The use of digital dental photography in an Eastern European country.

Aims: To assess the use of digital photography in dentistry and its relation with the professional experience of the dental practitioners in Romania. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire including eight questions was distributed online to collect information on the use of dental photography. Results: 84.84% of the respondents were using a photographic equipment in their clinical practice. Regarding the type of photographic equipment used, 51.79% of the participants indicated DSLR cameras, 44.05% smartphones, 2.38% compact cameras and 1.78% other devices for taking clinical images. There was a significant association (p<0.05) between the experience of the practitioners and the use of dental photography, type of equipment and protocol used. Conclusions: Respondents with more than 10 years of experience were more likely to use digital photography in their practice than those with less experience. Most of the digital photography users with more than 10 years of experience were taking images with a DSLR Camera (65.52%) followed by 31.04% smartphone users. Conversely, 56.42% of the clinical photography users with less than 5 years of experience mainly preferred a smartphone device and 41.02% a DSLR Camera.

Evaluation of smartphone dental photography in aesthetic analysis.

Aims To investigate the influence of the system used for digital photography upon the aesthetic analysis in dental medicine.Materials and methods The aesthetic parameters were evaluated on photographs taken with different systems: two DSLR camera set-ups (DSLR + ring flash and DSLR + twin flash) and a smartphone-based system using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire.Results Generally, the DSLR camera + twin flash photographic method performed the best with an overall average score of 4.3, receiving the highest scores for eight statements included in the questionnaire, followed by the smartphone-based system with an average score of 4.04 (the highest values for three statements) and DSLR camera + ring flash with an average score of 3.92 (the highest values for four statements). The scores recorded for the images taken with the DSLR camera + twin flash, DSLR camera + ring flash and smartphone-based system were significantly different for each statement (p <0.05).Conclusions When analysing the characteristics of the dental arches and of individual teeth, images taken with the DSLR camera and twin flash photographic method received the best evaluation, while for the examination of the dentofacial relations and the gingival characteristics, the images obtained with the DSLR camera and ring flash setting, respectively, with the smartphone-based system were considered optimal.

The accuracy of dental shade matching using cross-polarization photography.

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of a polarizing filter on the accuracy of dental shade matching using digital photography. A comparison was performed using ΔEab parameters between CIE L*a*b* values obtained from digital images taken under two different conditions (with direct light and with polarized light) and the values given by the dental spectrophotometer SpectroShade Micro, which is considered to be the standard. Color differences (ΔEab) calculated between the parameters recorded with the dental spectrophotometer and polarized photography were below or at the level of the 50:50% acceptability threshold of 2.7 in 23% of the cases. Interdevice agreement found between the dental spectrophotometer and polarized photography exceeded 0.82 for all the three parameters recorded. Digital photography with polarizing filters might be a useful tool for dental shade matching.

Functionalized micro-capillary film for the rapid at-line analysis of IgG aggregates in a cell culture bioreactor.

A micro-capillary film has been developed that offers the potential for an at-line analytical tool for rapid aggregate analysis during biopharmaceutical antibody production. A non-porous walled micro-capillary film (NMCF) with cation exchange functionality was demonstrated to act as a chromatography medium that could be operated with high linear fluid velocities and was highly resistant to blockage by entrained particulates, including cells. The NMCF containing 19 parallel microcapillaries was prepared using a melt extrusion process from poly(ethylene-vinyl alcohol) copolymer (EVOH). The NMCF-EVOH was modified to have cation-exchange functionality (NMCF-EVOH-SP) and shown to differentially bind monomer and aggregated species of IgG antibody directly from a bioreactor. The use of NMCF-EVOH-SP to quantify aggregate concentrations in monoclonal antibody preparations in less than 20 minutes was demonstrated.

Computing theoretical rates of part C eligibility based on developmental delays.

Part C early intervention is a nationwide program that serves infants and toddlers who have developmental delays. This article presents a methodology for computing a theoretical estimate of the proportion of children who are likely to be eligible for Part C services based on delays in any of the 5 developmental domains (cognitive, motor, communication, social-emotional and adaptive) that are assessed to determine eligibility. Rates of developmental delays were estimated from a multivariate normal cumulative distribution function. This approach calculates theoretical rates of occurrence for conditions that are defined in terms of standard deviations from the mean on several variables that are approximately normally distributed. Evidence is presented to suggest that the procedures described produce accurate estimates of rates of child developmental delays. The methodology used in this study provides a useful tool for computing theoretical rates of occurrence of developmental delays that make children candidates for early intervention.