No description available.

No description available.

Implicit in many dental fear research studies is the assumption that fear of dental procedures has a negative impact on oral health. This study examined the relationship between fear of dental treatment, avoidance of dental care, and oral health. Two commonly used dental-fear scales (Dental Fear Survey and Dental Anxiety Scale) were used to examine the similarities and differences between the two dental-fear measures, and the relationship of each to oral health. Consistent with Protection Motivation Theory, a curvilinear relationship between fear and oral health was hypothesized. Two efficacy variables were expected to mediate the influence of fear on oral health measures. / This expectation was not supported by the data, however. Statistical analyses, to the contrary, suggested that a linear model provided a more parsimonious model to explain the results. The data, in general, suggested that "scare tactics" would work better than a more moderate, positively stated approach to preventing dental disease, a finding consistent with fear appeal studies, and contrary to recommendations of Protection Motivation Theory. The hypothesis that fear would be mediated by personal efficacy and response efficacy was not supported. / Comparisons of the Dental Fear Survey and the Dental Anxiety Scale indicated that the two scales represent similar constructs and do not significantly differ in predictive value for oral health. The relative specificity regarding dental fear stimuli, however, suggests that the Dental Fear Survey is a better measure for studies that require identification of a specific dental stimulus. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-04, Section: B, page: 2312. / Major Professor: Wallace A. Kennedy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2009. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, page: 3436. Adviser: Mark Ryder.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2009. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, page: 3437. Adviser: Mark Ryder.

The effect of 7 days of continuous capacitive electrical stimulation on bone growth around titanium implants placed in the tibiae of adult male rats, was evaluated in this study. The animals were 'hooked-up' to an external power supply, emitting a symmetrical sinusoidal wave form with an amplitude of 2.0 volt p-p and a frequency of 60 kHz. The current values tested were 20muA, 30muA and 60muA. In surgery I, a head cap was affixed to the animal's skull with stainless-steel screws and an acrylic resin. The head cap was connected to the external power supply by an electrical stimulation wire, encased in a stainless-steel spring. Two electrical leads were subcutaneously tunneled from the head cap to the future tibial implant site, and sutured to the soft tissues. After a one week acclimatization period, a second surgical procedure, surgery II, involved the placement of titanium implants proximal to the tibial tuberosity in each tibiae. Electrodes were then sutured one on either side of the implant, thus 'cuffing' the implant, and the current was then applied to one implant site with the other acting as a control. / After seven days of continuous capacitive electrical stimulation, a biomechanical pull-out test was carried out to measure the force in Newtons (N) of implant extraction. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

<p> Dental implants, otherwise uncompromised, are occasionally found to be date-expired within intact or opened packages, denying their clinical use unless they can be reliably re-sterilized and made equivalent in reaction to new implants within receiving bone sites. This investigation identified an FDA-approved low-temperature gas plasma sterilization approach&mdash;in residual hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) vapor at low pressure&mdash;capable of quickly (within an hour) restoring even grossly contaminated dental implants to sterility and renewing their surface qualities to those of as-manufactured implants with regard to their support for attachment and growth of human alveolar osteoblasts. Pilot studies with flat commercially pure titanium (cpTi) discs used the methods of contact angle measurement, ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDS), scanning Auger microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to demonstrate that cpTi surface properties could be optimized for bioadhesion using the H2O2 gas plasma sterilization approach. The main studies then monitored actual date-expired dental implants of three different types, as packaged as well as after deliberate contamination with Candida albicans or adventitious atmospheric organisms, through microbiological broth-based and agar-based assays to prove sterility and through tissue culture assays with human alveolar osteoblasts to prove renewed cellular attachment and growth characteristics. Osteoblast growth and viability was confirmed by statistically equivalent outcomes for as-manufactured implants and clean/re-sterilized (by H2O2 gas plasma) implants, judged by cellular mitochondrial activity assays (MTT), differential interference contrast (DIC) light microscopy, and SEM. These results demonstrated that date-expired dental implants can be safely and effectively restored to conditions generally associated with the good clinical performance of osseointegated cpTi devices.</p>

