Tiny teeth in terrified tots - what is the global prevalence of paediatric dental fear and anxiety?

AIMS: To establish the worldwide prevalence of paediatric dental fear and anxiety (DFA) and its associated components. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 observational studies found on three well known English language publication databases dating from 2000. 2895 studies were identified relating to paediatric dental fear, anxiety, or phobia. 25 met the inclusion criteria and were subject to the Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment tool and subsequently analysed using PRISMA framework. Studies exploring levels of DFA in children 2-6 years old were included. Studies were excluded if they were not published in English, included children with 'special needs' including intellectual disabilities, and studies which explored DFA intervention. Of the included studies, the following was recorded: Country of Origin, DFA prevalence, age of participants, study design, sample size, assessment method and who reported on the level of DFA of the child. RESULTS: The pooled level of DFA of children aged 2-6 was estimated to be 30% (95% CI = 25, 36). Children with no dental experience and children with caries experience were found to have higher odds of experiencing DFA (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.18, 1.59) and (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.27), respectively. CONCLUSION: This review shows that approximately 30% of 2-6-year-old children will experience a level of dental and anxiety. Levels are expected to be higher in children who have not visited the dentist and children with dental caries.

The European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE) research roadmap 2040: Advanced strategies for exploiting the vast potential of polysaccharides as renewable bioresources.

Polysaccharides are among the most abundant bioresources on earth and consequently need to play a pivotal role when addressing existential scientific challenges like climate change and the shift from fossil-based to sustainable biobased materials. The Research Roadmap 2040 of the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE) provides an expert's view on how future research and development strategies need to evolve to fully exploit the vast potential of polysaccharides as renewable bioresources. It is addressed to academic researchers, companies, as well as policymakers and covers five strategic areas that are of great importance in the context of polysaccharide related research: (I) Materials & Engineering, (II) Food & Nutrition, (III) Biomedical Applications, (IV) Chemistry, Biology & Physics, and (V) Skills & Education. Each section summarizes the state of research, identifies challenges that are currently faced, project achievements and developments that are expected in the upcoming 20 years, and finally provides outlines on how future research activities need to evolve.

Clearing the smoke: are tobacco cessation interventions by the dental team successful?

AIMS: This study aimed to assess the outcomes of tailored tobacco cessation interventions in a dental clinic setting over one year. DESIGN: This interventional study recruited 1206 tobacco users who attended a smoking cessation clinic within an Oral Medicine Department in Bangalore, India. Baseline characteristics were recorded followed by a tailored smoking cessation intervention, delivered by trained faculty members and students. This followed the 3Es and 6As model - including a combination of personalised counselling, pharmacotherapy and one year follow up. CASE SELECTION: 1206 participants were recruited. 95% were already receiving treatment within the dental hospital and 5% were walk-in patients, attempting to quit tobacco use. Participants who had been smoking or using smokeless tobacco more than twice daily for greater than 6 months were included in the study. Participants were excluded from the study if they were currently using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or non-NRT therapy for tobacco cessation, pregnant and lactating women, a recent history of myocardial infarction or a history of gastric ulcers. RESULTS: Outcomes were categorised into the following four groups; Complete abstinence, Harm reduction (>50% reduction), No change and lost to follow up. Of the patients who completed the 12 month follow up, 18% quit tobacco use (n = 180), 34.2% reduced their tobacco usage by greater than 50% (n = 342), 41.5% exhibited no change (n = 415) and 6.2% relapsed (n = 62). Salivary nicotine levels were used to confirm self-reported abstinence. CONCLUSION: This study shows that dental professional led tobacco cessation programmes can be successful in supporting patients to quit or reduce tobacco usage.

Mirror, mirror on the wall-is toothbrushing instruction via a three-dimensional motion-tracked system the fairest of them all?

AIMS: To assess the efficacy of a smart toothbrush and mirror (STM) system which provided computer-assisted toothbrushing instruction versus conventional verbal toothbrushing instruction (TBI) amongst a group of 6-12-year-old children. DESIGN: This randomised controlled trial comprised South Korean school children who were randomly allocated to one of two arms - the STM (n = 21) or the conventional TBI arm (n = 21). The STM system used identical brushes as the TBI group, but with the brush employing three-dimensional motion tracking systems alongside a mirror with an inbuilt computer to guide the user. Modified Quigley-Hein plaque indexes were taken at baseline, immediately after STM/TBI, and then at 1 week and 1 month. RESULTS: Overall, there was a statistically significant reduction in the average whole-mouth plaque scores for both groups, 40.50% and 40.57% for the STM group and TBI group respectively. There was no statistical significance that either arm was more effective in reducing plaque scores than the other. Both groups demonstrated time to be a statistically significant factor in reducing plaque indices. CONCLUSION: There is no conclusive evidence that the STM system offers any benefits in terms of plaque control over conventional TBI in this study.

Metriocnemus erythranthei sp. nov. and Limnophyes viribus sp. nov. (Diptera: Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae): leafminers of monkeyflowers, speedwells, and other herbaceous plants, with new observations on the ecology and habitats of other leaf-mining Chironomidae.

