Swedish dental journal. Supplement
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The aim of this thesis was to explore aspects of dental erosion by investigating its prevalence among young Saudi men and young children, develop a system for its assessment and to evaluate various tentative background factors that may be associated with its occurrence. Saudi military inductees (n = 95) were subjected to questionnaire and clinical examination, including recordings of severity of dental erosion and a number of other oral health parameters. The system applied for grading the severity of dental erosion showed an intraexaminer agreement of 78%. ⋯ Consumption of soft drinks, amount of palatal plaque on maxillary anterior teeth and salivary urea concentration are some factors related to erosion. The presence of dental erosion in children is likely to be associated with a number of general health and dietary factors but is also aggravated by the relatively more rapid progression of erosion in the deciduous teeth. Drinking method seems to be an important factor in the risk of developing dental erosion.
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Effects of masticatory muscle function and bite-raising on mandibular morphology in the growing rat.
The aim of this series of investigations was to study the effect of masticatory muscle function on the growth pattern and on the internal structure of the mandible during growth. The muscular and dentoskeletal growth adaptation to prolonged bite-raising and the role of the functional state of the masticatory muscles in this adaptation were also to be elucidated. Differences in masticatory muscle function were induced in young rats by altering the consistency of the diet. ⋯ Weaker forces possibly produced by passive stretching of hypofunctional muscles resulted in more eruption of the upper molars and less inhibition of periosteal bone apposition in the angular region. Length adaptation in the masseter muscle through lengthening of the aponeurosis and dentofacial growth adaptation possibly decreased passive forces applied to teeth and skeletal structures, particularly in rats with higher functional demands. This may have caused a gradually decreasing effect of the appliance.
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Comparative Study
On dental trauma in children and adolescents. Incidence, risk, treatment, time and costs.
Dental trauma occur in childhood and adolescence with consequences in time and costs for both patient and family. The scientific knowledge of these matters is scarce. For some individuals, dental trauma will result in long, time-consuming and costly treatments in childhood which will continue into adulthood. ⋯ Dental traumas are frequent and some individuals are injured several times. Besides treatment time, efforts from the family are substantial in time and costs. Parameters such as degree of severity, access to treatment and place of injury are of major importance to both patient and family and should be considered when calculating time and costs of dental trauma in children and adolescents.
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The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the indications for and the results of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery in patients with long-standing severe orofacial pain and dysfunction as well as in patients with fractures of the condylar neck. The patients with long-standing pain and dysfunction had had symptoms for a mean time of 4 years, had been treated conservatively for a mean time of 2.5 years, and had undergone numerous conservative treatment methods without improvement except for a minor increase in mouth opening capacity. The indications for surgery were strict; only 1% or less of all the patients referred to the departments with a diagnosis of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) were prescribed surgery, which was considered to be the only remaining option. ⋯ When cognitive-behavioural profiles were measured psychometrically in study VII, a dysfunctional profile was more common in patients with myofascial pain and pain with an obscure origin than in other patients diagnosed with TMD. The dysfunctional profile was also common in patients in whom treatment of a conservative or surgical nature had failed. Among TMD patients with disk displacement, adaptive copers were most common in successfully diskectomized patients and least common in patients about to undergo invasive treatment.
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Panoramic radiography was studied with the aim to answer some questions about technical and diagnostic properties regarding dental diagnostics. A unit with an intraoral X-ray tube was studied regarding radiation beam area, absorbed doses, and image quality for various screen-film combinations. The beam area for lateral views was wider than optimal and the contact dose high. ⋯ Rotational and intraoral X-ray tube panoramic radiography perform equally well. Agreement between panoramic and intraoral radiography is not sufficient for panoramic radiography to be used alone to diagnose periapical lesions, marginal bone loss and caries. It is possible to perform a full-mouth survey with a combination of panoramic and intraoral radiography but when limited regions need to be examined intraoral radiography is the method of choice.