Exploring the impact of type II diabetes mellitus on voice quality.

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the potential of voice analysis as a prescreening tool for type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by examining the differences in voice recordings between non-diabetic and T2DM participants. METHODS: 60 participants diagnosed as non-diabetic (n = 30) or T2DM (n = 30) were recruited on the basis of specific inclusion and exclusion criteria in Iran between February 2020 and September 2023. Participants were matched according to their year of birth and then placed into six age categories. Using the WhatsApp application, participants recorded the translated versions of speech elicitation tasks. Seven acoustic features [fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), voice onset time (VOT), and formant (F1-F2)] were extracted from each recording and analyzed using Praat software. Data was analyzed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov, two-way ANOVA, post hoc Tukey, binary logistic regression, and student t tests. RESULTS: The comparison between groups showed significant differences in fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, CPP, and HNR (p < 0.05), while there were no significant differences in formant and VOT (p > 0.05). Binary logistic regression showed that shimmer was the most significant predictor of the disease group. There was also a significant difference between diabetes status and age, in the case of CPP. CONCLUSIONS: Participants with type II diabetes exhibited significant vocal variations compared to non-diabetic controls.

Effects of brushing duration on the efficacy of dental plaque removal: An in vitro study.

INTRODUCTION: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of varying brushing times on the dental plaque-removal efficacy of a power toothbrush to determine the optimal length of time required to brush the teeth. METHODS: A typodont with 32 teeth was divided into four quadrants and further divided into four zones each (two teeth per zone). Using a robotic arm, toothbrushing was performed over eight different brushing times (0, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 360, and 420 s) to remove the artificial plaque applied on the labial surface of the teeth in occlusion. Photographs were taken every 60 s from each zone of the typodont. The images obtained were processed using ImageJ software to measure the percentage of remaining plaque. Data were analysed with factorial ANOVA, least squares regression analysis, and post hoc Tukey tests. RESULTS: Plaque removal significantly increased with brushing time across the brushing intervals studied (p < 0.05). Efficient plaque removal was achieved after 240 s of brushing. There was no significant difference in plaque accumulations between the maxillary and mandibular arch (p = 0.19) and the right and left areas after each time interval (p = 0.49). CONCLUSION: Brushing duration is negatively correlated with the remaining plaque for a given toothbrush. Two minutes of brushing is not sufficient for significant plaque removal. Considering the limitations of this in vitro study, clinical studies are needed in order to change brushing recommendations to 240 s.

Prevalence of dental anomalies in different facial patterns and malocclusions in an Iranian population.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and association of dental anomalies with different types of malocclusions and facial patterns. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the records of patients referred to the Orthodontics Department at 12-20 years of age were collected. The patients were classified into four types of malocclusion: Cl I, Cl II div 1, Cl II div 2, and Cl III, and three types of facial patterns: normal, long, and short. Fifteen dental anomalies were searched within the documents. The statistical analysis of data was performed with chi-squared and Fisher's exact test. Results: Among 602 patients evaluated in this study, 28.6% were males, and 71.4% were females. The prevalence of Cl I, Cl II div1, Cl II div 2, and Cl III was 58.3%, 28.7%, 5.5%, and 7.5%, respectively. The normal facial pattern was most prevalent (47.2%), followed by the long facial pattern (41.4%) and short facial pattern (11.5%); 60.7% of the study population had at least one dental anomaly. Dilaceration was the most common anomaly (27.7%), followed by impaction (21.8%) and hypodontia (18.9%). Most dental anomalies were found in females, Cl II malocclusion, and long face samples. A statistically significant association was found between transposition and male gender (P = 0.006) and between short roots and Cl II malocclusion (P = 0.047). No significant association was found between dental anomalies and facial patterns. Conclusion: Significant associations were reported between transposition and male gender and between short roots and Cl II malocclusion. In our population, dilaceration was the most common dental anomaly.