Impact of rehabilitation with removable complete or partial dentures on masticatory efficiency and quality of life: A cross-sectional mapping study.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Tooth loss directly affects mastication, cognitive function, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Complete dentures (CDs) and removable partial dentures (RPDs) represent a common oral rehabilitation approach. However, studies addressing the impact of removable dentures on replacing missing teeth are lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate whether the OHRQoL, the jaw function limitation (JFL), and the masticatory efficiency of CD and RPD wearers are similar to those of patients with natural teeth and to evaluate whether wearing removable dentures can predict an effect on the OHRQoL, JFL, and masticatory efficiency of their wearers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire and the JFL scale were used to measure OHRQoL and JFL. Masticatory efficiency was analyzed by using a subjective color-mixing index for the chewing gum bolus and shape index and an objective colorimetric analysis by using a software program ViewGum. Data were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis and post hoc Dunn tests, followed by multiple linear regression (α=.05). RESULTS: The results from OHIP-14 evidenced that both denture groups presented a low impact on OHRQoL. JFL was higher for all denture wearers. For the subjective color-mixing analysis, the control and RPD groups presented better masticatory efficiency than CD wearers. Colorimetric analysis evidenced better masticatory efficiency for the control group, who differed from the CD and RPD groups. Wearing RPDs was a predictor of impaired JFL and OHRQoL, and the use of CDs was a predictor of impaired JFL and masticatory efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being rehabilitated, CD and RPD wearers still had impaired OHRQoL, JFL, and masticatory efficiency. Also, the use of these prostheses can predict a negative effect on these 3 variables.

Adults With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Present Reduced Internal Nasal Volumes: Findings of a Three-Dimensional Morphometric Assessment in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Scans.

ABSTRACT: The main purpose was to assess and compare nasal cavity (NC) volumes among adults with unilateral (UCLP) and bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) and in noncleft controls (CON), by means of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) three-dimensional reconstructions. Forty-five scans of individuals with class III skeletal pattern, matched by age, were gathered in 3 groups: UCLP (n = 15), BCLP (n = 15) and (CON) (n = 15). The NC volume was assessed three-dimensionally, using Dolphin 11.8 software. Descriptive normally distributed data was presented as mean (±SD). Comparisons of NC volume among groups was performed using ANOVA test (P ≤ 0.05). The NC mean volumes corresponded to 14.7(±2.2) cm3 (UCLP), 17.1(±2.2) cm3 (BCLP) and 18.1(±3.8) cm3 (CON), respectively. UCLP individuals presented a significantly reduced NC volume when compared to controls (P = 0.006). No differences were observed between UCLP versus BCLP or BCLP versus CON. The intraclass correlation coefficient suggested a high intra- and inter-examiners agreement (>.075). Individuals with unilateral cleft lip and palate presented reduced NC when compared to individuals without cleft lip and palate. CBCT scans can be considered a highly accurate tool for morphometric assessments of craniofacial structures.

Stepwise fabrication of arbitrary fiber optic tapers.

This work reports a modified flame-brush technique to fabricate fiber tapers with arbitrary waist profiles. The flame-brush approach is used to produce small step reductions in the fiber diameter, or step-tapers, with a constant speed flame brush sweep, while the fiber is uniformly stretched. Arbitrary waist profiles in tapers are fabricated by approximating the taper diameter function to any monotonic function of the fiber length while combining a superposition of step-tapers. This method to produce the arbitrary profiles is described and a set of tapers with dissimilar transition regions are fabricated for its validation.

Implicações psicossociais do desemprego para a consciência individual: manifestações no pensamento e emoção / Psychosocial implications of unemployment for individual consciousness: its manifestations in thought and emotions

Apresenta algumas considerações sobre um projeto de pesquisa que objetiva obter o perfil psicológico do trabalhador desempregado no estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, pesquisa as implicações psicossociais do desemprego para a consciência individual e suas manifestações no pensamento e na emoção, baseado na Teoria Psicológica Sócio-Histórica. Pretende verificar como se dá o processo de subjetivação dos indivíduos desempregados e oferecer suporte a projetos sociais voltados para esse segmento populacional. Para tanto, destaca que só é possível entender as implicações do desemprego no âmbito dos processos psicológicos quando o concretizamos na realidade social, considerando que, com as mudanças na base econômica, a superestrutura se transforma e constitui novos significados (sociais) para a realidade. Destacamos as transformações materiais das condições econômicas de produção e as formas ideológicas(religião, política, artes, filosofia, etc.) pelas quais os homens tomam consciência do conflito que se estabelece entre ambas as esferas sociais e os tornam elementos de suas consciências que os conduzem em seus aspectos psíquicos. Assim, é possível investigar as conseqüências psicológicas do desemprego porque os seus determinantes podem ser apreendidos e analisados. (AU)

This article presents a research project that aims at obtaining the psychological profile of the unemployed worker in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in order to study the psychosocial implications of unemployment for the individual consciousness and its manifestations in thoughts and emotions. The research is based on the Sociohistorical Theory. It aims to investigate the process of subjectivation among unemployed individuals. It seeks to obtain better knowledge of the living conditions of this group in order to propose social projects oriented to them. It emphasizes that the understanding of the psychological implications of unemployment shall be rooted in social reality. When the economic foundation of society changes, superstructure is also transformed and new meanings for social reality are constituted. The authors argue in favor of the distinction between the material transformation of the economic conditions of production from those ideological forms [religion, politics, arts, philosophy, etc.] by which people become conscious of the conflict that exists between these two social spheres, leading them into their psychological reality and taking them as elements of their consciousness. Thus, it is possible to investigate the psychological consequences of unemployment as far as their determinants can be apprehended and analyzed. (AU)