Spinal disorders and mastication: The potential relationship between adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and alterations of the chewing patterns

Objective

To evaluate mastication in a group of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) with a control group, by means of the prevalence of reverse chewing cycles (RCCs).

Material and Methods

This study included a group of patients (N = 32; F = 24; M = 8; mean age ± SD = 14 ± 3 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of AIS and a group of control subjects (N = 32; F = 24; M = 8; mean age ± SD = 13 ± 6 years) without spinal disorders. Mastication was recorded with both a hard and a soft bolus, following a standardized protocol, and the prevalence of RCCs was compared between the groups.

Results

The prevalence of RCCs was significantly higher in the AIS group, with both a soft and a hard bolus, compared to the control group (P < .001).

Conclusion

The results of this study indicate that the presence of AIS influences mastication, one of the main functions of the stomatognathic system. A multidisciplinary approach to these patients may be relevant in providing the best possible treatment outcomes.     

A clinical,randomized study on the influence of dental whitening on Streptococcus mutans population

Background

Dental whitening with peroxides has been popularized through the at‐home technique, which employs low concentrations of peroxide applied in individual trays. However, there are few clinical trials reporting the effects of its continuous use on oral microbiota. Thus, the purpose of the present clinical, randomized study was to evaluate the influence of at‐home whitening treatment on Streptococcus mutans in saliva, buccal mucosa, and subgingival and supragingival plaque.

Methods

Thirty volunteers were randomly divided into two study groups (N = 15) according to the whitening therapy: G CP, whitening using 10% carbamide peroxide 4 h daily for 21 days; and G HP, whitening using 6% hydrogen peroxide 1.5 h daily for 21 days. Samples from the predetermined locations were collected at three evaluation periods: T1, before; T2, immediately after; and T3, 30 days after the beginning of the treatment. The microbiological evaluation was made using conventional and molecular methods.

Results

Student's t‐test demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in S. mutans population in the subgingival and supragingival plaque for HP samples between T1 and T2 no difference was found between T1 and T3 regardless of the location and the whitening product used (α = 0.05).

Conclusions

Although HP reduced S. mutans during treatment, the levels returned to baseline when assessed 30 days after the treatment.     

Investigation of factors that influence pain experienced and the use of pain medication following periodontal surgery

Aims

To determine the relationship between anticipated pain and actual pain experienced following soft tissue grafting or implant surgery; to identify the factors that predict actual pain experienced and the use of pain medication following soft tissue grafting or implant surgery.

Materials and Methods

Prior to dental implant placement (n = 98) or soft tissue grafting (n = 115) and for seven days following the procedure, patients completed a visual analog scale indicating anticipated or experienced pain, respectively. The use of pain medication and alcohol, and smoking were measured.

Results

Actual pain experienced on day 1 was lower (p < .01) than anticipated pain and continued to decrease (p ≤ .01) for each of the 7 consecutive days. Anticipated and actual pain were positively correlated. Increasing age (p < .05), having sedation during the surgery (p < .05), and lower use of pain pills (p < .01) predicted lower pain experienced. Actual pain experienced was a predictor of pain pill use (p < .01). Greater nervousness (p < .01) prior to surgery was a predictor of greater anticipated pain.

Conclusions

Patients anticipated more pain than they actually experienced. Sedation, age and number of pain pills used predicted pain experienced. This trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03064178.     

An unusual case of hemifacial microsomia with overgrowth of the facial muscles

Aim  

To present a case of severe hemifacial microsomia with unusual muscle overgrowth at presentation.     

Adapting the German version of the dental environment stress questionnaire

Aims

To develop a German version of the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire, and to evaluate its reliability and validity.

Methods

The original English DES questionnaire was translated into German using a forward–backward translation process. To evaluate construct stability, a subgroup of dental students (n = 43) completed the DES twice (interval: 1 week). To evaluate how the DES responds to anticipated changes in stress, all dental students' (n = 64) DES scores and saliva cortisol levels administered from a clinical study were compared between holiday and term time. Furthermore, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and a stress self-assessment were used to determine the validity of the DES. Reliability analyses were calculated using Kendall's tau correlations. To estimate reliability strength, correlation coefficients and intraclass correlations (ICCs) were used.

