Evaluation of tissue conditioner-assisted complete denture restoration: A randomized controlled clinical trial.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical effect of three impression methods, conventional, closed-mouth, and tissue conditioner, on complete denture fabrication. METHODS: 60 subjects (edentulous with severely resorbed alveolar ridges - Atwood classification III or IV) who visited the Prosthodontic Department of Wuxi Stomatology Hospital, China, between January 2022 and June 2023, were selected for this study. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups of 20: a conventional impression group (CI group), a closed-mouth impression group (CM group), and a tissue conditioner group (TC group). Three months after denture restoration was completed, denture quality was assessed by clinicians in terms of marginal extension, retention, and stability. In addition, patients completed the oral health impact profile-edentulous (OHIP-EDENT) questionnaire to provide subjective satisfaction evaluations of the final denture restoration outcomes. RESULTS: The comprehensive denture quality evaluation results showed that the TC group had the lowest score, which was significantly lower than that of the CM (P= 0.014) and CI (P< 0.001) groups. The average score of the CM group was also significantly lower than that of the CI group (P= 0.004), indicating that tissue conditioner restoration was the most effective method. The OHIP-EDENT scores gradually decreased across the groups from CI to CM to TC (P= 0.001), indicating patients' oral health was significantly improved using tissue conditioner. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Tissue conditioner is a suitable dynamic functional impression method. It can significantly improve the effects for edentulous patients and increase their satisfaction.

Follicle-stimulating hormone promotes proliferation of cultured chicken ovarian germ cells through protein kinases A and C activation.

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on embryonic chicken ovarian germ cell proliferation and its possible involvements of protein kinases A (PKA) and C (PKC) pathways. Ovarian cells were treated with FSH alone or in the presence of forskolin (FRSK), PKA inhibitor (H(89)), PKC activator (PMA) or inhibitor (H(7)). The germ cell number was counted from micropictures. The immunocytochemistry of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was applied to identify the proliferating cells. The germ cell labeling index (LI) was determined for cell proliferation. The FSH treatment increased the germ cell number, and this stimulating effect was enhanced by FRSK or PMA, but inhibited by H(89) or H(7) in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the PCNA-LI showed parallel changes with germ cell numbers. This study suggests that FSH may stimulate proliferation of cultured chicken ovarian germ cells by activation of both the PKA and PKC signaling pathways.