65 research outputs found
Accuracy of CBCT in the Identification of Mental, Lingual, and Retromolar Foramina: A Comparison with Visual Inspection of Human Dry Mandibles
No full textThe present dry-mandible study evaluated the presence of the mental (MF), lingual (LF), and retromolar (RMF) foramina to assess the accuracy of CBCT in detecting these anatomical structures. In total, 38 human dry mandibles were analyzed (30 men, 8 women; mean age: 61.9 ± 13.7 years). CBCT scans were taken using low-dose parameters, and LF, MF, and RMF were assessed visually and radiographically. Both the presence (yes/no) and the count (n) of each foramen were compared between CBCTs and visual assessment. For the presence assessment, only RMF exhibited a significant difference between CBCT and visual inspection (P = .035). For count, the RMF (P = .049) and paramedian LF (P = .003) exhibited differences between the two methods. The agreement between CBCT and visual inspection was excellent for the MF, moderate-excellent for the LF, and low-moderate for the RMF. Intra- and interassessor agreement varied from excellent (MF), to moderate-excellent (LF), and low-moderate (RMF). The LF and RMF represent challenging structures to identify on CBCT images due to their limited dimension. False negative findings in CBCTs in the assessment of foramina, especially LF, might lead to surgical complications during implant surgery
Economic Inequalities in Elderly Oral Health-Related Quality of Life: A Pilot Study
No full textObjectives: To seek and investigate the relationship between oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of the elderly population as measured by the OHIP-14 survey of different countries with respect to dental personnel density and Gross Domestic Product per capita purchasing power parity (GDP-PPP).
Methods: The study was conducted using two electronic databases (PubMed and Google Scholar). Only studies presenting data regarding OHRQoL of the elderly population measured with validated OHIP-14 survey were included. Those studies without a clear indication of age sampling method or OHIP-14 calculations were excluded. Information on the dental personnel data was extracted from the World Health Organization database, whereas GDP-PPP data was access through the World Bank website.
Results: Twelve papers that were found to fit the criteria were included in the analysis. Within the included countries, OHIP-14 scores of the elderly population demonstrated a decreasing trend with an increasing GDP-PPP. Moreover, a correlation could be established between the number of dental personnel and GDP-PPP of the corresponding years (log-log plot, R2=0.754). A decreasing trend of OHIP-14 scores was observed for an increasing density of dental personnel but they are weakly correlated (R2=0.390).
Conclusions: Elderly’s OHRQoL may be dependent on the economic performance of a country, and generally improves with increasing GDP-PPP. Countries with better economic performance tend to have a higher dental personnel-to-population ratio. More in-depth investigations are required to elucidate such relationships as per population characteristics, type of dental personnel, types of dental services available, public health expenditure and income disparity
Do elderly from developed countries have better oral health-related quality of life? An analysis in 15 countries
No full textDefects and Safety of NiTi Root Canal Instruments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textAim: To review the reported defect and fracture rates of various NiTi instrumentation systems and identify factors that may influence the chance of NiTi file separation clinically. Data Sources: PubMed, EMBASE, and SCOPUS with controlled vocabulary and keywords in various combinations to identify articles that reported on the defects and/or fracture of NiTi instrument used clinically (Jan 1980 till Aug 2021), with additional search manually by going through the list of references of the initially screened articles. Those satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria were entered into the analysis. Study Eligibility Criteria, Participants, and Interventions: All studies from the said databases reporting on NiTi root canal instruments that were deformed or separated during normal clinical use. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods: Studies with data available and suitable for meta-analysis were grouped according to the general design of the NiTi instruments for comparison. Safety quotient value was calculated based on the rate of instrument distortion and fracture. Results: Various instrument designs exhibited different incidences of distortion and fracture, hence a different “safety quotient” (ratio of the amount of deformed instruments to that of fractures in use). Heat-treated files showed the highest safety quotient value. All brands of NiTi file demonstrated a statistically significantly lower incidence of fracture, if treated as disposable instruments after clinical use in a patient. Limitations: Inclusion of articles written in English only, and grouping of file systems into general design types in the analysis. Conclusions and Implications of Key Findings: NiTi endodontic files should be scrutinized for defects before being used in the root canal. Disposing the NiTi instruments after clinical use in a patient (so-called “single use”) is recommended for minimizing fracture clinically. Certain instrument designs tend to show discernible deformation before they should fracture in the next use
Do Economic and Dental Resources Affect Older Persons’ OHRQoL?
No full textObjectives: To identify and compare the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of older persons from regions of different economic capacities and dental resources.
Methods: Publications reporting on OHRQoL of an elderly population measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) were searched with PubMed using the keywords {(“oral health-related quality of life” OR “ohrqol”) AND “elderly”}. Relevant studies from these reference lists were also included. Studies with a clear indication of subject ages were included where subjects aged 50 or above were regarded as “older persons” (WHO). Data regarding country development stage, Gross National Income (GNI) and density of dental personnel (DDP) were retrieved from three sources: United Nation, World Bank and World Health Organization. Data were analysed by t-test at α=0.05.
Results: Seventeen publications (including 1 population survey) from 22 regions satisfying the selection criteria were included. Scores from the “physical pain” domain were the highest among the seven domains. More severe impacts (i.e. impacts occurring “fairly often” or “very often”) were reported in developed countries or economies with higher GNI (≥$40000) regarding items 1 (“trouble pronouncing words”), 4 (“uncomfortable to eat”), 7 (“diet unsatisfactory”), 8 (“interrupt meals”) (p<0.05).
After removing confounding factors, severe impacts in item 8 (“interrupt meals”) was associated with GNI, whereas items 5 (“self conscious”) was associated with DDP, and item 12 (“difficulty doing jobs”) was associated with country development stage (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Regions with better economic status had fewer severe impacts on diet-related aspects of OHRQoL. However, a higher density of dental personnel does not equate to better overall OHRQoL
Object S5 0716+71: Flux - linear polarization coupling
No full textThe linear polarization observations of S5 0716+71 carried out by the author in 2019-2021 were continued from December 8, 2021 to March 12, 2022. These observations confirm the author\u27s argument made in 2022 about a periodic dependence of the degree of linear polarization of S5 0716+71 on its optical flux. The harmonic period varies from 3 to 8 mJy in the 3 to 55 mJy interval
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