Follicle tracking of women receiving clomiphene citrate for ovulation induction.

Forty-five cycles of forty subfertile women were monitored with follicle tracking. Thirty women were anovulatory and 10 had unexplained infertility. Thirty women responded to the initial dose of Clomiphene Citrate (CC) and 10 remained anovulatory. Of those who ovulated with the first dose of CC, 25 developed one follicle, 2 developed 2 follicles and 3 developed three follicles. All the women that produced three follicles belonged in the unexplained infertility group. Eight women from the anovulatory group developed 1 follicle, two developed 2 follicles and 8 failed to respond. Provision of universal follicle tracking proved to be time consuming and required significant resources. Our results indicate that if there is a place for selective monitoring that should include women with unexplained infertility. We should also offer the first scan at around day 12 of the cycle as this could detect multiple follicle development. Patients with Polycystic Ovaries that start on 50 mgs of CC may not necessarily need follicle tracking as they usually do not respond to that dose.     

Enamel loss during bonding, debonding, and cleanup with use of a self-etching primer

Self-etching primers have recently been introduced to simplify the orthodontic bonding process. The aim of this investigation was to compare the enamel loss at each stage of the bonding and debonding process with the use of such a product compared with the conventional two-stage etching and priming process with 37% o -phosphoric acid. In the laboratory, a planer surfometer was used to measure enamel surface height before any enamel treatment, after pumicing, after etching, and once the brackets had been debonded, after enamel clean-up with one of 4 clean-up methods. The latter included a high-speed tungsten carbide bur, a slow-speed tungsten carbide bur, debanding pliers, and an ultrasonic scaler. A change in enamel surface height was seen at each stage of the bonding and debonding process. After pumicing and conventional etching, the cumulative median enamel loss was -2.76 microm; however, the range was from -1.11 to -4.57 microm. This observed loss was much less than in previous reports on enamel loss after acid etching. With the self-etching primer, the median enamel loss was significantly lower, at -0.27 microm (range, -0.03 to -0.74 microm). At debond, there was also a significant difference in the adhesive remnant index scores between the 2 groups, with more adhesive remaining on the enamel surface in the conventional-etch group. It was during enamel clean-up that most surface loss occurred. In both the conventional and self-etch groups, most enamel loss occurred after the use of the high-speed tungsten carbide bur or the ultrasonic scaler and least with the slow-speed tungsten carbide bur or the debanding pliers.     

Enamel loss at bond-up, debond and clean-up following the use of a conventional light-cured composite and a resin-modified glass polyalkenoate cement

The aim of this study was to determine whether there was any difference in the degree of enamel loss at bond-up, debond and enamel clean-up when two different adhesive systems were tested and with four different methods of enamel clean-up. The adhesive systems were 37 per cent o-phosphoric acid with Transbond XT (group 1) and 10 per cent poly(acrylic acid) conditioner with Fuji Ortho LC (group 2). Using flattened enamel specimens, enamel loss at each stage was determined using a planer surfometer. These stages were: prior to treatment, at pumice prophylaxis, following enamel etching or conditioning and following enamel clean-up. The four clean-up methods were a high-speed tungsten carbide bur, a slow-speed tungsten carbide bur, an ultrasonic scaler and debanding pliers.The results, analysed using non-parametric tests, demonstrated that significantly more enamel loss occurred following the use of 37 per cent o-phosphoric acid than poly(acrylic acid) conditioner (P = 0.001). At debond and prior to clean-up, more adhesive remained on the enamel surface in group 1 than in group 2 (P = 0.005). During the subsequent enamel clean-up and with both adhesive systems, the least enamel loss occurred following the use of the slow-speed tungsten carbide bur and the greatest loss was seen with the ultrasonic scaler or high-speed tungsten carbide bur.Overall, the lowest enamel loss was observed with the poly(acrylic acid) conditioner and Fuji Ortho LC system (group 2) and where enamel clean-up was performed using the slow-speed tungsten carbide bur.     

The use of a 3D laser scanner using superimpositional software to assess the accuracy of impression techniques

Objective. Several studies have made comparisons in the dimensional accuracy of different elastomeric impression materials. Most have used two-dimensional measuring devices, which neglect to account for the dimensional changes that exist along a three-dimensional surface.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to compare the dimensional accuracy of an impression technique using a polyether material (Impregum) and a vinyl poly siloxane material (President) using a laser scanner with three-dimensional superimpositional software.

Materials and methods. Twenty impressions, 10 with a polyether and 10 with addition silicone, of a stone master model that resembled a dental arch containing three acrylic posterior teeth were cast in orthodontic stone. One plastic tooth was prepared for a metal crown. The master model and the casts were digitised with the non-contacting laser scanner to produce a 3D image. 3D surface viewer software superimposed the master model to the stone replica and the difference between the images analysed.

Results. The mean difference between the model and the stone replica made from Impregum was 0.072 mm (SD 0.006) and that for the silicone 0.097 mm (SD 0.005) and this difference was statistically significantly, p=0.001.

Conclusions. Both impression materials provided an accurate replica of the prepared teeth supporting the view that these materials are highly accurate.     

The influence of personality on patients' satisfaction with existing and new complete dentures

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of patient personality on satisfaction with and use of complete dentures. METHODS: Patients attending a dental school for replacement of existing complete dentures completed a Personality Questionnaire and quality of existing complete dentures was assessed. After the first post-insertion visit quality of new dentures was assessed. Patients' satisfaction with the new dentures was elicited using a structured interview. Three months and 2 years after insertion of new dentures self completed denture satisfaction questionnaires were mailed to all participants. RESULTS: Three hundred and eight patients participated and 217 completed all stages of the study. Use of dentures was not associated with personality. In the old dentures patient rating of the three aspects of satisfaction with the mandibular denture, of appearance and general satisfaction were significantly associated with neuroticism. In the case of the new dentures at first review, no aspects of satisfaction rated by patients were significantly associated with personality. Significant negative associations between Neuroticism and all aspects of satisfaction with new dentures were found at 3 months. At 2 years after the dentures were placed significant negative associations between Neuroticism and all aspects of satisfaction with new dentures except rating of appearance and maxillary denture chewing ability were found. CONCLUSIONS: Neurotic patients were significantly less satisfied with complete dentures. Personality traits did not influence patients' use of dentures.