Association of edentulism and all-cause mortality in Chinese older adults: do sex differences exist?

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies revealed that tooth loss or edentulism was related to mortality. However, research in developing countries with large numbers of elderly populations is rare, and whether sex differences exist in this relationship is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association between edentulism and 7-year all-cause mortality among older adults in China and whether sex differences existed. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study. METHODS: Data were from 2011 to 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. A total of 6538 participants aged ≥60 years were included. Logistic models were adopted to estimate the risks of mortality according to edentulism. RESULTS: The participants with edentulism at baseline were 20% more likely to die over 7 years after controlling for a set of covariates (odds ratio [OR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.42). Moreover, edentulism was associated with a 35% higher odds of death among male participants (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.08-1.70), whereas a significant association was not found in female participants. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated that baseline edentulism predicted all-cause mortality in Chinese older adults, and sex differences existed in this association. This study implied the importance of developing oral health education programs, incorporating dietary recommendations into dental care for edentulous patients, and expanding the coverage of dental services in the health insurance system to prevent edentulism and alleviate its negative outcomes for older adults.

Radiographic outcomes of lateral sinus floor elevation with and without bone window repositioning: one-year results of a randomized controlled trial.

The objective of this study was to perform a comparative evaluation of the radiographic outcomes of lateral sinus floor elevation with and without bone window repositioning (BLSFE and LSFE, respectively) when applied concomitantly with implant placement. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted between February 1, 2016 and May 1, 2017 including 26 individuals with at least one missing tooth. Participants were randomized 1:1 to undergo BLSFE (10 participants, 16 implants) or LSFE (13 participants, 19 implants). Bovine-derived xenograft was used in both groups and the implants were inserted concomitantly. In the BLSFE group, the antrostomy was covered with a repositioned bone window and then with a concentrated growth factors (CGF) membrane. In the LSFE group, the antrostomy was covered with a CGF membrane. Panoramic radiographs were taken before surgery (T0), immediately postoperative (T1), and at 12 months postoperative (6 months after loading) (T2). Marginal bone loss (MBL), apical bone gain, augmented alveolar bone height, and intra-sinus bone augmentation were evaluated on panoramic radiographs at T2. A linear regression analysis with generalized estimating equation models was performed. The implant survival rate was 100% at 1 year after implant surgery. The residual alveolar bone height at T0 was comparable in the BLSFE and LSFE groups (3.58 ± 1.49 mm vs 4.12 ± 1.61, P = 0.32), as was the alveolar bone height at T1 (13.61 ± 1.82 mm vs 12.38 ± 1.82 mm, P = 0.06). At T2, significantly higher alveolar bone height, intra-sinus bone augmentation, and apical bone gain, and lower distal MBL were observed in the BLSFE group when compared to the LSFE group, with adjusting for covariates (ß = 2.44, 95% CI 1.42-3.46, P < 0.0001; ß = 2.38, 95% CI 1.35-3.41, P < 0.0001; ß = 2.33, 95% CI 1.23-3.42, P < 0.0001; and ß = -0.43, 95% CI -0.83 to -0.02, P = 0.038, respectively). No significant difference was observed for mesial MBL or apical bone resorption at T2. Lateral sinus floor elevation with bone window repositioning may result in higher bone augmentation after 1 year than the traditional approach. Further research is needed to elucidate the effect of lateral sinus floor elevation with bone window repositioning.

[Feasibility analysis of visual analogue scale in esthetic evaluation of anterior implant-supported single crown in maxilla].

Objective: To test the reproducibility of the visual analogue scale (VAS) used in the evaluation of the esthetic effect of anterior dental implants, and to explore the factors that affect the correlation between VAS and pink esthetic score/white esthetic score (PES/WES). Methods: From January 2018 to August 2019, a total of 108 doctors and patients were recruited in the Department of Prosthodontics, Implantology and Fourth Clinical Division of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology. Among them, there were 35 dental implant specialists who were familiar with PES/WES [implant specialist group, 25 males, 10 females, (37.3±4.5) years old], 34 dentists who were not familiar with PES/WES [dentist group, specialized in Prosthodontics, Periodontology, Orthodontics, and Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, 24 males, 10 females, (36.1±4.2) years old], 39 patients [patient group, 28 males, 11 females, (45.4±8.3) years old]. Twenty oral pictures of patients [12 males, 8 females, (43.7±6.4) years old] treated in the Department of Prosthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology from December 2016 to December 2017 were taken for single implant restoration for esthetic evaluation with VAS. Score 0 for evaluation of not beautiful and score 10 for very beautiful. Re-evaluation of the same 20 pictures with VAS after 1 month, and perform repeatability evaluation of VAS using chi-square test were conducted. At the same time, 13 implant specialists were randomly selected, to score the same photos with PES/WES. The PES scoring elements were the fullness of the mesial gingival papilla, the fullness of the distal gingival papilla, the curvature of the gingival margin, the protrusion of the root surface, the color and the texture of the soft tissue. The scoring elements of WES were crown shape, crown contour, crown color, surface texture, transparency and individual characteristics in order. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between the score of VAS and PES/WES. And the influence of the group on the correlation between PES/WES and VAS was analyzed. Results: The PES score was 7.5±1.8, and the WES score was 7.6±1.9 and the total score was 15.1±3.4. The VAS score of the implant specialist group was 6.8±1.8. The repeatability test of the two VAS results in the patient group was not statistically significant (Kappa=0.012, P>0.05); the two VAS results of the implant specialist group and the dentist group both had good repeatability (Kappa=0.727 and 0.556, P<0.01). The VAS score was weakly correlated with the total PES/WES score (r=0.27, P<0.01). The VAS score was correlated with the score elements in PES/WES (P<0.01), and the color (r=0.20) and shape (r=0.22) of the crown were the larger correlation coefficients. The correlation coefficients between the VAS score and the PES/WES scoring system decreased among the implant specialist group (r=0.49, moderate correlation), the dentist group (r=0.25, weak correlation) and the patient group (r=0.12, P>0.05). Conclusions: The consistency of VAS and PES/WES is affected by the cognition of the scorer. The combination of the two scoring systems is feasible and necessary for physicians to evaluate the overall esthetic effect of implant restoration.

Combined therapy of infusion of DC from rats with higher expression of IDO and CD40L on rejection post heart transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) can inhibit rejection of graft via inducing T cell apoptosis. CD40L monoclonal antibody (mAb) inhibits T cell activation. However, the effects of the combination of infusion of dendritic cell (DC) from IDO over-expressed donor mice and CD40L mAb on the treatment of graft rejection after heart transplantation have not been reported. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Allogeneic heart transplantation mouse model was established. Recipient mice were divided into three groups, including control group, IDO group (in which DC donors received adenoviral vector of IDO) and combined therapy group (which received both IDO over-expressed DC infusion and CD40L mAb injection post transplantation). Survival time and cardiac function were observed, with IDO expression being quantified. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to analyze T cell apoptosis, while enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adopted to test the levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). RESULTS: IDO expression was significantly elevated in both IDO and combined therapy groups, with enhanced T cell apoptosis compared to control group (p < 0.05). Both groups had better survival time and cardiac functions compared to control group, along with increased IL-10/IL-6 expression and suppressed INF-γ and IL-2 expression (p < 0.05). However, combined therapy had a better efficiency compared to IDO group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Combined therapy of high IDO expressed mouse DC perfusion with CD40L mAb can elongate the survival time of recipient heart and inhibit rejection reaction via facilitating T cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, combined therapy could also regulate the expression of some immune suppressant factors and mediate the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance.