Antero-posterior and vertical facial type variations influence the aesthetic preference of the antero-posterior lip positions.

UNLABELLED: SummaryObjectives: The purposes of this study were to investigate whether the antero-posterior and vertical facial type variations influenced the favoured lip positions and to elucidate whether the favoured lip positions differed between orthodontists and laypersons. METHODS: An average profile was constructed from a Japanese female with Class I occlusion and a well-balanced profile, as assessed by several cephalometric analyses. Nine facial types were composed by morphing the chin antero-posteriorly and/or vertically. Thirteen morphed lip profiles were constructed by moving the lips antero-posteriorly in the nine facial types, respectively. Seventy-seven Japanese laypersons and 30 orthodontists were asked to choose the top three most-favoured lip positions for each facial type. RESULTS: The protruded lip positions were significantly favoured for all the mandibular protrusive facial types. The retruded lip positions were significantly favoured for the short facial type of the antero-posteriorly average and mandibular retrusive-short facial types. Among the mandibular protrusive facial types, the protruded lip positions were significantly favoured for the long facial type. The retruded lip positions were statistically more attractive for orthodontists than laypersons on the antero-posteriorly average-short, mandibular protrusive-short, mandibular retrusive-vertically average, antero-posteriorly average-vertically average, and mandibular retrusive-long facial types. LIMITATIONS: Our data were limited by the specific ethnic groups and variety of facial types. CONCLUSION: The favoured antero-posterior lip position was affected by not only the antero-posterior facial disproportion but also by the vertical dimensions. The favoured lip positions differed between orthodontists and laypersons. These results might be helpful in deciding between extraction and non-extraction treatment in borderline cases.

Development of a novel plasmid vector pTIO-1 adapted for electrotransformation of Porphyromonas gingivalis.

We report here the construction of a plasmid vector designed for the efficient electrotransformation of the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. The novel Escherichia coli-Bacteroides/P. gingivalis shuttle vector, designated pTIO-1, is based on the 11.0-kb E. coli-Bacteroides conjugative shuttle vector, pVAL-1 (a pB8-51 derivative). To construct pTIO-1, the pB8-51 origin of replication and erythromycin resistance determinant of pVAL-1 were cloned into the E. coli cloning vector pBluescript II SK(-) and non-functional regions were deleted. pTIO-1 has an almost complete multiple cloning site from pBluescript II SK(-). The size of pTIO-1 is 4.5kb, which is convenient for routine gene manipulation. pTIO-1 was introduced into P. gingivalis via electroporation, and erythromycin-resistant transformants carrying pTIO-1 were obtained. We characterized the transformation efficiency, copy number, host range, stability, and insert size capacity of pTIO-1. An efficient plasmid electrotransformation of P. gingivalis will facilitate functional analysis and expression of P. gingivalis genes, including the virulence factors of this bacterium.