Accuracy at radiography and probing for the diagnosis of proximal caries

In 63 teenagers the proximal surfaces of premolars to be extracted for orthodontic reasons and the adjacent surfaces of neighboring teeth, 598 surfaces in all, were examined radiographically and by probing. Direct inspection after extraction revealed that 51% of the surfaces had incipient carious lesions and 5% lesions with cavities. Of the surfaces with cavities 82.1% were correctly diagnosed radiographically if any radiolucency, regardless of its extent, was used as a diagnostic criterion. However, this yielded a false positive rate of 19.6%. If only radioluccncies extending at least into the inner third of the enamel were called positive the true positive rate was 36.7% and the associated false positive rate 1.6%. At a 5% cavity frequency the predictive positive values were 17% and 53%, respectively. Probing yielded a true positive rate of about 29% and a false positive rate of 1.1% with a predictive positive value of 50-57%. All radiolucencies extending into the dentin were associated with cavities. When the most liberal radiographic criterion was used 37.5% of all carious lesions, whether associated with a cavity or not, were detected and 3.8% of sound surfaces were falsely called carious. The corresponding predictive positive value at the actual rate of incipient lesions and lesions with cavities was 92.6%.     

Determinants of response to a parent questionnaire about development and behaviour in 3 year olds: European multicentre study of congenital toxoplasmosis

Background  

We aimed to determine how response to a parent-completed postal questionnaire measuring development, behaviour, impairment, and parental concerns and anxiety, varies in different European centres.     

Sex differences on spontaneous alternation in prepubertal rats: implications for an animal model of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Sex differences in the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in prepubertal children have been described. Deficits on spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) have been proposed as an animal model of OCD. OBJECTIVES: To explore possible sex differences in the ontogeny of SAB and in the effect of the 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-hydroxy-2 (di-n-propylamino)-tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) in an animal model of OCD. METHODS: The ontogeny of SAB and the perseveration produced by 8-OH-DPAT were compared between male and female prepubertal rats. RESULTS: Males alternated their arm choose from postnatal day 32 onwards, while females perseverated in the chosen arm until postnatal day 38. The mean number of repetitive choices remained close to 1 in males from postnatal day 23 onwards, but females showed a mean number of repetitive choices higher than 1.5 until the end of the test. The 8-OH-DPAT (0.125, 0.5 and 2.0 mg/kg, 15 min) produced perseveration in males but not in females. CONCLUSIONS: These data show important sex differences in the ontogeny of SAB and the effect of 8-OH-DPAT in a model of OCD. Such differences could be relevant for the sex differences in the prevalence of childhood OCD.