The furcation problem. Current controversies and future directions

Effective management of furcation regions affected by periodontal destruction includes accurate assessment of etiologic factors, careful diagnosis of furcation involvement, and an appropriate plan of therapy. Many forms of therapy have been advocated; most have been designed to allow adequate professional and personal removal of plaque from the furcation. All types of traditional therapy have disadvantages that must be carefully considered by the therapist and the patient. Newer treatment modalities attempt to regenerate periodontal attachment in the furcation. The techniques do not have sufficient controlled documentation at this time to warrant unqualified support, but they appear to be biologically feasible and hold considerable clinical promise. At this time, guidelines for management of a periodontally involved furcation region must stress application of the simplest therapy that is likely to provide clinical stability. Longitudinal data from carefully controlled clinical trials comparing therapy techniques are needed to refine our clinical judgment.     

Evaluation of biochemical validation measures in determination of smoking status

This study was designed to evaluate the use of salivary cotinine, salivary thiocyanate, and expired-air carbon monoxide as biochemical validation measures for assessing the smoking status of adults. The participants were 20 known non-smokers plus 216 admitted smokers and 102 proclaimed quitters participating in a clinical trial of approaches to facilitate smoking cessation. Conventional analytical procedures were utilized. By use of data from known non-smokers and admitted smokers, the sensitivity and specificity of the validation measures were as follows: salivary cotinine, 99% and 100%; expired-air carbon monoxide, 96% and 100%; and salivary thiocyanate, 67% and 95%, respectively. The salivary cotinine and expired-air carbon monoxide tests confirmed smoking cessation for 55% and 74%, respectively, of the proclaimed quitters. The length of time since quitting was significantly related to the results observed with the latter measures. Consideration of these observations along with various practical factors suggests that expired-air carbon monoxide assays may be the validation measure of choice for most clinical trials.     

An evaluation of the clinical analgesia/anesthesia efficacy on acute pain using the high frequency neural modulator in various dental settings

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high frequency neural modulation as a substitute for traditional local anesthesia in various dental procedures. This double-blinded study was done to evaluate patient comfort and degree of satisfaction as well as manageability of pain control by the operator during the dental procedures. Procedures included restorations, tooth extractions, root planing, pulp extirpation, and temporomandibular joint therapy. In the experimental group, favorable responses ranged from 0.0% to 92.8%, depending on the procedures. An overall favorable rating of 71.8% was given by the experimental group, and an overall favorable response of 8.5% was given by the placebo group.     

Moral reasoning in dental hygiene students

Sixty-five students participated in a study designed to identify the level of moral reasoning of dental hygiene students. Comparisons were made with typical college students and a normative group composed of individuals representing a cross-section of ages and educational levels. The relationships among level of moral reasoning and clinical performance, other selected academic measures, and cognitive style were also assessed. The results indicated that post-certificate dental hygiene students reasoned about moral dilemmas at a higher level than the normative group and at the same level as the college student group. In addition, clinical performance, National Board Dental Hygiene Examination scores, Dental Hygiene Aptitude Test (reading scores), high school rank, and cognitive style correlated positively with level of moral reasoning and specific stages of moral development for postcertificate students.     

The value of the different radiological examining methods in caries diagnosis]

This in vitro study compared the results of clinical examination (abbreviation CE) and the three radiological methods (i.e RVG-radiovisiography) on occlusal and proximal caries diagnosis,using pathological observation as the final standard.The results are:on occlusal caries diagnosis,CE provide the most accordant result to the pathological result.There are statistically significant differences between SR and CE,BW and CE.1st suggests that to occlusal caries diagnosis,CE is still a convenient and efficient way.On proximal caries diagnosis,there are statistically significant differences between SR and CE,BW and CE.BW has the most coincident result with pathological one.