Relationship between preoperative dental anxiety and short-term inflammatory response following oral surgery.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between dental anxiety and mucosal wound healing, especially the inflammatory response, has not been well studied. This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety prior to dental treatment and short-term inflammation following impacted mandibular third molar (IMTM) surgery. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients who required IMTM surgery were recruited for this study. Sample demographics (gender, age) and surgical extent (Pederson classification, duration) were collected. Psychological stress towards surgery was assessed by the Dental Fear Survey (DFS). All surgeries were conducted according to an identical surgical protocol and all patients were given the same medical prescription. Correlations between short-term inflammation (swelling and trismus after 2 days) and DFS, demographics and surgical extent were statistically analysed. RESULTS: The results showed that patients with a higher DFS score demonstrated more severe swelling (ß = 0.36, P = 0.016) and trismus (ß = 0.37, P = 0.008) 2 days after surgery. In addition, more severe trismus occurred following more difficult surgery (ß = 0.29, P = 0.016) or that with a longer duration (ß = 0.21, P = 0.081). Neither gender nor age showed any significant relationship with swelling or trismus. CONCLUSION: Short-term inflammatory response following IMTM surgery correlated with the preoperative dental anxiety and this correlation was independent of gender and surgical extent.

The potential of heart rate variability for exploring dental anxiety in mandibular third molar surgery.

An objective method to recognize patient psychology using heart rate variability (HRV) has recently been developed and is increasingly being used in medical practice. This study compared the potential of this new method with the use of conventional surveys measuring anxiety levels in patients undergoing impacted third molar (ITM) surgery. Patient anxiety was examined before treatment in 64 adults who required ITM surgery, using two methods: measurement of HRV and conventional questionnaire surveys (state section of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and Dental Fear Survey (DFS)). Both methods were assessed for their respective abilities to determine the impact of personal background, the amount of information provided, and the surgical procedure on patient psychology. Questionnaires and HRV yielded the same finding: dental experience was the single background factor that correlated with patient anxiety; the other factors remain unclear. The STAI-S showed a significant relationship between the information provided to the patient and their anxiety level, while the DFS and HRV did not. In addition, HRV demonstrated its ability to assess the effects of the surgical procedure on patient psychology. HRV demonstrated great potential as an objective method for evaluating patient stress, especially for providing real-time information on the patient's status.

[Mechanical properties of titanium casting obtained using short-time cast procedure].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanical properties of titanium casting obtained using short-time cast procedure. A commercial phosphate-bonded investment for titanium casting were used. And dumbbell-shaped specimens with phi 2 mm x 14 mm parallel portion were cast according to manufacture instruction and by way of three different short-time cast procedures. Then, micro vickers hardness test and tensile test were performed with these specimens. In the hardness test, the micro vickers hardness of 50 approximately 250 microns deep location from specimen surface was ranged from 192.8 to 259.0 Hv; there were significant difference among both the location factor and the casting procedure factor by the two-way ANOVA (p < 0.05). In the tensile test, tensile strength, yield strength, elastic modulus and elongation were obtained: these tensile properties of short-time cast procedures were not significantly different from those of manufacture instruction. These results indicated that the short-time cast procedure for titanium casting was available in the point of mechanical properties. It was, however, not obvious that how the short-time cast procedures effected the dimensional accuracy of titanium casting. Therefore, further investigation was needed for the practical usage of this method.

Dental students' understanding of titanium.

The understanding of titanium by students in the dental faculty of Tokyo Medical and Dental University was surveyed from 1990 to 1996. A seven-item questionnaire was used in the survey conducted during the first lecture of the dental materials and science course. The students' basic understanding of titanium was not very good and did not improve with time. However, their understanding improved significantly after the lecture and laboratory instructions.

Effects of aging on tensile fatigue strength of bovine dentin.

The effects of aging on the tensile fatigue strength of bovine dentin were investigated. Tensile tests and tensile fatigue tests were performed in 37 degrees C water with bovine dentin specimens of two different age groups. The tensile strengths of the young group and the adult group were 74.0 MPa and 72.7 MPa, respectively; there was no significant difference between the young and the adult group. However, the tensile fatigue strength of the adult group, 46.9 MPa, was significantly weaker than that of the young group, 51.0 MPa. There was a obvious difference between the tensile fracture surface and the tensile fatigue fracture surface; a smooth surface of the peritubular dentin and an uneven surface of the intertubular dentin were clearly distinct in the fatigue fracture surface. Plugged dentinal tubules and narrower dentin tubules were commonly observed in the adult group. These morphological changes were suggested to be the reason for the decrease in the tensile fatigue strength with aging.

Effect of frozen storage and boiling on tensile strength of bovine dentin.

Bovine teeth are used for dental research as a substitute for human teeth. In the present study the effects of storage on the tensile strength of bovine dentin were investigated. Storage conditions selected were frozen storage for 1 week, 4 weeks, and 1 year. Boiling in water for 45 minutes was also employed to clarify the effect of heat. Dumbbell-shaped specimens were prepared from teeth of each condition and tensile tests were performed immediately. The same tests were also performed on specimens, as a control, prepared from bovine teeth within 8 hours of extraction. The tensile strength of the control was 76.1 MPa; 1 week frozen storage, 78.7 MPa; 4 weeks, 79.9 MPa; 1 year, 79.0 MPa. The tensile strength of bovine dentin remained unchanged during one year frozen storage. On the other hand, the tensile strength of bovine dentin after boiling was 70.3 MPa, showing that tensile strength had decreased.