Smartphone Applications in Dentistry: A Scoping Review.

This scoping review aims to investigate the latest literature concerning the use of smartphone applications (apps) in the prevention, management, and monitoring of oral diseases. Smartphone applications are software programs that are designed to run on smartphones. Nowadays, smartphones are regularly used by people of all ages, and mobile health apps (MHAs) represent an important means of spreading information related to oral health, which is the state of the mouth and teeth, including the gums and other tissues. Several apps have been designed to promote prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutic adherence monitoring. This scoping review considered randomized clinical trials, cross-sectional studies, before-after (pre-post) studies with no control group, and observational studies. Once the inclusion and exclusion criteria had been defined, a preliminary confined search was performed on PubMed and Scopus; key terms from the collected articles were selected to design a search strategy, and then a search of all the included articles' reference lists was run for further research. Studies were excluded if they did not fulfill the inclusion criteria. The preferred reporting items for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) consensus was followed. The risk of bias was evaluated by providing a qualitative analysis of the clinical studies via the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Quality Assessment of Controlled Intervention Studies, Observational Cohort Studies, and Cross-Sectional Studies (NHLBI, NIH). A total of 21 studies were included in this review. As it is clear from the studies selected, the literature indicates that MHAs are effective in improving oral hygiene in adolescents and children and reducing the dental plaque index, including in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. MHAs are also able to reduce the symptoms of patients affected by obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and improve the swallowing-related quality of life of elderly patients. MHAs are furthermore recommended to decrease dental anxiety among patients, both during dental procedures and the post-operative period. MHAs are useful to spread knowledge about traumatic dental injuries among non-oral health professionals and to monitor dental erosion and awake bruxism. MHAs' clinical outcomes might have been influenced by the demographic features of the subjects involved. Further studies considering a longer follow-up period and larger samples are needed. In conclusion, MHAs can be considered a useful tool to monitor oral disease and increase patients' quality of life related to oral health.

Latest Findings of the Regenerative Materials Application in Periodontal and Peri-Implant Surgery: A Scoping Review.

Regenerative dentistry represents a therapeutic modern approach involving biomaterials and biologics such as mesenchymal stem cells. The role of regenerative dentistry is promising in all branches of dentistry, especially in periodontology and implantology for the treatment of bony defects around teeth and implants, respectively. Due to the number of different materials that can be used for this purpose, the aim of the present review is to evidence the regenerative properties of different materials both in periodontitis and peri-implantitis as well as to compare their efficacy. Clinical trials, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, and cohort studies have been considered in this review. The outcome assessed is represented by the regenerative properties of bone grafts, barrier membranes, and biological materials in the treatment of intrabony and furcation defects, peri-implantitis sites, alveolar ridge preservation, and implant site development. Based on the studies included, it can be stated that in the last years regenerative materials in periodontal and peri-implant defects treatments have shown excellent results, thus providing valuable support to surgical therapy. To achieve optimal and predictable results, clinicians should always consider factors like occlusal load control, prevention of microbial contamination, and wound dehiscence. Further evidence is required about the use of enamel matrix derivative in alveolar ridge preservation, as well as of stem cells and bone morphogenetic proteins-2 in furcation defects and peri-implantitis sites. Considering the high amount of research being conducted in this field, further evidence is expected to be obtained soon.

Current Salivary Glands Biopsy Techniques: A Comprehensive Review.

Biopsy is a surgical procedure performed to collect a portion of tissue or organ for diagnostic studies. The aim of the present manuscript is to describe state-of-the-art major and minor salivary gland biopsy techniques and assess the indications and complications of other salivary gland biopsy techniques. A search was performed using the following MeSH terms: biopsy, fine-needle biopsies, image-guided biopsies, frozen sections, and salivary glands disease. A current overview of major and minor salivary glands biopsy techniques was provided. In the oncological field, a comparison was made between the most widely used biopsy method, ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNAB), and an alternative method, ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (US-guided CNB), highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, intra-operative frozen sections (IOFSs) were presented as an additional intraoperative diagnostic method. Minor salivary gland biopsy (MSGB) is the simplest diagnostic method used by clinicians in the diagnosis of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In neoplastic lesions, US-FNAB represents the most performed method; however, due to its low diagnostic accuracy for non-neoplastic specimens, US-guided CNB has been introduced as an alternative method.

SILVIO PALAZZI (1892-1979), A PIONEER OF MODERN ITALIAN DENTISTRY / SILVIO PALAZZI (1892-1979), UN PIONIERE DELLA MODERNA ODONTOIATRIA ITALIANA

It is not easy to analyse a complex figure like Silvio Palazzi (1892-1979). Without a doubt, he was one of the most prominent figures in the Italian odontostomatology scene for about fifty years and one of the absolute protagonists of the transition of Italian dentistry from the pioneering era to the scientific. He was certainly a precursor and a man with an open mind, endowed with a broad vision. Palazzi had an eclectic, versatile personality, from certain points of view even brilliant but also unpredictable and difficult to understand. He was at the centre of Italian dentistry's academic and professional life; few can boast of a didactic, clinical, scientific activity like his. Having become, at a young age, the director of a clinic that was still little more than a dental practice, he was able to make it grow, revitalise it, bring it to a level of excellence that had no comparison in Italy but that could be compared to that of the great European dental clinics. He was the author of a "Treaty of Odontology" (which had seven editions) on which entire generations of dentists were formed, and he wrote over five hundred scientific publications in all the fields of Odontostomatology. He particularly favoured histological and histochemical investigations, as he often recalled, for having been trained in this sense by his attendance at the Institute of General Pathology of Pavia directed by Camillo Golgi (1843-1926, Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1906). In the clinical field, every sector of the dental discipline saw him as an attentive and passionate scholar, in particular of Endodontics and Periodontology. Furthermore, he was a pioneer of implantology when this branch received more criticism than success and began research on the prophylactic action of fluoride when many were against it. He fought assiduously for a different Italian dental legislation: he was a convinced supporter of a special Degree Course for the preparation of the future dentists, already in the Fifties. Since this project seemed difficult to carry out, he proposed, if nothing else, the requirement of a post-graduate specialisation to guarantee suitable training to dental practitioners. Despite this, due to his often aggressive and argumentative attitude, he lost the friendship of many colleagues and created numerous enemies. Certainly, he was a character who cannot go unnoticed and who, forty years after his death, deserves a careful historical evaluation.

