Maintaining your dental restoration.

• Position: Prosthodontology - Brief article

"No one wants to return to the dentist's chair because of a failed dental restoration," says Susan E. Brackett, president of the American College of Prosthodontists, Chicago, III., who sees patients in her private practice in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Some 120,000,000 Americans are missing one or more teeth but, once the patient leaves the dental chair after the restoration of a lost or broken tooth, prosthodontists emphasize that the patient invariably is the one who understands the necessity of self-care at home as well as routine visits to the dentist.

"People who follow maintenance programs generally do very well," points out board-certified prosthodontist Don Curtis, coauthor of the ACP clinical practice guidelines. "Studies indicate that, when a person is not in a maintenance program, he or she has a 90% increased chance of losing their implant over a 15-year period."

"The biggest takeaway for patients from the ACP's clinical practice guidelines is that the...