Assessment of human intraoral thermal sensitivity with simple devices in the clinic: implications for orofacial pain conditions.

AIMS: To use simple thermal devices with different diameters and temperatures to investigate reliability and magnitude of human intraoral thermal sensitivity. METHODS: Sixteen healthy volunteers participated. Six thermal devices with tapered circular ends (stimulus diameter 3, 5, and 10 mm) were used. Three different temperatures (room temperature, heat, and cold) were applied with each of the three diameters, ie, nine combinations. Participants were stimulated in randomized order at nine different sites: tongue, lip, maxillary attached gingiva adjacent to the left and right central incisors (without touching the lip) and to the left and right premolars (with or without touching the lip), and the left and right cheeks extraorally. Participants rated the perceived stimulus intensity on 0-50- 100 numeric rating scales (NRS). The number of paradoxical thermal sensations was also recorded. Ten volunteers were examined twice on the same day and recalled for a second session for assessment with the 5-mm-diameter device of within- and between-session reliability (interclass correlation coefficients [ICC]). The results were analyzed using a three-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: Reliability of NRS scores ranged from poor (ICC = 0.09, with cold stimulation at the premolar region) to excellent (ICC > 0.92, with cold stimulation at the cheek or tongue). NRS values varied with stimulus diameter (P < .050), temperature (P < .001), and sites (P < .001), with significant size x site and temperature x site interactions (P < .001). The tongue was the most sensitive site (P < .001) and the gingiva was the least sensitive site (P < .050). The 10-mm-diameter device produced higher NRS scores than the 3-mm-diameter device. CONCLUSION: The reliability of intraoral thermal sensitivity recorded with the 5-mm-diameter device varied greatly between different sites. Nonetheless, with this caveat in mind, the study did document that semiquantitative assessment of intraoral thermal sensitivity is feasible and applicable for clinical studies in different intraoral pain conditions.

Assessment of bone mineral density in the jaws and its relationship to radiomorphometric indices.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate maxillary, mandibular and femoral neck bone mineral density using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to determine any correlation between the bone mineral density of the jaws and panoramic radiomorphometric indices. METHODS: 49 edentulous patients (18 males and 31 females) aged between 41 and 78 years (mean age 60.2 +/- 11.04) were examined by panoramic radiography. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the jaws and femoral neck was measured with a DXA; bone mineral density was calculated at the anterior, premolar and molar regions of the maxilla and mandible. RESULTS: The mean maxillary molar BMD (0.45 g cm(-2)) was significantly greater than the maxillary anterior and premolar BMD (0.31 g cm(-2), P < 0.05). Furthermore, the mean mandibular anterior and premolar BMD (1.39 g cm(-2) and 1.28 g cm(-2), respectively) was significantly greater than the mean mandibular molar BMD (1.09 g cm(-2), P < 0.01). Although BMD in the maxillary anterior and premolar regions were correlated, BMD in all the mandibular regions were highly correlated. Maxillary and mandibular BMD were not correlated with femoral BMD. In addition, mandibular cortical index (MCI) classification, mental index (MI) or panoramic mandibular index (PMI) values were not significantly correlated with the maxillary and mandibular BMDs (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The BMD in this study was highest in the mandibular anterior region and lowest in the maxillary anterior and premolar regions. The BMD of the jaws was not correlated with either femoral BMD or panoramic radiomorphometric indices.

An assessment of skeletal and dental responses to the functional magnetic system (FMS).

Correction of a skeletal Class II malocclusion with functional appliances has been accepted as a viable treatment modality. However, its mechanism of action is still disputed. This retrospective study compared 20 Class II patients treated with the functional magnetic system (FMS) with Class I and Class II groups (the control groups) of 20 untreated subjects each. Dental and skeletal changes were compared using serial lateral cephalograms. The FMS group differed significantly from the control groups in 15 of 24 parameters. The great increase in articulare-gnathion distance (3.07 mm) attributed to the attractive magnetic component of the FMS dictates a prolonged propulsion of the mandible. The skeletal:dental response ratio was 1:2 for the anterior region and 1:1 for the posterior region. The dental and skeletal parameters demonstrated a synergistic response in the maxilla and a competitive response in the mandible. This means that greater maxillary molar distal movement and incisor retroclination resulted in a more significant restraint of point A. In contrast, increasing the mandibular molar mesial movement and the incisor proclination accompanied less advancement of the pogonion. Although the skeletal contribution to the resolution of the malocclusion was less than the dental contribution (anteriorly, one third), the functional correction response was found to be regulated by skeletal factors.

Aproximación al perfil de oclusión dentaria en preescolares del municipio Maracaibo: estudio piloto / An approach to the profile of dental occlusion in preschool children from Maracaibo: a pilot study

El estudio determina, en una primera aproximación, el perfil de oclusión en preescolares del Municipio Maracaibo, Estado de Zulia, Venezuela, y las condiciones de beneficio y riesgo para el establecimiento de una oclusión normal. Fueron seleccionados, utilizando el muestreo aleatorio, 174 niños de parvularios público, semi-privado y privado. Para la recolección de información se utilizó una entrevista que proporcionó las características socio-económicas del grupo familiar y la historia clínica que incluyó información antropométrica y otras variables anatomofuncionales que condicionan las características oclusales del individuo, basada en modelos que identificaron las características de erupción, el desarrollo oclusal, relaciones de oclusión y longitud de arco. Los resultados reportaron un 54,3 por ciento de padres y representantes con poder adquisitivo (PA) bajo, lo que corresponde con la elevada prevalencia de caries dental (29,8 por ciento) en los niños de este grupo y su acceso a servicios públicos de salud cuya respuesta a los problemas buco-dentales es fundamentalmente curativo-mutiladora. Los niños del grupo del PA alto superaron en peso y estatura a los de los grupos de PA medio y bajo. En el perfil de oclusión se observó en las niñas el inicio temprano (4 1/2 a 5 1/2 años de edad) de la etapa de dentición mixta. Los espacios de primate, crecimiento y las alteraciones de alineamiento dental se diagnosticaron en el 80,8 por ciento, 79,9 por ciento y 27,01 por ciento de los casos, respectivamente. La línea media aparece desviada en el 51,72 por ciento de los niños y en los mayores de 5 1/2 años (76 individuos) sólo se identificó en el 43,42 por ciento (33 casos) la relación de los primeros molares permanentes, predominando la relación molar bilateral en llave de Angle. Se diagnosticaron hábitos bucales perjudiciales: respiración bucal (58 por ciento), deglución atípica (52,9 por ciento) y succión digital (24,1 por ciento). La baja prevalencia de caries, los espacios de primate y crecimiento son condiciones beneficiosas para los hábitos bucales perjudiciales y la malposición dental diagnosticada en el 57,7 por ciento de los examinados, entre otras, permiten concluir que existen condiciones de riesgo para el establecimiento de una oclusión normal

Estimativa da idade dentaria em alunos de escolas publicas de nivel socio-economico baixo na cidade de Teresina - Piaui / Dental age estimate of low-income public school students in the city of Teresina - Piaui

Os autores, verificando a diversidade entre as varias tabelas de cronologia de mineralizacao da denticao permante, pesquisaram pelo metodo radiologico panoramico uma amostra de 240 criancas piauienses de ambos os sexos, na faixa etaria de 7 a 14 anos, com a finalidade de verificar o comportamento do desenvolvimento dentario no proprio nordeste, para obtencao de uma tabela de maior seguranca e precisao, aplicavel naquela regiao.