biocompatible abutment body. Inside the body is an internally threated titanium screw, which is designed to be compatible with other materials and components used within the specified dental implant system. There are two types of scanning abutments: clinical scanning abutments and laboratory scanning abutments. The former contains barium, a radiopaque material, and is designed to be used with intraoral scanners. The latter contains radiolucent material and is used with both blue-light and red-light desktop scanners. Scanning abutments should be inspected for damage before use, and the use of multiple scanning abutments is not recommended due to the possibility of cross contamination.

A scanographic template, also called a scanography template and sometimes spelled scannography, is a template created for the process of capturing digital images of an object. Typically, the purpose of the template is to create a printable image using a flatbed scanner with a charge-coupled (CCD) array capturing device. Scanograpy differs significantly from conventional document scanning by utilizing three-dimensional or atypical objects. In dentistry, scanography is a type of radiography that is used to produce images of the oral structures of a patient for the purpose of creating restorations. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool to detect abnormalities in the mouth and jaw, as well as tumors, cysts, impacted teeth, dental implant malalignment, caries (tooth decay), and other clinically significant issues. There are two types of scanography used in dentistry: rotational scanography and linear scanography. Linear scanography is used most often as it produces panoramic views.