A conceptual framework for an oral cancer awareness campaign in Northern Germany - Challenges in campaign development and assessment.

Initial impetus for action: Oral cancer is still an underestimated disease in terms of incidence as well as mortality rates; it requires urgent prevention and early detection. At present, there is no best-practice systematic approach to raising awareness and informing the public about about this type of cancer in Germany. This article describes a framework that covers the significant stages of conceptual development and campaign design to promote oral cancer awareness in Germany. Solution: The challenges of the development, as well as evaluation of an oral cancer awareness campaign are shared in this article. Four key stages of the campaign are defined: (1) mass media, (2) target groups, (3) health care professionals, and (4) epidemiology. For each section, the following levels of assessment are proposed: (a) campaign development (formative assessment), (b) controlling and optimising campaign implementation (process assessment) and (c) measuring outcomes (summative assessment). Outcome: A process-oriented assessment concept for each of the four campaign sections was developed and merged to form a matrix, which includes each of the above sections regarding the prevention and early detection of oral cancer, as well as the three stages of campaign assessment. Future implications and learning points: The conceptual framework demonstrated that systematic planning and evaluation of different components helped to describe and evaluate an oral cancer campaign: For future campaigns, the use of a matrix covering different campaign targets as well as the entire campaign process, is recommended as a basis for campaign design and evaluation.

A comparison of biocompatibility and osseointegration of ceramic and titanium implants: an in vivo and in vitro study.

This study compared the biocompatibility in vitro and the osseointegration in vivo of zirconium and titanium implants regarding implant surfaces and the bone-implant contacts. The different implant surfaces and the biocompatibility of zirconium versus titanium implants were determined by vitality and cytotoxic tests in vitro. The contact of the osteoblasts to the implant surface was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The in vivo study for osseointegration was performed in domestic pigs over 4 and 12 weeks. In each animal, 4 zirconium and 4 titanium implants (WhiteSky, BlueSky, Bredent, Germany) were inserted in the os frontale and analysed by histomorphometry. Cytotoxicity and SEM showed good biocompatibility in relation to the investigated implant materials. Histological results showed direct bone-implant contact of the implant surfaces. The zirconium implants showed a slight delay in osseointegration in terms of bone-implant contact as measured by histomorphometry (after 4 weeks, zirconium (59.3 ± 4.6%) versus titanium (64.1 ± 3.9%); after 12 weeks, zirconium (67.1 ± 2.3%) versus titanium (73.6 ± 3.2%). A statistically significant difference between the two groups was not observed. The results indicated similar biocompatibility and osseointegration for zirconium compared to titanium implants.

Recent trends in incidence and mortality of oral and pharyngeal cancer in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany.

OBJECTIVE: Oral and pharyngeal cancer is still a serious public health problem with more than 10,000 new cases every year in Germany, more than 4,000 patients die of this tumour each year. Aim of the project was a detailed analysis on incidence and mortality rates by age, gender and tumour sites in Northern Germany. METHODS: The data on incidence and mortality rates from the population-based Cancer Registry of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany were evaluated by age, gender and tumour sites from 2000 to 2006. RESULTS: Some 3,127 new cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer (72% men, 28% women) were registered. About half of all cases were aged 60-79 years. The incidence trends for 40-59 years described a slight decrease. Trends for pharyngeal cancer showed the highest incidence rates for both genders in those aged 60-79. This detailed analysis with subgroups showed interesting differences and revealed considerable variations, especially compared to the increasing trends in several European countries. CONCLUSIONS: These population-based data of Schleswig-Holstein showed interesting differences in the trends for incidence and mortality rates for age groups and tumour sites within the state and compared to the national German data and revealed noticeable different trends compared to several European countries. This population-based information informs effective cancer control.

Clinical longevity of removable partial dentures retained by telescopic crowns: outcome of the double crown with clearance fit.

PURPOSE: It was the aim of this study to investigate the long-term success of a telescopic crown system that can be used for both rigid and resilient support and to evaluate by means of a literature review whether the use of resilient support may be advantageous compared to other double crown systems when the restoration is placed on only a few remaining teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient records were used to evaluate 125 dentures (with 460 abutment teeth) based on the Marburg double crown system. The loss of abutment teeth, endodontic treatment, and fracture of the metallic framework were investigated with regard to the different types of denture support. RESULTS: The probability that a patient would have kept all abutment teeth was 84% after 5 years and 66% after 10 years. No significant differences were found for the two groups "resilient support" (< or = three abutment teeth) and "rigid support" (> or = four abutment teeth). For abutment teeth with a double crown with clearance fit, the risk of loss was 4% after 5 years and 15% after 10 years for rigid support, and 10% and 24%, respectively, for resilient support. The risk of endodontic treatment was 7% after 5 years and 9% after 10 years for rigid support, and 3% and 7%, respectively, for resilient support. None of the denture frameworks showed a fracture during the observation period. CONCLUSION: Removable partial dentures retained by double crowns with clearance fit and constructed without major or minor connectors provide good clinical longevity. The survival rates of abutment teeth were comparable to those reported in the literature for other double crown systems. There was no significant increase of the risk of abutment loss when the restoration was placed on three or fewer remaining teeth and the concept of resilient support was applied.