Fundamentals of Treatment Planning. Lino Calvani
present a short description of what you can expect from each chapter.
Chapter one: Past, present, and future of treatment planning
This introductory chapter, born from a curiosity to better understand how medical treatment planning came to be conceived, highlights the scientific aspects related to the development of treatment planning. Only the information that seems to have an obvious connection to the topic is discussed. The data show the clear growth trend of treatment planning in the western world. Possible future perspectives to date and in the foreseeable future are also touched upon. Due to the obvious restraints of the size and nature of this publication, much information has had to be omitted.
Chapter two: Treatment planning management
The purpose and aims of any treatment plan are explained and discussed in this chapter. Also discussed are the basis of respect for all patients; the priorities to be considered; the importance of clearly understanding the chief complaint/s that lead to patients seeking help; patients’ understanding of their actual condition/s; the possibility of achieving an ideal treatment plan; the sometimes inevitable compromises that need to be clearly explained to patients to gain their understanding, awareness, and final approval; and the importance and possible limitations of the informed consent, which is the necessary final step before treatment begins.
Chapter three: Prosthodontic tools for treatment planning
This chapter describes the main restorative treatment options that exist in prosthodontics, which can be used as care tools to plan any type of rehabilitation. The chapter also includes a discussion of the rapid development of digital technologies and the impact of this on the field of prosthodontics, including the way in which our work has to be continually updated.
Chapter four: Data, findings, and dental semiotics
The topic of data and findings is discussed in the next chapter, including how, when, and why to collect and interpret their meaning. Signs and symptoms such as pain, fever, and hyperthermia are also defined and their diagnostic importance described. The semiotic clinical analysis is explained with regard to investigating the clinical signs that lead to a more complete diagnosis.
Chapter five: The first visit – diagnostics
The aims and significance of the first visit are elaborated upon in this chapter. A description is given of the different types of practical techniques that are used to gather information about patients. Also delineated is the diagnostic information that needs to be gathered and assessed during the first visit such as the patient’s chief complaint/s; personal, medical, dental, and prosthodontic history; and psychologic profile. The development of the initial part of the treatment plan, the management of emergencies, and the restorative planning are also described.
Chapter six: Diagnosis and prognosis
The meaning of the diagnosis, the differential diagnosis, and the prognosis are detailed in this chapter as well as their importance to the positive outcome of the prosthodontic treatment. The pretreatment and posttreatment prognoses are analyzed, and the periodontal, prosthodontic, and orthodontic etiology and risk factors that may impact the timing of the prognoses are also described.
Chapters seven and eight: Physical examinations
These two chapters on the medical examination present a step-by-step description of the basic procedures and methods that need to be applied when examining patients, starting from the first moment of engagement with the patient and following with the chairside examination at the first visit. Useful descriptions of all the most important extraoral and intraoral anatomical features are provided, together with their clinical and prosthodontic relevance and importance. The semiotic possibilities of these examinations are also evaluated.
Chapter nine: Main clinical examination assessment questions
This chapter continues the topic of examinations. It details the clinical intraoral and extraoral examinations and their importance in evaluating and assessing patients’ health status and possible past and ongoing conditions. This can be considered an important juncture in the clinician–patient relationship, which can decide whether we gain patients’ trust or lose them as patients; the procedures and suggestions in this chapter are therefore crucial.
Chapter ten: The type and structure of prosthodontic treatments
This chapter describes, analyzes, and proposes a new and original classification for prosthodontic treatment types according to the three main possible clinical variables: pure prosthodontic rehabilitations, those in collaboration with other specialists, and the presence of disease.
Chapters eleven, twelve, and thirteen: Treatment planning analysis of complex rehabilitations
The timing and organization of the different phases comprising a prosthodontic treatment plan are described and analyzed in these three chapters. Each of the three phases is explained with a view to understanding the priorities and to better organize the sequence of the phases in order to simplify the analysis and narrative description of a treatment plan. Also explained is the importance of integrating the radiographic and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) diagnostic examinations to better define the final diagnosis.
Chapter fourteen: Treatment planning for the elderly and those with challenging health conditions
This chapter deals with the topic of treatment planning for elderly patients and those with drug addictions. Included are observations on how the body and oral cavity age, and how medicines and drugs influence and affect patients and, in turn, the effect this has on medical or dental treatment plans. Also shown is how the changes of aging can significantly affect a prosthodontic treatment, so that alternative solutions need to be planned according to the patient’s needs. Discussed too is how transitory or chronic major conditions may modify a patient’s capability to withstand an oral rehabilitation. A description and analysis are given of the most important drugs and how they may cause addiction as well as how they affect and influence oral treatment choices.
Chapter fifteen: How to write a prosthodontic treatment plan
The final chapter describes why and how treatment plans can be presented for in-office purposes or for PowerPoint or Keynote presentations. A number of useful clinical case narratives are presented as practical treatment planning examples that could be used for the purposes of university case presentations and examinations, meetings, congress presentations or lectures. The ‘narrative frameworks’ of all the narrative reports explain the rationale behind why certain decisions have been made while other choices have been avoided, and how this rationale can be explained to patients, to other professionals or to students during seminars.
Prosthodontists: Who we are and what we do
“The world moves in front of them who know where to go and what to do.”
Lino Calvani
I approached this profession and specialty with infinite humbleness, respect, curiosity, and commitment, and this is what still pushes me forward with passion. Prosthodontics is a beautiful, complex, and very demanding specialty in terms of knowledge and commitment. I have been moved to see in the literature how many have dedicated so much of their lives to its development and success. The list of literature that follows (in alphabetical order) is a small but highly representative sample of the significant writings dedicated to the growth and development of prosthodontics. The amazing professionals who have written these articles, papers, and books, and the many others who are not included in this list for reasons of space, have set a standard of passion and professionalism that is difficult to match.
The specialty of prosthodontics was originally recognized in 1948 by the Commission of Dental Accreditation (CODA), an independent agency of the American Dental Association (ADA), which is an independent organization recognized by the United States Department of Education.
The ADA defines prosthodontics as: “the dental specialty pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation, and maintenance of oral function, comfort, appearance, and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing