Objective. This study aimed at finding out whether the 3 mm thickness of stabilization splints has positive or negative effects on all temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms. Materials and ...Methods. The statistical calculation included 25 (22 females; 3 males) TMD patients who received 3 mm thickness stabilization splint therapy. They were evaluated according to follow-up treatment period, TMD pain, muscle pain, mouth opening, diet score, and splint usage time per day. Results. There was important treatment success that 22 (88%) of patients were totally healed. There was not any remarkable effect or advancement of splints on total healings of TMDs in first 3 months’ period (11/25 patients, 44%). The mouth opening mean reached 38, 67 mm at 6 months and 41 mm at 12 months with remarkable success. Except one (4%) patient, other 24 (96%) patients had a normal diet score of 3 at the end of splint therapy. There was no correlation between splint usage duration a day and total healing of TMDs. Conclusion. We conclude that 3 mm splint therapy should maintain at least 6 months to achieve remarkable results. Splint should be used at least 12 h a day consistent with our results. Finally, diet score should be incorporated with TMD pain and amount of mouth opening; hence, we advise to use in one term as “total healing.”
Turkey is located in the temperate zone; thus, it is influenced by regionally different air masses during summers and winters, resulting in different precipitation regimes. Often, systems with ...varying masses of air repeatedly affect Turkey; however, at times, these periods are disrupted and difficult to predict. This study analyzes whether a certain periodicity exists in the seasonal and annual total precipitation of 74 meteorological stations in Turkey using periodograms. The analyses conducted herein showed more than one period in the series; therefore, this study was extended, and the first six periods were examined. As a result, we found 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year precipitation cycles (PCs) in the short term; 6-, 7-, and 8-year PCs in the medium term; and 11-, 12-, 14-, 17-, and 21-year PCs in the long term in Turkey’s PC. While seasonal distributions exhibited similarities, there were significant differences in the seasonal frequencies owing to seasonal variations in the systems affecting Turkey. The cycles vary by region, and some of these cycles can be found in each region. Three cycles have been identified in Turkey according to frequency and length, namely: (1) short-term cycle across Turkey; (2) Eastern and Central Anatolia, the Black Sea, and Aegean regions; and (3) borders of Central Anatolian and the eastern Mediterranean region. A cluster identifies unrelated locations as the affected local factors. Cycles are connected to the NAO, whereas solar activity is observed throughout Turkey. The analysis showed that certain cycles were repeated and were not dominant in each period, with the best example of this cycle as the 7–14–21 consecutive cycles.
Objective
The aim of this study is to assess the effects of metal artifact reduction (MAR) and adaptive image noise enhancer (AINO) in CBCT imaging on the detection accuracy of artificially created ...fenestration defects in proximity to titanium and zirconium implants in sheep jaw.
Methods
Six zirconium and 10 titanium implants were planted on mandibular jaws of three sheep, and artificial defects were created. All images were obtained with a standard voxel size (0.150 mm
3
) and with 4 scan modes: (1) without MAR/without AINO; (2) with MAR/without AINO; (3) without MAR/with AINO; and (4) with MAR/with AINO during CBCT scanning. A total of 60 CBCT scans were produced.
Results
For all types of implants, intra- and inter-observer kappa values were the highest for MAR filter. The scan mode of with MAR filter was found to have the highest area under the curve (AUC), whereas the scan mode of without both MAR and AINO filters was found to have the lowest AUC values with statistical significance (
p
≤ 0.05). Titanium implants were found to have higher AUC values than zirconium (
p
≤ 0.05).
Conclusion
Both MAR module and AINO filters enhance the accuracy of the detection of peri-implant fenestrations; however, the use of MAR filter solely can be recommended for detection of peri-implant fenestrations.
Objective
This study was performed to evaluate the trabecular pattern of patients with cancer taking bisphosphonates on panoramic images using fractal dimension (FD) analysis by comparison with ...healthy subjects and to assess whether any difference exists between regions.
Methods
FD analysis was conducted using ImageJ 1.3 software (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) with the box-counting method on panoramic radiographs of 33 patients taking bisphosphonates (13 males and 20 females) and 33 healthy sex- and age-matched individuals.
Results
FD values were higher (1.39 ± 0.14) in the study group than control group (1.38 ± 0.07) (
p
≤ 0.05). No difference was detected in the FD values among the tested regions. The mean FD values in the control and study groups were as follows: region 1, 1.49 and 1.41 (
p
= 0.54); region 2, 1.36 and 1.37 (
p
= 0.84); region 3, 1.35 and 1.42 (
p
= 0.11); and region 4, 1.39 and 1.39 (
p
= 0.90), respectively. Female patients showed significantly lower values above the mandibular canal on the distal side of the second premolar and anterior to the mental foramen than did male patients (
p
≤ 0.05). Age was unrelated to the FD in the study group (
p
≥ 0.05).
Conclusions
The FD values of the patients with cancer taking bisphosphonates were higher than those of the controls. FD analysis showed the potential for examining bone structure in panoramic radiographs. Studies with a larger sample size are necessary to confirm these results.
Purpose
This study aims to analyze alveolar bone height (ABH) in the maxillary molar area according to the anatomical relationship between maxillary sinus and maxillary molar teeth via cone beam ...computed tomography images.
Methods
In 330 patients, 660 maxillary first molar (M1) and 648 maxillary second molar (M2) were evaluated. ABH measurements were made as to the shortest distance between the furcation midpoints of maxillary molars and the lowest point of the sinus floor. After the measurement, the positions of the maxillary molar teeth relative to the maxillary sinus were classified into four categories as type 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Results
ABH measurements in males were significantly higher than females (
p
< 0.05), but there were no differences between sides (
p
> 0.05). There were significant differences between types of both M1 and M2 for ABH, and the longest ABH was measured in type 1 (
p
< 0.05). Type 3 was the most common among 1308 maxillary molars teeth followed by type 1, type 2, and type 4.
Conclusion
Determination of the relationship between maxillary molar teeth and the maxillary sinus and analysis of ABH according to this relationship may help plan endodontic treatment, apical surgery, and immediate implant therapy and prevent their complications.
Background
To examine the influence of voxel sizes to detect of peri-implant fenestration defects on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images.
Materials and methods
This study performed with three ...sheep heads both maxilla and mandible and two types of dental implant type 1 zirconium implant (Zr
40
) (
n
= 6) and type 2 titanium implant (Ti
22
) (
n
= 10). A total of 14 peri-implant fenestrations (8 buccal surfaces, 6 palatal/lingual surface) were created while 18 surfaces (8 buccal, 10 palatal/lingual) were free of fenestrations. Three observers have evaluated the images of fenestration at each site. Images obtained with 0.75 mm
3
, 0.100 mm
3
, 0.150 mm
3
, 0.200 mm
3
, and 0.400 mm
3
voxel sizes. For intra- and inter-observer agreements for each voxel size, Kappa coefficients were calculated.
Results
Intra- and inter-observer kappa values were the highest for 0.150 mm
3
, and the lowest in 0.75 mm
3
and 0.400 mm
3
voxel sizes for all types of implants. The highest area under the curve (AUC) values were found higher for the scan mode of 0.150 mm
3
, whereas lower AUC values were found for the voxel size for 0.400 mm
3
. Titanium implants had higher AUC values than zirconium with the statistical significance for all voxel sizes (
p
≤ 0.05).
Conclusion
A voxel size of 0.150 mm
3
can be used to detect peri-implant fenestration bone defects. CBCT is the most reliable diagnostic tool for peri-implant fenestration bone defects.
Available information on the dimensions of the enamel and pulp tissues of tooth structure, as well as their correlation with chronologic age, is limited. However, this information is a significant ...determinate in planning the tooth reduction for a porcelain laminate veneer (PLV) restoration.
This study examined variations in tooth enamel thickness and its correlation with chronologic age as it relates to available tooth substrate for PLV restorations.
Forty human maxillary central incisors extracted from patients within the age range of 30 to 69 years were used to evaluate the thickness of tooth layers. Measurements were made for the following tooth areas using scanning electron microscopy (SEM): facial enamel thickness at 1, 3, and 5 mm above the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ), palatal enamel thickness at 5 mm above the CEJ, facial and palatal enamel thickness at the incisal edge, maximum facial-palatal (MFP) width at incisal edge, physiologic secondary dentin (PSD) height, facial-cervical enamel-pulp (FCEP) distance, and the incisal edge enamel-pulp (IEP) distance. The relationship between thickness and age was evaluated with a regression analysis (α=.05).
Significant differences (
P<.001) were observed in all of the relationships between tooth thicknesses and chronological age. Outcome variables of enamel thickness related to age showed a steady decrease, beginning at approximately age 50. Mean values of facial enamel thickness at 1, 3, and 5 mm above the CEJ were 0.31 ± 0.01, 0.54 ± 0.01, and 0.75 ± 0.02 mm, respectively, for the age range of 30 to 69 years. The thickness of maximum incisal width (
R
2 = 0.95), PSD height (
R
2 = 0.76), and IEP distance (
R
2 = 0.99) indicated that all are subject to an increase in relation to age.
Facial enamel thickness above the CEJ decreases, while MFP increases in relation to age. The PSD height and IEP distance also increased with age.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of serious game training on the performance of undergraduate dental students during basic life support (BLS) training.
Students at the Ankara ...University Faculty of Dentistry were divided into two groups at random: Serious Game (SG) (n = 46) and Traditional (Tr) (n = 45). Students completed the BLS pre-test following their lecture-based training. The SG set of students practiced until they achieved an 85 on the BLS Platform, after which they completed the BLS post-test. All students practiced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a manikin with the instructor's guidance, and then they independently applied CPR by using the model training component. The module evaluation scale was then used to determine each student's grade. Finally, the students provided input on surveys regarding technology perceptions of SG training, serious gaming, and hands-on training.
In the SG group, the BLS post-test scores were significantly higher than the pre-test results (p = 0.00). In the SG and Tr groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the overall hands-on training scores (p = 0.11). Students in both groups evaluated the hands-on training on the manikin favorably and with high levels of participation.
The SG-based training platform for BLS training has enhanced the BLS performance of undergraduate dental students in terms of knowledge and skill. It has been shown that digital learners have a beneficial impact on game-based learning outcomes; it is advised to use SGs and develop new games for various learning objectives.
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