The Libyan journal of medicine
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Comparative Study
Comparison of physical quality assurance between Scanora 3D and 3D Accuitomo 80 dental CT scanners.
The use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in dentistry has proven to be useful in the diagnosis and treatment planning of several oral and maxillofacial diseases. The quality of the resulting image is dictated by many factors related to the patient, unit, and operator. ⋯ The radiation dose values in these two CBCT units are significantly less than those encountered in systemic CT scans. However, the dose seems to be affected more by changing the field of view rather than the voltage or amperage. The low doses were at the expense of the image quality produced, which was still acceptable. Although the spatial resolution and contrast were inferior to the medical images produced in systemic CT units, the present results recommend adopting CBCTs in maxillofacial imaging because of low radiation dose and adequate image quality.
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Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a common oral disease characterized by inflammation in the supporting tissue of the teeth 'the periodontium', periodontal attachment loss, and alveolar bone loss. The disease has a microbial etiology; however, recent findings suggest that the genetic factors, such as vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms, have also been included. ⋯ VDR ApaI SNP C/T rs#731236 may be related to the risk of CP in the Libyan population.
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A previous study has shown that dental practitioners in Benghazi believed that the less prevention-oriented education system is one of the barriers to applying preventive dentistry. ⋯ This study highlighted that the currently implemented undergraduate education programme in Benghazi dental school does not provide dentists with the required attitude and skills to fulfil their role in providing preventive-oriented health services.
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Pulmonary function is compromised in most smokers. Yet it is unknown whether exercise training improves pulmonary function and aerobic capacity in cigarette and hookah smokers and whether these smokers respond in a similar way as do non-smokers. ⋯ After 12 weeks of interval training program, the increase of VO2max and the decrease of recovery index and resting heart rate in the smoking subjects indicated better exercise tolerance. Although the intermittent training program altered pulmonary function only partially, both aerobic capacity and life quality were improved. Intermittent training should be advised in the clinical setting for subjects with adverse health behaviors.
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In this communication, we argue about the need for an extensive investigation of the relationship between body fatness and fat distribution and experimental pain to explore the factors that might contribute to the increased prevalence of pain conditions in obese individuals.