Intraoral distraction osteogenesis in the baboon mandible using a tooth and bone-anchored appliance.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using an intraoral, bone and tooth-anchored appliance to distract baboon mandibles using the principles of distraction osteogenesis (DO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven juvenile baboons were used in this study. Mandibular corticotomies were made in the ramus of the mandible unilaterally (n = 5) or bilaterally (n = 2), and a "pin-in-tube" (PIT) distraction appliance was applied. The device was secured to the mandibular ramus posterior to the cortical cut with a bicortical screw and anteriorly to an occlusal splint. The appliance was activated an average of 0.86 mm/d (0.5 to 1.3 mm/d) for an average of 12.4 days (10 to 14 days). Predistraction and postdistraction measurements were made between metallic markers placed in the distraction area, in the dental midline, and of the overjet and overbite. RESULTS: Bone healing was complete in all mandibles. The average mandibular lengthening measured between the metallic markers was 7.9 mm. The mandibular midlines showed an average of 4.25 mm of lateral movement in the unilaterally distracted mandibles. There were no infections. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that an intraoral bone and tooth-anchored distraction appliance is an effective method to produce lengthening in the mandible by distraction osteogenesis.

Oral management of the patient with end-stage liver disease and the liver transplant patient.

The patient with end-stage liver disease who is in need of a liver transplant should have a pretransplant dental evaluation. Such a patient faces lifelong immunosuppression with an increased risk of infection. This article discusses both the need for control of oral diseases before liver transplantation and guidelines for oral care in the immediately postoperative and long-term transplant patient. Specific indications for antibiotic prophylaxis and antibiotic regimens are presented; in addition, adverse reactions and side effects of immunosuppressant drugs are discussed. Pertinent drug interactions salient to the dental management of patients with end-stage liver disease are reviewed, and specific management recommendations for these patients are presented.

A statewide institute to deliver professional development programs to school health personnel in Massachusetts.

Schoolchildren suffer from health problems ranging from chronic medical and developmental problems to new morbidities related to drugs, violence, and sexual behavior. To help administrators, teachers, and health personnel meet the new challenges in schools, nursing educators from the University of Massachusetts and Simmons College developed the UMass-Simmons School Health Institute. The Institute delivers a series of professional development programs in all regions of the commonwealth to: 1) devise innovative strategies to remove health barriers to learning and to promote the health of children and adolescents, and 2) enhance the design, implementation, integration, and management of comprehensive school health programs, including those mandated and regulated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This article describes a statewide model to prepare school health personnel for delivery of comprehensive school health services.

Cephalometric evaluation of the changes in patients wearing complete dentures: a 20-year study.

The purpose of this continuing longitudinal investigation was to study the changes on the craniofacial complex in complete denture wearers; herein are reported the 20-year findings. At the onset of the study complete dentures were made for 64 persons. Two dentures techniques were employed: a complex method of construction and a simplified method. At the start of the project the patients' ages ranged from 30 to 60 years (average age 53 years) and all had been edentulous for at least 1 year (range 1 to 30 years). Lateral cephalometric radiographs were made immediately after initial placement of the dentures and during subsequent years (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20). The same cephalostat was used throughout and all films were exposed with the teeth in centric occlusion. Thirty-four subjects presented for the 20-year follow-up. Of this number, the radiographs of 24 subjects (14 women and 10 men; average age 65.5 years [range 50-83 years]) (12 complex denture wearers; 12 simplified technique denture wearers) were used in this report (10 had denture alterations over the 20-year period that excluded them). The 20-year observations corroborate earlier findings. There is a loss of the vertical dimension of occlusion as viewed from the right profile, and the mandible rotates in a counterclockwise fashion resulting in an increase in relative prognathism. The maxillary alveolus was stable, the mandibular alveolus resorbed, and the dentures rotated counterclockwise and shifted slightly forward. The observed changes were not significantly affected by the sex of the patient or by the denture technique employed.

Medically related motor vehicle injury costs by body region and severity.

For motor vehicle crashes, we estimated the medically related costs of nonfatal injury by body region and severity. Our primary data sources were paid charges reported in the Detailed Claims Information data base of the National Council on Compensation Insurance and injury incidence and severity reported in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National Accident Sampling System (NASS). Brain and lower extremity injuries account for the largest portion of medical costs. Spinal cord and severe brain injuries cost more per case. Our average costs per case are very close to those in a report to Congress but come from completely different data sources. Thus, national data bases are providing consistent medical cost estimates.

In vitro effect of chlorhexidine and amikacin on oral gram-negative bacilli from bone marrow transplant recipients.

Prophylactic use of chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthrinses has been shown to benefit the oral health status of bone marrow transplant recipients and other immunosuppressed persons and to reduce systemic complications of oral origin. However, a problem that often emerges with these patients is oropharyngeal and lower respiratory tract colonization by opportunistic aerobic or facultative gram-negative bacilli (GNB). Trends in four studies indicated that CHX rinses may predispose these persons to oral colonization by GNB such as the enterobacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae. Since GNB are generally susceptible to broad-spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotics such as amikacin, the in vitro sensitivities of K. pneumoniae, E. cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli ATCC reference strains and K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae oral clinical isolates to combinations of CHX and amikacin were determined by means of a disk diffusion sensitivity assay on Mueller-Hinton agar. The amikacin minimum inhibitory concentrations for all GNB tested were much lower (less than or equal to 4.69 to less than or equal to 9.37 micrograms/ml) than those for CHX (less than or equal to 18.75 to less than or equal to 300 micrograms/ml), and combinations of CHX and amikacin gave larger growth inhibition zones than CHX alone. No antibacterial antagonism between CHX and amikacin was found, and their solubilities were compatible. Therefore use of topical amikacin in conjunction with CHX rinses may reduce oral colonization by GNB in severely immunocompromised patient populations.

Clinical acceptability of orthodontic retainers fabricated from stored alginate impressions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical acceptability of orthodontic retainers fabricated from stored alginate impressions. In the laboratory, alginate impressions were made of a standard dentoform. In the clinic, maxillary alginate impressions were made of the teeth of 20 dentate adults. In each case, sets of stone models were made either immediately or after the impressions had been stored for 24 or 72 hours at high humidity. The linear dimensions of the three sets of dentoform models were compared with one another and with the standard dentoform. No differences were found. Claspless acrylic retainers were fabricated on the models from the adult subjects. The retainers were positioned in the subjects' mouths and evaluated for snap fit, stability, cervical margin fit, and self-retention. With the use of these criteria, 95% of the retainers made from impressions that were poured immediately were clinically acceptable. When impressions were stored 24 and 72 hours, the percentages of acceptable retainers were 80% and 90%, respectively. The differences in percentage of clinically acceptable retainers were not statistically significant. When impressions are stored at high humidity, a large percentage of clinically acceptable orthodontic retainers can be made from models poured as long as 72 hours after the impression is made.