Journal of dental research
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Meta Analysis
Prevalence in the Dutch adult population and a meta-analysis of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorder.
A nationwide survey of oral conditions, treatment needs, and attitudes toward dental health care in Dutch adults was carried out in 1986. One of the aims of the study was to assess the prevalence of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). A sample of 6577 persons (from 15 to 74 yr of age), stratified for gender, age, region, and socio-economic status, was contacted. ⋯ The odds-value (risk-ratio) that subjects who perceived signs and symptoms of TMD would present with clinically assessed signs and symptoms of TMD was 2.3. The results of the survey were compared with results of a meta-analysis performed on 51 TMD prevalence studies. The analysis revealed (1) a perceived dysfunction rate of 30% and (2) a clinically assessed dysfunction of 44%, both based on compound samples of, respectively, over 15,000 (23 studies) and over 16,000 (22 studies) randomly selected subjects.
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Investigations have shown that greater than Federally-recommended levels of ambient nitrous oxide often exist in the dental workplace. The purposes of this investigation were to examine the influences of (1) operatory ventilation rate and (2) scavenger evacuation rate on ambient nitrous oxide concentrations within a closed dental operatory. This laboratory investigation utilized a scavenging nasal mask assembly (Porter/Brown) to deliver 40% nitrous oxide in oxygen, at a total flow rate of 5 L/min, to a mannequin positioned supinely in a dental chair. ⋯ Time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations of ambient nitrous oxide (ppm) were continuously recorded at 15-second intervals with a microprocessor (DL332F Datalogger) connected directly to a microcomputer. The results demonstrated that significantly reduced (p < 0.05) ambient nitrous oxide levels were achieved with increasing room air exchange rates and the high scavenger evacuation rate. It was concluded that operatory ventilation and scavenger evacuation rates were significant control measures available for reduction of ambient nitrous oxide to Federally recommended levels.
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IADR/AADR abstracts of research projects to be presented at the Annual Meeting are published each year in the Journal of Dental Research. An assumption often made is that the material in these abstracts is subsequently published as journal articles. The validity of this assumption was assessed in this study. ⋯ In other health disciplines, the percentage of abstracts subsequently published as articles ranged from 31.1% to 53.9%. Since a smaller percentage of the IADR/AADR abstracts surveyed in this study were ultimately published (21.6% to 24%). IADR/AADR should consider various strategies to improve the quality of abstracts and their accessibility.
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Previous studies have examined the bibliographic accuracy of citations in medical journals. The purpose of this study was to assess reference accuracy in five national dental journals. One hundred references were randomly selected from the March, 1987, issue of each of five dental journals (a total of 500 references). ⋯ Types of minor errors ranked as follows: minor article title errors, 86 (35%); minor author errors, 61 (25%); and minor citation errors, 26 (10%). Types of major errors were ranked as follows: incorrect journal citation, 32 (13%); "unable to verify", 25 (10%); incorrect author, 10 (4%); and incorrect article title, 8 (3%). The results of this survey showed that nearly half of the references reviewed were inaccurate.
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Ten normal male volunteers performed six maximum voluntary isometric jaw-closing muscle contractions within an 80-minute experimental period. Each individual contraction was sustained until maximum pain tolerance was reached. ⋯ In this study, measures of current jaw pain, muscle pain threshold, maximum active opening, and maximum lateral excursions showed no significant post-experimental changes. These results challenge the idea that sustained isometric clenching in healthy male subjects could be used as a model for chronic or even subacute muscle pain, as has been suggested by previous investigators.