Natural tooth preservation versus extraction and implant placement: patient preferences and analysis of the willingness to pay.

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the patients' willingness to pay (WTP) values and preference for the treatment of a tooth with very poor prognosis, among two options: root canal therapy and crown positioning or tooth extraction, implant insertion and crown positioning.Methods A total of 103 patients were recruited from a private dental clinic and interviewed. A questionnaire measured individuals' preferences among the two alternative treatments for a tooth with poor prognosis and the maximum amount of money they would be willing to pay for their choice with a starting bid of [euro]2,000 in [euro]100 increment/decrement. Demographic data, patient choice, median values and WTP association with socio-demographic factors (Student ttest and one-way ANOVA) and correlation between variables (Pearson chi-square test) were revealed.Results Seventy-six percent of patients expressed a preference for root canal therapy, while the remaining 24% chose the dental surgery. A fair agreement between previous experience and current therapeutic choice was found (P = 0.0001). The WTP median value was [euro]2,000 and 46% of participants would pay an additional sum of money for the therapy (median: [euro]300). The preferred treatment was influenced by previous experience, but no association was found between WTP values and socio-demographic factors.Conclusion Patients tend to prefer a conservative approach for the treatment of a tooth with poor prognosis and are willing to pay an additional fee to receive their treatment choice.

The antioxidant activity of sulphurous thermal water protects against oxidative DNA damage: a comet assay investigation.

Various studies have recently shown that sulphurous waters acts against the oxidants released during respiratory bursts of human neutrophils, and free radicals such as HO•, O2¯â€¢, Tempol and Fremy's salt. However, there is still a lack of data concerning their direct protection of DNA. The aim of this study was to investigate the antigenotoxicity effects of sulphurous water, which has never been previously investigated for this purpose, using the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) approach (comet assay). The comet assay is a sensitive method for assessing DNA fragmentation in individual cells in genotoxicity studies but can also be used to investigate the activity of agents that protect against DNA damage. The extent of migration was measured by means of SCGE, and DNA damage was expressed as tail moment. All of these assays were made using natural sulphurous water, degassed sulphurous water (no detectable HS), and reconstituted sulphurous water (degassed plus NaHS). DNA damages was significantly inhibited by natural water with HS concentrations of 5.0 and 2.5 µg/mL. The use of degassed water did not lead to any significant differences from baseline values, whereas the reconstituted water led to significant results overlapping those obtained using natural water. These findings confirm the importance of the presence of an HS group (reductive activity) and indicate that, in addition to their known mucolytic activity and trophic effects on respiratory mucosa, HS groups in sulphurous water also protect against oxidative DNA damage and contribute to the water's therapeutic effects on upper and lower airway inflammatory diseases.

Not innocent: relationships between knowers and knowledge.

Discussions about nursing knowledge have tended to focus on determining what kinds of knowledge are the most appropriate or most useful kinds for nursing. Should our methods be primarily empirical? What is the place of interpretive work? What kind of knowledge should have ascendancy in nursing? Framed in this way, these questions seem unanswerable. However, if we shift the terms of the discussion from appropriate kinds of knowledge and consider instead the relationship between knowledge and knowers, we can reflect on how we, as knowers, are related to what we think we know. Considering the relationship between knowers and knowledge foregrounds the situation of the knower, and questions about appropriate nursing knowledge can be seen to also always be questions of ethics and politics, value and power.