Oral self-inflicted accidental trauma in patients with neurological disorders: a case report of dental management in infants with cerebellar hypoplasia.

Self-inflicted oral injuries, accidental or otherwise, can cause major consequences. Measures need to be taken to protect individuals from chronic self-injurious behaviour; however, there are no official guidelines on the subject. The purpose of this article is to show the case of a 1-year-old patient with neurological disorders who, following the eruption of deciduous teeth, had self-inflicted a traumatic ulcer on his tongue and lower lip. Following a multidisciplinary approach involving several operating units of our hospital to make a diagnosis, an oral device was designed to completely cover the dental elements to prevent recurrence of the trauma and to prevent further worsening of the injuries already caused. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that although the surgical approach, such as extraction of the dental elements, may be the quickest solution in situations similar to the one presented, the high biological cost and irreversibility of the result lead to seeking alternatives and more conservative solutions such as the one described.

Cephalometric changes of pushing splints 3 compared to rapid maxillary expansion and facemask therapy on the airway space in class III growing patients: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Early orthopaedic treatment with rapid maxillary expansion (RME) associated with facemask (FM) has been shown to be effective in correcting Class III malocclusions in children. Treatment with pushing splints 3 (PS3) has shown to correct skeletal discrepancies in Class III growing patients. However, the effects of orthopaedic treatment on the upper airways in children with Class III malocclusion is controversial. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cephalometric changes in the airways of PS3 compared to the RME/FM protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 48 patients with Class III malocclusion (age range 5.5-8.5 years old) were selected for this study, and 24 were treated with PS3 appliance and 24 with RME/FM therapy. Lateral cephalograms before (T0) and at the end of the treatment (T1) were analysed to compare pharyngeal spaces. Paired and unpaired t tests were used for data analysis (P < .05). RESULTS: A total of 41 patients (21 patients for the PS3 group, 11 males and 10 females, mean age 7.0 ± 1.2 years; 20 patients for the RME/FM group, 10 males and 10 females, mean age 7.2 ± 1.3 years) were included. The results showed a statistically significant (P < .05) increase in the nasopharyngeal space after both therapies. However, the effects were similar considering that there were no differences between groups for the assessed variables at T0-T1. CONCLUSIONS: Early treatment of Class III malocclusion with PS3 does not induce a statistically significant increase in the sagittal airway space compared to RME/FM. The absence of untreated group could not define the role of growth in the increase of space.