Prosthetic treatment in the adult French population: Prevalence and relation with demographic, socioeconomic and medical characteristics.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dental prosthetic treatment and to investigate the demographic, social, economic and medical factors associated with the use of fixed and removable dentures in a representative sample of adults living in France. METHODS: The data were obtained from the 2002-2003 Decennial Health Survey, a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the population living in France, which included 29,679 adults. Information was collected by interview. The variables collected were fixed denture, removable denture, age, gender, number of children, area of residence, nationality, educational attainment, family social status, employment status, annual household income per capita, supplementary insurance, chronic disease, eyesight problems/glasses, hearing problems/hearing aids. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between prosthetic treatment and demographic, socioeconomic and medical characteristics unadjusted, adjusted for age and adjusted for all the characteristics. RESULTS: The prevalence of prosthetic treatment was 34.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): [34.1; 35.2]) for fixed prosthetic dentures and 13.8% (95% CI: [13.4; 14.2]) for removable prosthetic dentures. We showed a gradient between educational attainment and removable dentures; the odds ratio adjusted for all the variables (aOR) associated with no or primary education compared to post-secondary education was 2.56; 95% CI: [2.09; 3.13]. When annual household income per capita was low, subjects were less likely to report fixed dentures (aOR=0.68; 95% CI: [0.62; 0.75]) than those with high annual household income per capita. Individuals without insurance less often reported fixed dentures than those with private insurance. Those reporting chronic disease were less likely to report fixed dentures (aOR=0.87; 95% CI: [0.79; 0.95]) but more likely to report removable dentures (aOR=1.29; 95% CI: [1.17; 1.43]) than those without chronic disease. CONCLUSION: This study reveals social, economic and medical inequalities in fixed and removable prosthetic treatment among adults in France.

Diagnosis of a case of ligneous gingivitis in a patient with moderate plasminogen deficiency.

Plasminogen deficiency is a rare congenital condition that leads to pseudomembraneous lesions, such as ligneous conjunctivitis and ligneous gingivitis. Because of its rarity, ligneous gingivitis is not a pathology one may easily suspect from its clinical symptoms. We report the case of a 35-year-old Caucasian woman who experienced gum masses with white spots, but no pain. Based on the clinical picture, one could refute a diagnosis of necrotizing ulcerative periodontitis. Several biopsies were taken. The last ones showed an amorphous eosinophilic substance that could be fibrin. Plasmatic dosage of plasminogen (activity level 44%) confirmed the hypothesis of ligneous gingivitis. This report appears to be a very rare diagnosis of a ligneous gingivitis without major conjunctivitis, associated with a moderate plasminogen deficiency.

New innovative method relating guided surgery to dental implant placement.

INTRODUCTION: Companies selling dental implant guided systems mostly offer similar surgical guides. The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative-guided surgery system which originality lies in its guidance device, and to report the author's experience in using this system for dental implant surgery. TECHNICAL PROTOCOL: Two parallel tubes on either side of the drilling axis guide the successive drills and the implant placement. As a result of the lateral guidance, there is no friction of the drills on the surgical guide, which would damage it or contaminate the drilling hole with particles torn out from the guide. No radiological guide is needed during the radiographic examination stage. No successive diameter reduction tubes are requested. This guide can be used for all brands of implants. DISCUSSION: In our experience, 67 implants (31 titanium and 36 zircon implants) were placed in 35 patients with guided surgery system. Multiple clinical cases were treated with this system: 'one-stage' or a 'two-stage' surgical protocol, with flap and flapless surgical techniques, and with delayed or immediate loading. Clinical cases treated revealed good implant placement with planning. The widely open design of this guide allows irrigation and practitioner's sight control under conditions comparable to those of operations performed without surgical guide. CONCLUSION: This dental implant guided system appears to be a significant advance in the field of implant surgical guides.

[Comparison of leakage at the implant to abutment connection in several implants types using a gas flow method]. / Fuites de la connexion implantaire : comparaison de plusieurs types d'implants par la méthode de diffusion gazeuse.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to compare the leakage at the implant to abutment connection in several implants, using a new gas diffusion method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-eight implants of 13 different types were used. Nitrogen leaking was measured after screwing the connections to the torque levels recommended by the manufacturers. RESULTS: A significant tightness difference was observed between the different implant types. This difference cannot be explained by the various connection designs (flat, conical) or by the various torques recommended by the manufacturers. CONCLUSION: The authors suggest that the tightness difference between the various implant systems could be mainly associated with quality and precision of machining.

Prevalence of palatine tonsilloliths: a retrospective study on 150 consecutive CT examinations.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of palatine tonsilloliths. METHODS: 150 consecutive CT examinations (75 males and 75 females) were read. RESULTS: Tonsilloliths were found in 37 patients (24.6%; confidence interval 17.7-31.6%), of which 18 (48%) had a bilateral location. No influence of sex or age was observed (p = 0.37 and p = 0.57, respectively). 26 patients (70%) had more than 1 concretion. The largest tonsillolith was 7 mm. None of the tonsilloliths found were involved in the reason for prescribing the CT. The radiographic density of the tonsilloliths was between 216 and 2959 HU. CONCLUSIONS: Palatine tonsilloliths could affect approximately one-quarter of the population. This prevalence is likely to be underestimated in daily clinical practice because small concretions do not result in any functional impairment and are not visible on orthopantomographs.