The bond strengths of various adhesives used for Maryland Bridges

The tensile bond strengths of three groups of adhesives to two electrolytically etched alloys were studied. It was found that the bis-GMA composite resins gave statistically similar bond strengths. The newer Japanese acrylics tested gave statistically higher results than the bis-GMA resins. The clinical significance of these results is discussed.     

Attitudes of Victorian dentists to removable partial denture prosthodontics: treatment planning

A survey of the attitudes of dentists in Victoria to various aspects of the treatment planning phase of removable partial denture prosthodontics was undertaken. Data were analysed and compared with those obtained from an identical study in South Australia. Those Victorian dentists who graduated in the 1960s, those who worked in multiple-practitioner practices, or non-rural areas, and those who had an added interest in removable prosthodontics were more likely to stress the importance of a greater number of attributes than those who graduated in the 1950s or 1970s, or those who worked alone, in rural areas, or had no particular interest in the discipline. Results indicated also that Victorian dentists tended to place greater emphasis on many of the concepts embraced by the questions asked than their interstate colleagues. It is suggested that, in addition to formal education, intraprofessional relationships and interest in a discipline are factors which might influence the concepts and attitudes of general practitioners.     

Factors influencing nurses' aides' provision of oral care for nursing facility residents

Nurses' aides provide the majority of direct care for nursing facility residents. This study investigated aides' self-reported oral care activities and personal, job, organizational, and resident factors associated with oral care. A 30-item questionnaire was completed by 488 aides, and interviews were conducted with 65 of these aides. Aides were performing oral care activities for residents. Associations between some of the four groups of factors proposed and aides' oral care provision were found. Aides' attitudes toward oraI care, lack of time and staff to complete oral care, and behavioral and physical difficulties with residents may have affected the time spent by these aides in providing oral care. The study highlighted the need for further investigation and assessment of (1) aides' CNA training courses and (2) continuing oral health educational interventions in nursing facilities. Personal interviews were found to be a useful qualitative instrument for conducting dental research in nursing facilities. Further investigation is needed of interviews and other methodologies, such as observation, to supplement self-report as a measure of aides' oral care activities.     

Soft tissue adaptability to hard tissues in facial profiles

The purpose of this study was to investigate soft tissue adaptability to hard tissue. A canonical correlation analysis was performed in an attempt to assess the relationships between hard tissue structure and soft tissue profile in the static state. For the dynamic study, multiple-regression analysis was performed to identify the changes of soft tissue profiles associated with the retraction of upper and lower incisors. The samples comprised lateral cephalograms from 297 Japanese women for the static canonical correlation analysis and 32 sets of lateral cephalograms of pre- and posttreatment adult orthodontic patients for the dynamic multiple-regression analysis. In the static state, the vertical dimension of lower facial height and the position of the lower incisors were associated with the thickness of the upper-lip vermilion and soft tissue B, and the horizontal relationships between upper- and lower-jaw positions were associated with the thickness of upper lips and of pogonion (soft tissue chin). In the dynamic state, the results indicated that the changes of stomion and lower lip could be predicted and strongly reflected the changes of the hard tissue. On the contrary, the change of the upper lip showed a weaker association with the hard tissue changes. Predictions of chin form described by the soft tissue B and soft tissue pogonion were less accurate than estimates of upper- and lower-lip form. Chin form was influenced by the hard tissue structures such as ANB angle and lower-facial height rather than by changes in lower- and upper-incisor retraction. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 1998;113:674-84.)     

Computer use in private dental practice in Australia, 1991

There was a 70 per cent response to a mail questionnaire to a 1:3 sample of Australian Dental Association members in private practices (n = 1931). Computers were used by 37 per cent of practices. Main computer applications used were for: accounting (84%); patient billing (80%); word processing (79%); and patient recall (61 %). External bureau services were used by 4 per cent of practices with most computers being in-house (single terminal 66%; multiple terminal 33%). The more dentists in a practice, the more likely was a computer to be used. Principal users were secretary/receptionists. Service and software were the most important factors in choice of computer system. Many practice computer users (67%) also had a Personal Computer at home compared with only 36 per cent of the non-users. Many respondents indicated the need for continuing education in computers (67% users; 61% non-users). More than half of the non-users indicated future use of computers for accounting, billing and recall. There has been a considerable increase in the use of computers in private practice (37%) since the Australian Dental Association Dental Practice Survey in 1983/84 (9%).     

Pseudoelasticity and thermoelasticity of nickel-titanium alloys: A clinically oriented review. Part I: Temperature transitional ranges

The purpose of this review was to organize a systematic reference to help orthodontists evaluate commonly used orthodontic nickel-titanium alloys. Part I of the article reviews the data available in the literature regarding the temperature transitional ranges of the alloys. The thermomechanical behavior of these compounds is, in fact, strictly dependent on the correlation between the temperature transitional range and the oral temperature range. Part II of the article will focus on the mechanical characteristics of the alloys, such as the magnitude of the forces delivered and its correlations with temperature transitional range and oral temperature.     

Toward a multimodal cell analysis of brush biopsies for the early detection of oral cancer

BACKGROUND:

This report describes what to the authors' knowledge is the first clinical application of semiautomated multimodal cell analysis (MMCA), a novel technique for the early detection of cancer for cases with a limited number of suspicious cells. In this clinical study, MMCA was applied to oral cancer diagnostics on brush biopsies. The MMCA approach was based on the sequential application of multiple stainings of identical, slide‐based cells and repeated relocalizations and measurements of their diagnostic features, resulting in multiparametric features of individual cells. Data integration of the variously stained cells increased diagnostic accuracy. The implementation of MMCA also enabled fully automatic, adaptive image preprocessing, including registration of multimodal images and segmentation of cell nuclei.

METHODS:

In a preliminary clinical trial, 47 slides from brush biopsies of suspicious oral lesions were analyzed. The final histologic diagnoses included 20 squamous cell carcinomas, 7 hyperkeratotic leukoplakias, and 20 lichen planus mucosae.

RESULTS:

The stepwise application of 2 additional approaches (morphology, DNA content, argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region counts) increased the specificity of conventional cytologic diagnosis from 92.6% to 100%. This feasibility study provided a proof of concept, demonstrating efficiency, robustness, and diagnostic accuracy on slide‐based cytologic specimens.

CONCLUSIONS:

The authors concluded that MMCA may become a sensitive and highly specific, objective, and reproducible adjuvant diagnostic tool for the identification of neoplastic changes in oral smears that contain only a few abnormal cells. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.