Morphological evaluation of gonial and antegonial regions in bruxers on panoramic radiographic images.

BACKGROUND: This is the first study to report both cortical and trabecular bone evaluation of mandibles in bruxers, within the knowledge of the authors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of bruxism on both the cortical and the trabecular bone in antegonial and gonial regions of the mandible, which is the attachment of the masticatory muscles, by using panoramic radiographic images. METHODS: In this study, the data of 65 bruxer (31 female, 34 male) and 71 non-bruxer (37 female, 34 male) young adult patients (20-30 years) were evaluated. Antegonial Notch Depth (AND), Antegonial-Index (AI), Gonial-Index, Fractal Dimension (FD) and Bone Peaks (BP) were evaluated on panoramic radiographic images. The effects of the bruxism, gender and side factors were investigated according to these findings. The statistical significance level was set atP ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The mean AND of bruxers (2.03 ± 0.91) was significantly higher than non-bruxers (1.57 ± 0.71; P < 0.001). The mean AND of males was significantly higher than females on both sides (P < 0.05). The mean AI of bruxers (2.95 ± 0.50) was significantly higher than non-bruxers (2.77 ± 0.43; P = 0.019). The mean FD on each side was significantly lower in bruxers than in non-bruxers (P < 0.05). The mean FD of males (1.39 ± 0.06) was significantly higher than females (1.37 ± 0.06; P = 0.049). BP were observed in 72.5% of bruxers and 27.5% of non-bruxers. The probability of existing BP, in bruxers was approximately 3.4 times higher than in non-bruxers (P = 0.003), in males was approximately 5.5 times higher than in females (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: According to the findings of this study, the morphological differences seen in cortical and trabecular bone in the antegonial and gonial regions of the mandible in bruxers can be emphasized as deeper AND, higher AI, increased of existing BPs, and lower FD, respectively. The appearance of these morphological changes on radiographs may be useful for indication and follow-up of bruxism. Gender is an effective factor on AND, existing BP and FD.

Assessing ChatGPT's Diagnostic Accuracy and Therapeutic Strategies in Oral Pathologies: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) models in the medical field is due to their ability to collaborate with clinicians in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of conditions. This research assesses the diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic strategies of Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) in comparison to dental professionals across 12 clinical cases. METHODOLOGY: ChatGPT 3.5 was queried for diagnoses and management plans for 12 retrospective cases. Physicians were tasked with rating the complexity of clinical scenarios and their agreement with the ChatGPT responses using a five-point Likert scale. Comparisons were made between the complexity of the cases and the accuracy of the diagnoses and treatment plans. RESULTS: ChatGPT exhibited high accuracy in providing differential diagnoses and acceptable treatment plans. In a survey involving 30 attending physicians, scenarios were rated with an overall median difficulty level of 3, showing acceptable agreement with ChatGPT's differential diagnosis accuracy (overall median 4). Our study revealed lower diagnosis scores correlating with decreased treatment management scores, as demonstrated by univariate ordinal regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: ChatGPT's rapid processing aids healthcare by offering an objective, evidence-based approach, reducing human error and workload. However, potential biases may affect outcomes and challenge less-experienced practitioners. AI in healthcare, including ChatGPT, is still evolving, and further research is needed to understand its full potential in analyzing clinical information, establishing diagnoses, and suggesting treatments.

Awareness of patients with impacted teeth about impacted teeth in Turkey: A questionnaire study.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and awareness levels of patients who have at least one impacted tooth and who had previously applied to the dentist. Study design: This study was conducted in patients aged 15 years and older who applied to Ordu University Faculty of Dentistry for routine examination and agreed to fill out the questionnaire form. A total of 325 people participated in the survey conducted to determine the awareness of patients applying to the faculty of dentistry about their existing impacted teeth. A Pearson's chi-square test was used for hypothesis testing when expected frequencies exceeded 5. Results: It was determined that 56.9 % (185) of the participants were aware of their existing teeth, while 43.1 % (140) were not aware. When the patients were evaluated according to the institutions they had visited, it was seen that the group who were most aware of the presence of impacted tooth were those who apply to the faculty of dentistry (74.4 %). The rate of being informed by dentists in the institutions that they had previously visited was higher in patients with university or post-university graduates (p < 0.05). The most common information given by the dentists to the patients about their impacted dental problems was that the tooth should be followed up (40.4 %), while the removal of the tooth constituted 28.4 % of the information given. Conclusion: This study showed that although patients are aware of their existing impacted teeth, their level of knowledge about the risks it may pose is low. For a healthy oral care and health, patients should be adequately informed about impacted teeth.