Results

Regarding construct stability, 24 of 25 DES items had at least moderate correlations, and most items showed strong correlations. Correlations for the seven subdomains were good (range: 0.778–1.000). The same was true for the total DES score (ICC: 0.944). Correlations for response to term-time stress were weaker and more varied. Validity analyses revealed fair correlations between the DES and students' self-assessment (Pearson's r = .592) and DASS score (Pearson's r = .392), suggesting satisfactory validity. Stress levels were quite similar between baseline and follow-up.

Conclusion

The German DES is a reliable tool for evaluating stress in dental students. Because it can be used to identify individual stressors in various categories, it might enable the detection of specific stress situations in educational situations and facilitate solutions (adjustment of curricula, tailored consulting services).     

Extended Nasolabial Flaps in the Management of Oral Submucous Fibrosis

Purpose  

We evaluated the use of extended nasolabial flaps in the management of oral submucous fibrosis.     

Radiographic study of tooth agenesis in the Turkish population

Objectives  

This retrospective study used panoramic radiographs of a large number of Turkish patients to determine the prevalence of tooth agenesis.     

Efficacy of two point rigid internal fixation in the management of zygomatic complex fracture

Purpose  

To evaluate the efficacy of two point rigid internal fixation in the immobilization of zygomatic complex fractures.     

Management of Post-Operative Maxillofacial Oncology Patients Without the Routine Use of an Intensive Care Unit

Aim  

To assess the safety and efficacy of immediate postoperative management of major maxillofacial oncology patients in a High Dependency Unit (HDU).     

Reliability and cross-cultural validity of a Japanese version of the Dental Fear Survey

Background  

This study established the reliability and cross-cultural validity of a Japanese version of the Dental Fear Survey (DFS).     

Effects of the vertical projection angle in intraoral radiography on the detection of furcation involvement of the mandibular first molar

Objectives  

To investigate the effects of vertical projection angle alterations in intraoral radiography on the detection of furcation defects in the mandibular first molar, and to clarify the possible cause of variations in detectability.     

Verrucous Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity: A Histopathologic Study of 10 Japanese Cases

Objective  

To reports ten Japanese surgical cases of verrucous carcinoma (VC) of the oral cavity.     

A measure for quantifying the radiopacity of restorative resins

Objective  

To evaluate the utility of the X-ray attenuation coefficient as a measure for quantifying the radiopacity of restorative resins at different exposure times and film speeds.     

A Comparison of the Periodontal Health of Patients during Treatment with the Invisalign? System and with Fixed Orthodontic Appliances

Objective:   

Evaluation of the periodontal health in patients during treatment with either fixed orthodontic appliances or the Invisalign^® system.     

Comparison of the Biological Properties of ProRoot MTA,OrthoMTA, and Endocem MTA Cements

Introduction

OrthoMTA (BioMTA, Seoul, Korea) and Endocem MTA (Maruchi, Wonju-si, Korea) were recently developed to overcome the disadvantages of ProRoot MTA (Dentsply, Tulsa, OK). This study aimed to compare the biological properties of OrthoMTA and Endocem MTA with those of ProRoot MTA using the preosteoblastlike cell line MC3T3-E1.

Methods

The setting times of calcium silicate–based cements (CSCs) and their effects on the pH of distilled water during storage were determined according to ISO standards. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured with ProRoot MTA, OrthoMTA, and Endocem MTA. The viability of the cells was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay (Dojindo Laboratory, Kumamoto, Japan) on the supernatants of CSCs, and the cells' osteopontin production was determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on a culture with the materials on days 3 and 7 of incubation.

Results

Endocem MTA exhibited a significantly shorter setting time (15.3 ± 0.5 minutes) than did ProRoot MTA and OrthoMTA (318.0 ± 56.0 and 324.3 ± 2.1 minutes, P < .05). Additionally, all CSCs caused their storage water to become highly alkaline after 7 days. OrthoMTA was significantly more cytotoxic than ProRoot and Endocem MTA (P < .05). ProRoot MTA induced significantly more OPN production than OrthoMTA and Endocem MTA on both days 3 and 7 (P < .05).

