Insights into the concept of vitality: associations with participation and societal costs.

BACKGROUND: In healthcare, the focus is currently shifting from someone's disabilities to someone's abilities, which is also evident from the increasing focus on vitality. Vitality (here defined as energy, motivation and resilience) is an often used concept, which also aims at someone's capabilities. However, little is known about vitality yet; in particular about its association with participation and societal costs. METHODS: Within a cross-sectional design, information regarding vitality, participation and societal costs was collected among 8015 Dutch adults aged 20 years and over. Vitality was measured using the validated Dutch Vitality Questionnaire (Vita-16). Information on economic (i.e. want/able to work, work absenteeism, work performance), societal (i.e. voluntary work, informal care giving) and social participation (i.e. quantity and quality of social contacts) and societal costs (i.e. healthcare and work-related costs) was collected using an internet survey. RESULTS: Significant associations were found between vitality and various economic (i.e.sustainable employability:want to work: ß = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.99-1.43,able to work:ß = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.79-2.38;work absenteeism: OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.71-0.79;work performance:ß = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.46-0.52), societal (i.e.voluntary work, informal care) and social (i.e.quantity and quality of social contacts) participation measures, as well as between vitality and societal costs (i.e.healthcare costs:ß = -213.73, 95% CI: €-311.13 to €-107.08),absenteeism costs: ß = -338.57, 95% CI: €-465.36 to €-214.14 and presenteeism costs:ß = -1293.31, 95% CI: €-1492.69 to €-1088.95). CONCLUSION: This study showed significant positive associations between vitality and economic, societal and social participation and negative associations between vitality and societal costs. This may stimulate research on interventions enhancing and maintaining vitality and thereby contributing to improved participation and reduced costs.

The influence of force magnitude on intrusion of the maxillary segment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the magnitude of intrusive force to the maxillary incisors influences the rate of incisor intrusion or the axial inclination, extrusion, and narrowing of the buccal segments. Twenty patients between the ages of nine and 14 years who needed at least two mm of maxillary incisor intrusion were assigned to one of two equal groups. In group 1 patients, the teeth in the maxillary anterior segment were intruded using 40 g, whereas in group 2 patients, 80 g was used. Records were taken from each patient at the beginning and end of intrusion. There was no statistically significant difference between the 40- and 80-g groups in the rate of incisor intrusion, or the amount of axial inclination change, extrusion, and narrowing of the buccal segments.

The relation between the point of force application and flaring of the anterior segment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether application of an intrusive force by an intrusion arch at the distal wings of the lateral incisor brackets causes a change in the axial inclination of the anterior segment. Maxillary incisor intrusion was performed, and records were taken from 40 adolescent patients at the beginning and end of intrusion. Intrusion of the maxillary anterior segment caused a statistically significant mean increase in axial inclination of the central incisor of 8.74 degrees. The following correlations were investigated and found not statistically significant. The correlation between the (1) distance from the point of force application to the center of resistance at the start of intrusion and the change in axial inclination of the incisor, (2) distance from the point of force application to the center of resistance at the start of intrusion and the change in distance from the incisal edge to the distal side of the first molar, (3) distance from the point of intrusive force application to the center of resistance at the start of intrusion and at the end of intrusion, (4) distance from the point of intrusive force application to the center of resistance at the start of intrusion and the change in this distance between start and end of intrusion, and (5) amount of intrusion and the change in axial inclination.

The role of a high pull headgear in counteracting side effects from intrusion of the maxillary anterior segment.

Intrusion of incisors is often the preferred treatment of a deep overbite. This study focuses on deep overbite correction by intrusion of maxillary incisors. The purpose of this study is to determine whether high-pull headgear wear can prevent steepening of the buccal segment, extrusion of the buccal segment, maintain arch width, and increase the rate of incisor intrusion. The number of patients needed for this study was calculated to be 20. Patients were between nine and 14 years of age and assigned to one of two groups. In each group, intrusion of maxillary incisors was performed. Patients in one group wore a high-pull headgear at night, and patients in the other group did not. For each patient, a lateral head film, impressions with a wax bite in centric occlusion, and intraoral photographs were taken at the beginning and end of intrusion. This study demonstrated that high-pull headgear had no effect on steepening and extrusion of the buccal segments or on the rate of intrusion but did have an effect on narrowing of the buccal segments. By performing intrusion as described in this study, no statistically significant side effects were observed in the buccal segments, whereas a statistically significant amount of incisor intrusion of 2.24 mm in the no-headgear group and 2.37 mm in the headgear group was observed.

Presurgical satisfaction with facial appearance in orthognathic surgery patients.

Orthognathic surgery and orthodontic therapy are most often performed to improve the patient's appearance. However, not all patients are satisfied with the result though the procedure may be considered successful by the orthodontist and the maxillofacial surgeon. It has been suggested that the patient's satisfaction with his or her facial appearance before the surgery can predict later satisfaction with orthognathic procedures. The present study examined the role of several potential predictor variables in satisfaction with facial appearance before orthognathic treatment. The variables, identified in previous research, included severity of facial disharmony, self-concept, psychological distress, gender, age, and socioeconomic status. Questionnaires were gathered from 54 patients in 10 orthodontic practices in Connecticut and New York. Contrary to expectations, gender, age and socioeconomic status failed to predict patients' presurgical satisfaction with appearance. Self-concept, psychological distress, and orthodontists' ratings of total facial appearance (from a lateral view) were bivariate predictors of satisfaction. When all variables were analyzed with a multiple regression analysis, however, only self-concept emerged as a significant independent predictor of satisfaction with appearance. This accounted for 15% of the variance in satisfaction. Orthodontists' ratings of facial views, considered here objective measures of disharmony, were predictive neither of satisfaction with appearance nor of self-concept. It is suggested that self-concept may be a predictor of postsurgical as well as presurgical satisfaction with appearance and that self-concept itself may be unaffected by severity of facial disharmony, at least in young adults. Orthodontists may need to pay special attention to those patients with poor self-concept, because these patients may be more likely to report unsatisfactory surgical outcomes.

Biomechanics of orthodontic correction of dental asymmetries.

Correction of dental asymmetries requires special attention in orthodontic treatment. Several types of asymmetries are described, along with the biomechanics needed for correction. Treatment with different appliance designs that correct these asymmetries with the lowest level of negative contribution from side effects will be compared with conventional treatment.