Iginio Tansini (1855-1943): An Italian surgeon and an innovator between the 19th and the 20th centuries.

The aim of this paper is to describe the figure of the Italian surgeon Iginio Tansini (1855-1943), who was full professor of surgery and director of the Department of Surgery at the University of Pavia (1903-1931). In that period, he modernized the School of Surgery founded by Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832) in the previous century; he introduced the experimental method in the discipline. One of his major contributions was an innovative technique of mastectomy followed by plastic reconstruction with myocutaneous flap. Tansini was a pioneer in oncology, supporting the importance of an early diagnosis based on a biopsy; he was also the first in Italy to practice a gastrectomy for stomach cancer with success in 1887.

Orthodontic Treatment and Healthcare Goals: Evaluation of Multibrackets Treatment Results Using PAR Index (Peer Assessment Rating).

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of orthodontic treatment outcomes using an objective method is important in order to maintain high treatment quality and final healthcare of patients. It allows professionals and university students to raise the level of the therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the orthodontic treatment outcomes in an Italian postgraduate School of Orthodontics using Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) Index. METHODS: A sample of 50 patients treated in a postgraduate program was randomly selected. PAR index was used to assess pre-treatment and post-treatment study casts by two different examiners. The influence of different variables such as gender, treatment method, and need for extraction was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The average numerical reduction of PAR between the beginning and the end of the treatment was 18.74 (CI 95% 16.53-20.95), while the percentage reduction was 94.8% (CI 95% 91.91-97.68). All cases improved: 8% of patients resulted in the improved category, while 92% of them were in the greatly improved group. CONCLUSIONS: According to PAR index, the results showed that patients received a high-standard therapy. None of the factors studied influenced significantly the treatment outcomes.

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari": The Scientific Debate on Hypnosis and Its Legal Implications between the 19th and the 20th Century.

Movies could provide unexpected information on the state of medical knowledge in different historical periods. The first centenary of the German silent horror movie Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) by Robert Wiene (1873-1938) could be a timely occasion to reflect on the scientific debate of hypnosis and its legal implications between the 19th and the 20th century. In particular, this article describes the positions of the School of Salpêtrière (Charcot) and the School of Nancy (Bernheim) on the possibility of crimes committed by subjects under hypnosis and the influence of these theories on medical community and public opinion of Germany in the interwar period.

Angelo Chiavaro (1870-1944), the first "American style" Italian dentist.

Angelo Chiavaro (1870-1944) took his Medicine Degree at the University of Florence and then moved to the University of Philadelphia; he was the first Italian doctor to enroll and graduate from the Philadelphia Dental School, obtaining in 1899 the diploma of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In 1915, he was the first full professor of Dental Clinics in Rome; in 1923, he established a "National School of Dentistry" in Rome and his aim was to confer the first Italian degree in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics following a University educational path similar to American schools.

Endosseous distal extension (EDE) blade implant technique useful to provide stable pillars in the ipotrophic lower posterior sector: 22 years statistical survey.

The aim of this issue is to describe endosseous distal extension (EDE) surgical technique. This implant technique was conceived and applied since 1993 by Dr Luca Dal Carlo, as an evolution of the classical ramus blade implant technique. With this technique, you attain great stability of the blade implant, due to the following difference compared with the classical blade implant technique: the hard and soft tissues lying behind implant abutment are not being destroyed at all. A slot is made on the upper side of the bone ridge, and the blade is inserted into it and pushed backwards, so that the implant is embedded under untouched tissues. Using blade implants specially drawn for this particular surgery, the slot's length turns out to be about half of the implant's length. Piezo bistoury is useful to facilitate surgical proceedings. If we compare the regenerated bone on the mesial part of the implant and the bone that had remained untouched on the distal side, we will see a difference in the tissue density even after a long time. EDE technique is suitable for those cases in which the lower distal sector is characterized by scarceness of cancellous bone. Data collected during 22 years of clinical practice (97.7% 5-year success rate) allow to suggest employing this technique with asymmetric blades to treat D3-D4 narrow ridges located in the posterior mandible. Soft tissue response results are very good.

Beniamino De Vecchis (1886-1972) Italian Dentist and Historian.

Beniamino De Vecchis (1886-1972) took his Medicine Degree at the University of Naples and then moved to the University of Philadelphia to carry out experimental studies in dental science. He had been Professor of Dentistry at the University of Rome in the second half of twentieth century and was an author of important essays about dentistry and history of dentistry. Moreover, he was the first author of an Italian treatise about orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics. In this paper we propose to analyze and evaluate his contributions to dentistry in his country of Italy.