Conclusions

ProRoot MTA appeared to be superior to OrthoMTA and Endocem MTA in terms of biological properties although Endocem MTA exhibited the shortest setting time and presented lower cytotoxicity with osteoblastlike cells.     

Lag Screw Fixation of Fracture of the Anterior Mandible: A New Minimal Access Technique

Objective  

Purpose of this study to introduce a new minimal access technique for management of anterior mandible fracture with several advantages over conventional methods.     

Relationship between the appearance of tongue carcinoma on intraoral ultrasonography and neck metastasis

Objective  

To evaluate the usefulness of intraoral ultrasonography (IOUS) as a tool for predicting neck metastasis.     

Effects of xylitol on the femur and mandibular bone in ovariectomized rats

Objective  

To examine the effects of oral xylitol administration on the femur and mandibular bone of ovariectomized (OVX) rats.     

Diagnostic accuracy comparing OPT and CBCT in the detection of non-vital bone changes before tooth extractions in patients with antiresorptive intake

Objectives

To compare the diagnostic accuracy in detecting early non-vital bone changes between orthopantomography (OPT) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in correlation with histopathological findings before tooth extractions in patients with antiresorptive (AR) intake.

Subjects

Patients with an indication tooth extraction who had received OPT and CBCT preoperatively while or after undergoing AR treatment were prospectively enrolled over a 24-month period in the progesterone in spontaneous miscarriage (PRISM) trial. Imaging studies were randomly analyzed by three examiners for early non-vital bone changes using specific predefined characteristics and a 5-level scale (1 definite absence of criteria to 5 definite presence of criteria). Sensitivity and specificity values were calculated in correlation with the histopathologically evaluated bone samples at the time point of tooth extraction.

Results

One hundred thirty patients with 237 treated extraction sites met the inclusion criteria. For all images evaluated by all examiners, CBCT (430/492; 87.4%; receiver operating characteristic [ROC]: area under the curve [AUC] = 0.88; p < 0.001) was more likely to detect histopathologically confirmed non-vital bone than the OPT (132/492; 26.8%; ROC: AUC = 0.562; p = 0.115).

Conclusions

In the detection of non-vital bone changes, CBCT is superior to OPT in both sensitivity and specificity. Specific imaging characteristics allow for the prediction of early non-vital bone changes already at the time before tooth extractions.     

Prevalence of comorbidities in periodontitis patients compared with the general Austrian population

1 Background

The majority of patients with periodontitis present with comorbidities, however only little is known on prevalence of these comorbidities in comparison with the general population. This study aims to analyze the prevalence and impact of comorbidities in patients with periodontitis in Austria.

2 Methods

Prevalence of comorbidities was evaluated in 1,199 patients with periodontitis (median age: 49, range: 14 to 83 years). These data were compared with a randomly selected age‐ and sex‐matched cohort of the Austrian population by an unconditional logistic regression model.

3 Results

Comorbidities were found in 821 of 1,199 (68.5%) patients. Allergies had the highest prevalence (29.2%), followed by hypertension (19.4%), musculoskeletal (11.2%), and endocrine disorders (9.7%). Chronic pulmonary disorders (no influenza/pneumonia) were associated with a higher approximal plaque index (72% versus 63%, P = 0.02). No association between characteristics of periodontitis and comorbidities was observed. Prevalence of allergies (29.2% versus 22.9%) and pulmonary disorders (8.5% versus 4.3%) was significantly higher in periodontitis patients compared with the Austrian population (P < 0.001), whereas asthma (1.5% versus 5.6%), cardiovascular disorders (1.8% versus 10.5%), depression (7.1% versus 10.4%), headache (1.3% versus 20%), hyperlipidemia (6.4% versus 14.8%), hypertension (14.2% versus 24.5%), musculoskeletal disorders (11.2% versus 41.7%), and osteoporosis (2.8% versus 5.1%) were found less frequently (P < 0.001). No differences were observed for cancer, diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal disorders, or psychiatric disorders (P = 0.95, P = 0.76, P = 0.68, P = 0.23, respectively).

4 Conclusion

In Austria, the majority of patients with periodontitis present with comorbidities, and the adjusted prevalence differs significantly from the general population.