Cone Beam Computed Tomography evaluation of midpalatal suture maturation according to age and sex: A systematic review.

AIM: To systematically review and analyse the available evidence and assess if a correlation exists in children and young adults between the chronological age and the degree of midpalatal suture maturation as assessed according to the method proposed by Angelieri et al. [2013]. METHODS: A search was performed in Medline/Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science during October 2020 for published studies analysing midpalatal suture maturation through cone beam tomography according to the method proposed by Angelieri et al. [2013]. The review was performed according to the PRISMA protocol and the articles were selected according to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. To assess the quality of reporting, the STROBE checklist was applied. CONCLUSION: The high variability of the maturational stages in the studied cohorts, highlights the poor correlation between suture maturation and chronological age in both genders, especially in young adults. According to our findings until the age of 14, the high prevalence of stages related to sutural opening does not justify CBCT assessment of the MPS and supports the use of a conventional protocol for maxillary expansion.

What is trending in paediatric dentistry? An Altmetric study on paediatric dentistry journals.

PURPOSE: To assess the online attention to research in the field of paediatric dentistry in relation to publication details and citations. METHODS: The articles were identified by a search performed through the Dimensions Free App. The search included the six journals related to paediatric dentistry listed in the SCImago Journal and Country Rank. The 200 articles with the highest AAS (Altmetric Attention Score) were collected and screened for data related to publication, authorship, and research topic. Citations were harvested from WOS (Web of Science) and Scopus. RESULTS: The 86.3% of the 200 articles belonged to only two of the journals: the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry and the European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry. The 53.5% of the articles were published between 2014 and 2019. The mean AAS was 8.3. Cross-sectional studies were the most prevalent study design. AAS did not correlate to the number of citations as reported in WOS and Scopus. CONCLUSIONS: Online attention to research in paediatric dentistry can be improved. According to the topic, erosion studies displayed high visibility. The classic citation count in combination with the AAS offers a more comprehensive insight iinto research. The online profile of journals and their social media dissemination policies should be improved to facilitate the spread of research information in scholar and non-scholar audiences through the web.

The effect of maxillary protraction, with or without rapid palatal expansion, on airway dimensions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: The use of maxillary protraction appliances (MPAs) and Facemask (FM), with or without a rapid maxillary expansion (RME), have become a routine orthopaedic treatment procedure for the treatment of Class III in growing individuals; several authors have suggested that maxillary protraction could have a positive impact on airway dimensions. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy of maxillary protraction appliances (MPAs), with or without a rapid maxillary expansion (RME), on airway dimensions in children in mixed or early permanent dentition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was performed on PubMed, Medline, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE and the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe until November 30th, 2019. The Newcastle-Ottawa (NOS) scale was used to assess the studies' quality. Review Manager 5.3 (provided by the Cochrane Collaboration) was used to synthesize the effects on airway dimensions. RESULTS: After full text assessment, 8 studies were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. NOS scores ranged 6 to 9 indicating high quality. The effects of two therapeutic protocols were compared, treatment with MPAs only (113 subjects treated - 65 controls) and the treatment with MPAs + RME (137 subjects treated- 87 controls). The MPAs only treatment group displayed a significantly increase in nasopharyngeal airway dimension at PNS-AD1 (random: mean difference, 1.39 mm, 95% CI, 0.32 mm, 2.47 mm, p= 0.01) and at PNS-AD2 (random: mean difference, 1.70 mm, 95% CI, 1.14 mm, 2.26 mm, p= 0.00001). No statistically significant changes were found post treatment in MPAs + RME treatment groups at PNS-AD1 (P= 0.15), PNS-AD2 (P= 0.17), McNamara's upper pharynx (MPAs + RME P= 0.05, MPAs P= 0.99) and McNamara lower pharynx (MPAs + RME P= 0.25, MPAs P= 0.40). CONCLUSION: MPAs only treatment can increase the pharyngeal thickness after treatment both at PNS-A1 and PNS-AD2. MPA+ RME had no effect on sagittal widths compared with controls, but the effect on the transverse dimension could not be assessed.

Citation classics in paediatric dentistry: a bibliometric study on the 100 most-cited articles.

PURPOSE: To perform a bibliometric analysis on the 100 most-cited articles to provide a historical perspective in the scientific advancement of research, and to identify the areas of more intense research. To determine the correlation of the Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) with the number of citations. METHODS: The articles were identified through a search of the Web Of Science (WOS) database. The information relative to the articles was collected. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the articles and the journals. The Pearson's correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship among WOS citations, AAS and dimensions. RESULTS: The most-cited articles were published between 1967 and 2013. The articles were published in 18 different journals and cited from 69 to 305 times. The authors belonged to institutions in 20 different countries. The most common study design was observational followed by literature reviews. CONCLUSIONS: The journals with a special interest in paediatric dentistry published the majority of the 100 most-cited articles. The most frequent field of study was caries and EEC. MIH and OHRQL displayed a high number of citations per year. A poor correlation exists between the citation count in the WOS and the AAS. Dimension citation count has a strong correlation with the WOS one.