<p> <b>Background:</b> Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) experience poorer dental health than the general population. They have limited access to health care services and face barriers to maintaining good oral health. Dental schools provide minimal didactic and clinical training to prepare their students to manage individuals with disabilities. As a result, future dentists may not feel well prepared to provide dental care to these individuals.</p><p> <b>Objective:</b> This study was conducted to compare the attitudes of senior dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, and students at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) in Boston, in the United States. The authors also aimed to determine if there was an association between pre-doctoral training in treating individuals with special needs, and having positive attitudes toward providing dental care to individuals with DD.</p><p> <b>Methods:</b> The authors surveyed 617 senior dental students at both schools using a 40-item online survey questionnaire. The questionnaire asked students about their experiences with individuals with DD, their pre-doctoral education in managing these individuals, and their attitudes toward these individuals. Data was analyzed using Chi-square tests, Independent Sample t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tests.</p><p> <b>Results:</b> Only 214 students responded to the online survey, with a response rate of 34.6%. Seventy six respondents (36.7%) were TUSDM students with a response rate of 21.2%, and 131 respondents (63.3%) were KAU students with a response rate of 50.8%. Only 15 (11.6%) of KAU students, compared to 64 (86.5%) of TUSDM students (p&lt;0.001), reported treating an individual with a DD. Seventy one (58.2%) of KAU students, compared to only 10 (13.5%) of TUSDM (p&lt;0.001), reported not receiving any training in treating individuals with DD. Fifty six (57.1%) of KAU students, compared to only 15 (20.3%) of TUSDM students (p&lt;0.001), reported that their education had not prepared them effectively to treat individuals with DD. There was a significant difference in the attitudes between students at KAU and students at TUSDM. Students at TUSDM had more positive attitudes, compared to students at KAU. Fifty six (45.9%) of the KAU students, compared to 47 (67.2%) of the TUSDM students (p=0.047), "strongly disagreed" or "disagreed" that they would not desire individuals with DD in their practice. Forty two (34.4%) of the KAU students, compared to 60 (85.7%) of the TUSDM students (p&lt;0.001), "strongly disagreed" or "disagreed" that dental services for individuals with DD should only be provided in a hospital.</p><p> <b>Discussion:</b> Students at TUSDM had more positive attitudes toward individuals with DD, compared to KAU students. These differences in the attitudes may be attributed to the significant differences in students' experiences, education, and training in treating individuals with DD at both schools.</p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> There is a significant difference in the attitudes between students at TUSDM and students at KAU. There is an association between pre-doctoral training in treating individuals with special needs, and having positive attitudes toward providing dental care to individuals with DD.</p>

Spirochetes are putative periodontal pathogens because they are found in increased numbers in periodontitis. With severity of periodontal disease, there also appears to be an increase in oral malodor. This is due to a greater breakdown of tissues containing sulfurated amino acids such as cysteine, cystine, and methionine. Bacteria in the oral cavity can metabolize these amino acids to produce volatile sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan that contribute to oral malodor. Detection of volatile sulfur compounds is usually performed by gas chromatography or a portable sulfur monitor, but none of these methods provides direct evidence for the production of hydrogen sulfide from oral spirochetes. A successful method has been developed, as described in this thesis, to demonstrate that oral spirochetes are major contributors to oral malodor associated with periodontitis. This has been accomplished by modification of an established method for isolating these bacteria directly from subgingival plaques. / A morphological variation of spirochetes, called a spherical body, exists. It has been postulated that this may be a dormant form of spirochetes used as a survival strategy. A number of environmental conditions were tested to determine whether or not they could contribute to spherical body formation in the oral spirochete Treponema denticola ATCC 35405. Cells grown in the absence of rabbit serum, volatile fatty acids, thiamine pyrophosphate, or yeast extract showed a dramatic increase in the numbers of spherical bodies. T. denticola cells grown in the presence of the metabolic end-product lactic acid or at pH 7.42 instead of 6.8 also contained more spherical bodies than the control.