Types of sutures.

[krlovesherkids777]

I'm trying to remember the name of a suture material that my previous dentist used. He told me the story of how it was so strong the astronauts used it in their clothes some how. Any dentists have ideas on this ? Are there certain sutures maybe the strongest?

 

[Gordon]

Traditional sutures were black silk, makes me think of astronauts in a whole new light now
More modern ones are listed here: https://geekymedics.com/suture-material/

 

[Enarete]

Love the first sentence of this: „When a junior surgical trainee is asked, “Which suture would you like for skin?”, a common response is “Whatever The Boss likes to use!”.

 

[comfortdentist]

I've used most of them but not all. The ones that I use now are the following:
Chromic gut- Falls out within a week but difficult to handle
Vicryl --- last for a few weeks, ties well but holds plaque
Monocryl-- A pleasure to suture with lasts weeks, strong knots but expensive
Polytetrafluoroethylene- the most kind to tissue, costs moderate high but hard to tie good knots slippery.
Silk I might have a couple left for emergency use ( you don't want to know)

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Wow. Thank you so much Dr Kimsey!!This is a very good explanation of all this. Some stitches seem to hold better than others. and I know there are other factors besides the stitches, maybe what was done, overall environment of the mouth etc.. I was remembering my previous dentist giving me this random dental fact about these stitches and material so I was curious. The Monocryl sounds great !

 

[krlovesherkids777]

@Gordon You gave me a good laugh on the black silk.. ha. honestly I'm not sure if my previous dentist was just doing this to distract me or if the sutures were really made of astronaut material but it was interesting.. and made me think they were extra strong .

 

[Gordon]

There's actually a really strong link between glass ionomer filling materials and astronauts. (Allegedly!)

When the US was starting to fire people into space in the 60s, they started experimenting with low air pressures and stuff and they discovered that the astronauts were getting toothaches from the air under their fillings when the atmospheric pressure was much reduced.

The air was expanding in the microscopic spaces under their amalgams and pressing on the dentine tubules causing pain... it also happens with deep sea divers if they decompress too quickly

Anyway, they wanted to find a filling material that would chemically bond to dentine to prevent having the microscopic gaps underneath it and they came up with the glass ionomers.
Very widely used materials now in dentistry but that's what started them off.

You can now imagine Buzz Aldrin with his black silk undies and a mouth full of glass ionomer fillings

 

[comfortdentist]

I had the pleasure of meeting and diving with the astronaut Tom Stafford

 

[Gordon]

Well impressed! You'll not catch me diving, too many fish in the water

 

[comfortdentist]

Here is a link to me lobster diving for your entertainment. I am holding my breath while the other two are breathing air from a floating compressor.

 

[Enarete]

Wow, I have never seen something like this before. You seem to be able to hold your breath for quite a long time, @comfortdentist! How long did it take to train to be able to dive like this?

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Quite impressive !! wow... really cool to see..

 

[Gordon]

Deeply (see what I did there!) impressed, I couldn't do that for anything.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

So just got back from being restiched. I have to say . what was on my mind.as he was sewing it up Astronauts in black silk. Thanks Gordon..

 

[comfortdentist]

This was 25 feet deep. I've been diving for these caribbean crayfish for many years. While I'm certified through Rescue Diver level I prefer the challenge of holding my breath. The camera is on my forehead. This was on the ocean side of Islamorada.

 

[Enarete]

This was 25 feet deep. I've been diving for these caribbean crayfish for many years. While I'm certified through Rescue Diver level I prefer the challenge of holding my breath. The camera is on my forehead. This was on the ocean side of Islamorada.

Wow. Really nice.

 

[Gordon]

So just got back from being restiched. I have to say . what was on my mind.as he was sewing it up Astronauts in black silk. Thanks Gordon..

Happy to oblige...