Tensile Bond Strength and Retention of Three Types of Ceramic Endocrowns.

Statement of the Problem: By development of adhesive dentistry and noble mechanical strength of ceramics, reconstruction of posterior teeth with partial coverage restorations such as ceramic endocrowns is possible. Different ceramics may show different mechanical properties which should be investigated. Purpose: The aim of this experimental in vitro study was to compare the tensile bond strength of endocrowns made by CAD-CAM using 3 types of ceramics. Materials and Method: In this in vitro study, 30 fresh extracted human molars were prepared to evaluate the tensile bond strength of endocrowns made by IPS e.max CAD, Vita Suprinity, and Vita Enamic blocks (n=10). The specimens were mounted and endodontically treated. Standard preparations were done with 4.5±0.5 mm intracoronal extensions into the pulp chamber and the restorations were designed and milled by CAD-CAM technique. All specimens were cemented with a dual polymerizing resin cement according to the manufacturer's instructions. The specimens were incubated for 24 hours and then thermocycled for 5000 cycles at 5-55°C and underwent the tensile strength test by universal testing machine (UTM). Shapiro-Wilk and one-way ANOVA test were used to statistically analyzed (α= 0.05). Results: The highest tensile bond strength values were achieved in IPS e.max CAD (216.39 ±22.67N) and Vita Enamic (216.22±17.72N) followed by Vita Suprinity (211.54±20.01N). There was no significant statistical difference between retention of endocrowns made by CAD-CAM technique among ceramic blocks (p= 0.832). Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, there was no significant difference between retention of endocrowns made by IPS e.max CAD, Vita Enamic, and Vita Suprinity as ceramic blocks.

Social media and sociodemographic characteristics associated with general health in breast cancer patients: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: little is known about social media (SM) use among breast cancer (BC) patients and their general health (GH). This study aimed to evaluate the impact of SM and sociodemographic characteristics associated with GH in BC patients during the treatment phases. Methods: a retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on BC patients at Shiraz University from December 2017 to August 2020. Data on clinical, epidemiological, and GH information were collected using a general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). Univariate analysis was performed to determine the impact of SM on GH. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression models [odds ratio (OR)] were performed to identify sociodemographic factors that affect the GH of BC patients. Results: amongst the 353 individuals with BC, 339 (96%) were female. Their mean age was 48.98 ± 11.57 years. Two hundred and thirty (65.2%) patients used SM; the most frequent SM application was WhatsApp by 209 participants (59.2%). Univariate analysis showed a significant social dysfunction among SM nonusers compared to their users (6.68 ± 2.87 vs. 7.87 ± 3.22) and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). The use of SM for 3 hours or less was associated with less social dysfunction. However, the difference was not statistically significant (22.80± 12.48 vs. 25.21 ± 10.17, p =0.415). Multivariate logistic regression showed that using SM and working outdoors was positively associated with GH (OR = 0.68, 95% CI =0.29-1.59) and (OR =0.92, 95% CI = 0.54-1.57), respectively. However, female gender and use of chemotherapy were negatively associated with GH (OR = 2.96, 95% CI = 0.74-11.72, and OR =1.47, 95% CI = 0.83-2.57), respectively. Age, marital status, educational level, and disease duration were not statistically associated with GH. Conclusion: using SM and working outdoors directly and positively impact the behavior of people who have BC, while the female gender and those under chemotherapy were negatively associated with GH in BC patients.

The Correlation between Using Social Networks and the General Health of Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) threatens the patients' independency and ability to effectively participate in the society. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between using social networks on the general health of multiple sclerosis patients. METHODS: This study was performed on 80 MS patients referring to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Chamran, and Imam Reza Hospital in 2017, whose condition had improved and were treated by a specialist physician. Tools for data collection were general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and social networks use questionnaires. RESULTS: Amongst the 80 individuals with MS, 65 (81.3%) were female and 15 (18.8%) were male. Our results suggest that patients with higher levels of education had higher levels of health (P = 0.01). Telegram and WhatsApp, respectively, had a positive correlation with general health (P = 0.007, P = 0.007), anxiety (P = 0.003, P = 0.028), and social dysfunction (P = 0.007, P = 0.007). WhatsApp with 33.64% was the most popular application among MS patients. The correlation between general health and duration of using social networks was not statistically significant (r = 0.22, P = 0.06). Also, no significant correlation was found between the duration of using social networks and the general health (P = 0.62). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that social networks, especially Telegram and WhatsApp, had a positive correlation with general health, anxiety, and social dysfunction of patients. Therefore, the use of social networks can be considered as a suitable option in reducing the aforementioned concerns among patients with MS. On the other hand, general health and mood status might as well influence the use of social network in MS patients.

The impact of social media use on depression in multiple sclerosis patients.

Social media is a powerful tool in providing information and support for minority groups such as patients with chronic diseases. We aimed to assess the link between using online social media and depression in a sample population of Iranian Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. In this cross-sectional study, a number of MS patients between 18-55 years were recruited. The Persian-language version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II-Persian) was used to screen MS patients for depression. We selected a cut-off point of 16 to identify depressed MS patients, who answered the self-administered questionnaire designed by the authors (the validity and reliability was confirmed before). Patients, whose interaction with social networks and communication tools was limited to < 1 h/day for < 5 times/month, were allocated as controls. A two-sided p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We compared the depression score between patients who used internet and social media (16.38 ± 8.35) with those who did not (25 ± 13.98). We found out there was a significant difference (p = 0.046). However, there were no significant differences between the type (r = 0.098, p = 0.513) and duration (r = - 0.102, p = 0.564) of social media with depression score. Also, based on a cut-off of 3 number of social media there was no significant difference in the status of depression among patients (p = 0.921). Based on the experience of patients, it is helpful to implement a source using online social media to facilitate patients' access to rehabilitation support and establish support groups with standard supervised information delivery.

Positive Impact of Social Media Use on Depression in Cancer Patients

Objective: The focus of attention was the prevalence of depression among cancer patients using social networks. An attempt was made to determine if social media could help cancer patients overcome their stress and depression, causes of serious emotional and mental problems for them and their families. Methods: To ascertain the prevalence of depression among cancer patients with reference to use of social networks, 316 cancer patients in the Association of Cancer Patients and cancer-related centers in Tehran at 2015 were evaluated. Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory. Data were analyzed by the Chi-square test with SPSS software. Results: Using the Beck criteria, 61% (N=192) of patients were depressed. Interestingly, a significant difference was observed between depression in users and non-users of social networks (p=0.001), 33.9% and 66.1% being affected, respectively. Conclusion: These results verified a high incidence of depression in cancer patients, but a beneficial effect of social network use. Therefore access to social networks should be promoted for prevention and amelioration of depression. Moreover, it is recommended that particular attention be paid to the patient sex and educational level in designing counseling and psychological skill training programs.