Journal of oral rehabilitation
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Review
Methodological quality and descriptive characteristics of prosthodontic-related systematic reviews.
Ideally, healthcare systematic reviews (SRs) should be beneficial to practicing professionals in making evidence-based clinical decisions. However, the conclusions drawn from SRs are directly related to the quality of the SR and of the included studies. The aim was to investigate the methodological quality and key descriptive characteristics of SRs published in prosthodontics. ⋯ Publication bias and grey literature searches were the most poorly adhered components. Overall, the methodological quality of the prosthodontic-related systematic was deemed limited. Future recommendations would include authors to have prior training in conducting SRs and for journals to include a universal checklist that should be adhered to address all key characteristics of an unbiased SR process.
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Dysphagia is one of the most important complications encountered in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our aim was to determine whether oropharyngeal dysphagia impacted the quality of life (QoL) of patients with ALS. Thirty consecutive patients were recruited (31-82 years, 18 men). ⋯ They also described difficulties with oral communication (P < 0·001). All of those complained about dysphagia which impacted directly mental health (P < 0·05) and social life (P < 0·05). In conclusion, oropharyngeal dysphagia is a common symptom accompanying ALS, which alters the patient's QoL, especially social health.
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Current studies suggest dysfunctional emotional processing as a key factor in the aetiology of temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Investigating facial emotion recognition (FER) may offer an elegant and reliable way to study emotional processing in patients with TMD. Twenty patients with TMD and the same number of age-, sex- and education-matched controls were measured with the Facially Expressed Emotion Labelling (FEEL) test, the 26-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26), the Screening for Somatoform Symptoms (SOMS-2a), the German Pain Questionnaire and the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD). ⋯ The estimation of the standardised regression coefficients suggests an equivalent influence of TAS-26 and SOMS-2a on the FEEL Scores, whereas 'group' (patients versus healthy controls) and depressive symptoms did not contribute significantly to the model. Our findings highlight FER deficits in patients with TMD, which are partially explained by concomitant alexithymia and somatisation. As suggested previously, impaired FER in patients with TMD may further point to probable aetiological proximities between TMD and somatoform disorders.
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In this study, relevant cases were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who were diagnosed as suffering from myofascial pain only according to the research diagnostic criteria/temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD) criteria, in order to examine whether or not they could fulfil the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) diagnostic criteria for TMD-related masticatory muscle disorders. One hundred and twenty-seven patients, diagnosed according to the RDC/TMD criteria as having myofascial pain with or without limited jaw opening only, were allocated to two groups according to their answers to the RDC/TMD 'jaw disability checklist'. The two groups were compared for Axis I and II data taken from the RDC/TMD questionnaire. ⋯ The AAOP diagnostic criteria for TMD require pain on function in all subtypes of TMD-related muscle disorders. An association between pain and jaw function is common and research is needed to determine whether this should be categorised differently to muscle pain unrelated to jaw function. There may well be different pathophysiological mechanisms and consequently different management strategies for these two pain conditions.
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The purpose of this study was to determine which factors related to patient self-assessment of dentures are associated with changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among edentulous patients after replacement of complete dentures, and to determine whether masticatory performance as determined using an objective method affects the changes in OHRQoL among edentulous patients. As a preliminary study, the existing questionnaire regarding self-assessment of dentures consisting of 39 question items, measured with a 100-mm visual analogue scale, was analysed by factor analysis. Then a questionnaire, composed of 22 question items, was developed containing six subscales of 'function', 'lower denture', 'upper denture', 'expectation', 'aesthetic and speech' and 'importance'. ⋯ The questionnaire and measurement were completed twice; before and after replacement of complete dentures. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified 'lower denture' and 'aesthetic and speech' as significant independent variables besides OHIP-EDENT scores before replacement. These results suggest that sufficient retention of lower dentures and appropriate appearance may lead to improved OHRQoL in edentulous patients.