The effectiveness of decompression as initial treatment for jaw cysts: A 10-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Decompression is an approved alternative to cystectomy in the treatment of jaw cysts. This study aimed to evaluate its effectiveness as an initial procedure, as well as factors with potential to influence outcome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: the frequency of decompression was analysed, whether completed in one session or followed by enucleation at the Division of Oral Surgery and Orthodontics, Department of Dental Medicine and Oral Health, Medical University of Graz, from 2005 to 2015. Further analysis focussed on factors potentially influencing outcome: cyst location, histopathology, means of preserving the cyst opening, cyst size, patient age. RESULTS: In all, 53 patients with 55 jaw cysts (mean age of 35.1) were treated by initial decompression in the ten-year period. In the majority of cases, histopathological analysis revealed a follicular cyst (43.6%), followed by odontogenic keratocysts (23.7%), radicular cysts (21.8%), residual cysts (7.3%) and nasopalatine cysts (3.6%) Treatment was completed with a single decompression in 45.5% of the cases. Among those, 72.0% were follicular cysts and 8.0% odontogenic keratocysts. Subsequent enucleation was needed in 54.5% of all cases, with a majority in the keratocystic group (36.7%). Histological findings, means of keeping the cyst open, and patient age were found to influence the effectiveness of decompression. CONCLUSIONS: Decompression could be performed as a procedure completed in one session or combined with subsequent enucleation, mainly dependent on histopathological findings. Subsequent enucleation of odontogenic keratocysts is highly recommended.

First reported implementation of a German-language progress test in an undergraduate dental curriculum: A prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Progress testing is a special form of longitudinal and feedback-oriented assessment. Even though well established in human medical curricula, this is not the case in dental education. The aim was the prospective development and implementation of the first reported German-language Dental Progress Test (DPT) for the undergraduate dental curriculum at the Medical University of Graz, Austria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Participation in DPT was compulsory for all dental students in terms 7-12 (years 4-6). Three tests, each consisting of 100 items out of a pool of 375, were administered within 3 consecutive terms in 2016 and 2017. Rasch analyses were used to evaluate the questionnaire and identify misfitting items. RESULTS: In the item responses, 59.7% were "correct," 27.0% were "false" and 13.3% were answered with "don't know," with similar results at all 3 time points. The assumption of parallel ICC was met (T1: χ2  = 51.071, df = 74, P = .981; T2: χ2  = 57.044, df = 67, P = .802; T3: χ2  = 58.443, df = 72, P = .876) and item difficulties for the thematic fields were similarly distributed across the latent dimensions. CONCLUSION: The newly introduced DPT is appropriate for testing dental students and is well balanced for the tested target group.

Cone beam computerized tomography: basics for digital planning in oral surgery and implantology.

For the diagnosis of bone pathology, planning of complex implant-supported prosthetic restorations, and guaranteeing oral surgery that is as safe and free of complications as possible, a three-dimensional radiological display is frequently indicated. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), which can cover a large part of the indications of the dental and oral surgical spectrum, represents an alternative to computed tomography. Moreover, the method offers the advantage that it can also be used in the dental practice, taking the existing radiation protection regulations into account. This guarantees optimum patient and user friendliness, because referral to a specialized CT facility is thus no longer necessary in most cases. In the first 12 months of the trials of the Planmeca Promax 3D at the Department of Dental Surgery and Radiology of the University Clinic for Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine in Graz, the overwhelming majority of referrals for CBCT (almost 90%) was concerned with the field of oral surgery and implantology. Oral surgical questions mainly covered aspects of wisdom tooth anatomy, position of impacted canines, premolars, and mesiodents, as well as cystic lesions. Diagnoses of the maxillary sinuses and the area of tooth preservation represented further indications. Apart from diagnostic purposes, the objective of the referrals was facilitating optimum preparation for the pending operation. In the area of implantology, this was combined frequently with pre- or post-augmentative three-dimensional digital therapy planning. CBCT showed good results in the display of hard tissue structures and can be integrated without difficulty in the daily clinical routine.