In this study, we describe Metriocnemus erythranthei sp. nov. and Limnophyes viribus sp. nov., leafminers of herbaceous wetland plants. The M. erythranthei larva is a true miner entering fresh leaves and excavating the tunnels, and the L. viribus larva inhabits vacated mines of M. erythranthei. M. erythranthei is widespread in North America, with collections from the Pacific coast to Pennsylvania, and L. viribus has been collected from Iowa and Oregon. We also describe the larva of a possible new species associated with these plants, which we refer to as Metriocnemus sp. "Oregon". A key to the known larval stages of North American Metriocnemus is also provided. Along with providing a detailed account of the mining ecology of these new species, we discuss additional observations of mostly Orthocladiinae midges associated with aquatic and terrestrial plants. These include documenting the rearing of Metriocnemus eurynotus (Holmgren, 1883) from larvae feeding on Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) cotyledons, initially as leafminers and later externally. Larvae of M. eurynotus also were found feeding within mines of M. erythranthei on Veronica (Plantaginaceae) and were collected along with M. erythranthei larvae on leaves of Petasites (Asteraceae).

Femtosecond laser-assisted fabrication of piezoelectrically actuated crystalline quartz-based MEMS resonators.

A novel technology for the precise fabrication of quartz resonators for MEMS applications is introduced. This approach is based on the laser-induced chemical etching of quartz. The main processing steps include femtosecond UV laser treatment of a Cr-Au-coated Z-cut alpha quartz wafer, followed by wet etching. The laser-patterned Cr-Au coating serves as an etch mask and is used to form electrodes for piezoelectric actuation. This fabrication approach does not alter the quartz's crystalline structure or its piezo-electric properties. The formation of defects, which is common in laser micromachined quartz, is prevented by optimized process parameters and by controlling the temporal behavior of the laser-matter interactions. The process does not involve any lithography and allows for high geometric design flexibility. Several configurations of piezoelectrically actuated beam-type resonators were fabricated using relatively mild wet etching conditions, and their functionality was experimentally demonstrated. The devices are distinguished from prior efforts by the reduced surface roughness and improved wall profiles of the fabricated quartz structures.

'Implanting' knowledge - how best to aid patient understanding and retention of information regarding peri-implantitis.

Aims The study primarily assessed the efficacy of different communication methods on patients' comprehension and recall of knowledge relating to peri-implantitis. Secondarily, the study assessed the effect of different communication methods on patients' beliefs in line with the health belief model.Design A prospective randomised controlled trialMethods Ninety-nine patients with a diagnosis of peri-implantitis were recruited over 25 months. They were randomly allocated to one of three arms of the trial. Group one was given a leaflet with visual aids, group two a leaflet with no visual aids and group three verbal information only. A questionnaire was used to assess their understanding and retention of knowledge relating to peri-implantitis at baseline, three months and six months. Secondly, the questionnaire assessed the influence of the communication strategy on the components of the 'health belief model' relating to peri-implantitis - perceived severity, susceptibility, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy and behavioural intentions.Results Of the 99 patients who were initially recruited, 85 remained at three months and 78 at six months. At baseline, group one (who were provided with a leaflet and visual aids) showed better comprehension when compared to the other groups. This was statistically significant. However, there was no statistically significant difference in recall of information at three and six months, between any group. Questions relating to the health belief model showed there was statistical significance in the control group who perceived the barriers to good implant hygiene to be more difficult than both test groups. There was some statistical significance in the perceived susceptibility to peri-implantitis between groups.Conclusion The use of leaflets with visual aids as a communication strategy appears to improve patient comprehension of information regarding factors associated with peri-implantitis in the short term in this patient group. However, it does not appear to translate to improved recall of the same information at follow-up.

High-speed temporal and spatial beam-shaping combining active and passive elements.

Temporal and spatial shaping of laser beams is common in laser micromachining applications to improve quality and throughput. However, dynamic beam shaping (DBS) of ultrashort, high-power pulses at rates of hundreds of kHz has been challenging. Achieving this allows for full synchronization of the beam shape with high repetition rates, high-power lasers with zero delay time. Such speeds must manipulate the beam shape at a rate that matches the nanosecond to microsecond process dynamics present in laser ablation. In this work, we present a novel design capable of alternating spatial and temporal beam shapes at repetition rates up to 330 kHz for conventional spatial profiles and temporal shaping at nanosecond timescales. Our method utilizes a unique multi-aperture diffractive optical element combined with two acousto-optical deflectors. These high damage threshold elements allow the proposed method to be easily adapted for high power ultrashort lasers at various wavelengths. Moreover, due to the combination of the elements mentioned, no realignment or mechanical movements are required, allowing for high consistency of quality for high throughput applications.

Thirteen new species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from the United States, with new host and distribution records for 32 additional species.

We present novel rearing records of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from throughout the United States. We describe leaf mines or other larval habits for 27 species, plus five others whose identification is tentative, and another five that are identified only to genus due to the absence of male specimens. We review host and distribution data for the known species, reporting 26 new host species records (including the first rearing records for Phytomyza flexuosa Spencer, P. notopleuralis Spencer, and (tentatively identified) Ophiomyia frosti Spencer) and 25 new state records (including the first USA records for P. krygeri Hering, P. thermarum (Griffiths), and (tentatively identified) Liriomyza cracentis Lonsdale). We also describe and provide natural history information for the following 13 new species: Haplopeodes loprestii Eiseman Lonsdale, Liriomyza euphorbivora Eiseman Lonsdale, L. hypopolymnia Eiseman Lonsdale, Melanagromyza arnoglossi Eiseman Lonsdale, M. gentianivora Eiseman Lonsdale, M. hieracii Eiseman Lonsdale, M. rudbeckiae Eiseman Lonsdale, M. urticae Eiseman Lonsdale, M. verbenivora Eiseman Lonsdale, Ophiomyia nabali Eiseman Lonsdale, O. rugula Eiseman Lonsdale, Phytomyza flavilonicera Eiseman Lonsdale, and P. triostevena Eiseman Lonsdale.