The Journal of prosthetic dentistry
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The effects of four sequential modifications to improve occlusion, vertical dimension, retention, and stability of poorly fitting dentures, and of placing new dentures, on the EMG activity were investigated in 21 denture wearers with a mean age of 67.7 years. Electromyographic recordings of right and left masseter muscles were made while the subjects performed masticatory and swallowing threshold tests and applied static guided forces were measured before and after each modification and at three intervals after the delivery of new dentures. A 2-week adaptation period was allowed for each denture modification. ⋯ Concomitant decreases (p < 0.05) in the masseter closing burst and stroke durations were found and contributed to the reduction in masseter muscle effort. Further reductions (p < 0.01) in masseter closing bursts and stroke durations were observed with new dentures. The results revealed that new dentures or the stabilization of poorly fitting dentures through occlusal correction and restoration of occlusal vertical dimension permits patients to use less muscle effort while chewing and maintaining their initial masticatory performance.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a section of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States Government, and its primary responsibility is to control the distribution of food, drugs, and medical devices within the country while ensuring public safety. The sale and distribution of dental implants is under the regulatory control of the FDA. ⋯ The premarket approval procedure of the FDA is compared with the American Dental Association certification process. Issues related to the safety and effectiveness of dental implants are discussed.
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Case Reports
Freestanding magnetic retention for extraoral prosthesis with osseointegrated implants.
Implant-retained articular prostheses have commonly had clips or magnets in conjunction with a rigid bar splint. New-generation magnets and associated abutment magnetic caps now provide for free standing magnetic retention that is secure and provides improved abutment access for the patient because the bar is absent.
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Contrary to popular assumptions that temporomandibular disorders may become more prevalent with increasing age, a review of the literature shows that this is clearly not the case. Instead, it seems that most objective "signs" of temporomandibular disorders, namely clicking, tender joints and muscles, crooked opening, limited movement, and so forth, are found either less often in the elderly or at approximately the same rate in all adult age groups. Subjective complaints, however, decrease as populations get older, and the demand for treatment declines accordingly.
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Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are examined from a biopsychosocial or illness perspective. Data are reviewed in accordance with the concept that TMD is a chronic pain condition that shares many features with other common chronic pain conditions. TMD is placed within the same biopsychosocial model currently used to study and manage all common chronic pain conditions. ⋯ Most chronic pain patients seem to bear their condition adequately and thus maintain adaptive levels of psychosocial function. By contrast, a psychosocially dysfunctional segment of the chronic pain population appears unable to cope as well and demonstrate higher rates of depression, somatization, and health care use, even though persons in this segment are not different from their functional peers on the basis of observable organic pathology. Finally, data are reviewed from longitudinal, epidemiologic, and experimental intervention studies that substantiate these two perspectives.