A case-control study assessing oral-health-related quality of life after immediately loaded single implants in healed alveolar ridges or extraction sockets.

INTRODUCTION: Tooth loss reduces oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) as assessed with the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14). OBJECTIVES: This prospective multicenter case-control study sought to (i) establish OHRQoL in patients requiring a single implant in the anterior maxilla and to (ii) compare these changes following implant placement and immediate provisionalization in extraction sockets with healed alveolar ridges up to 1 year. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety-six patients were enrolled in the study with 102 single implants (OsseoSpeed AstraTech) provisionalized immediately after placement in sockets or after placement in healed ridges. A final crown was cemented after 12 weeks. OHIP-14 was registered before surgery (baseline), after 1 (provisional crown), 6 and 12 months (final crown). Repeated measures ANOVA was performed for the seven conceptual OHIP Domains, the treatment group (extraction site socket vs. healed alveolar ridge) and time as within subjects variables. RESULTS: Two implants failed, 1/48 (2.1%) in the extraction group (n=46 patients) and 1/54 (1.8%) in the healed ridge group (n=50 patients). From 82 patients (87.5%), OHIP-14 was available at all time points. The overall OHIP-14 based on the mean of the seven domains increases between baseline and 6 months and remained stable afterward for the total study group and both treatment groups. Comparison between extraction and healed groups revealed no significant difference at baseline but the healed group showed a significantly higher improvement for functional limitation, physical disability, physical pain and psychological discomfort (P<0.05). Between baseline and 1 year in the healed bone group, all seven domains improved significantly compared with only three domains in the extraction group. However, the overall OHIP-14 score between groups was not substantially different. Hence, both treatment modalities lead to similar OHRQoL improvement. CONCLUSION: Patients in need of a single-tooth replacement have limited OHRQoL problems as reflected by the OHIP-14 score but improvements in several domains related to oral health were evaluated when implants were placed and provisionalized in healed bone and extraction sites.

A time course analysis of the synesthetic colour priming effect.

A currently unresolved issue in research on synesthesia concerns the extent to which synesthetic experiences arise automatically. To shed light on this issue, we manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) in a synesthetic colour priming task (i.e., 0 ms, 200 ms, 1,000 ms). Results show that 200-ms presentations of synesthetic inducers produce reliable synesthetic colour priming at short SOAs. Based on this finding, we conclude that synesthesia is produced by fast-acting, automatic processes.

Bone formation following implantation of bone biomaterials into extraction sites.

BACKGROUND: Adequate bone volume is imperative for the osseointegration of endosseous implants, but postextraction resorption and remodeling may challenge implant placement. The use of bone biomaterials has been advocated to fill extraction sites and to enhance primary implant stability during osseointegration. The objective of the case series was to evaluate bone formation histologically and biomechanically in extraction sites following implantation of three commercially available bone biomaterials to compare their ability to allow guided bone regeneration. METHODS: Thirty-six periodontally involved teeth were extracted from eight healthy non-smoking subjects. At least two bone biomaterials, a synthetic sponge based on polylactic-polyglycolic acid technology (FIS), bovine porous bone mineral (BPBM), or a natural coral derivative physically and chemically transformed into a calcium carbonate ceramic (COR), and one non-grafted control were applied to the extraction sockets within each subject and were covered by an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene device. The devices were removed after 2 months, and trephine biopsies were obtained from each site 4 months later. At that time, endosseous implants were placed in 25 of the sites, and healing abutments were placed; measurements were taken 4 to 6 months later with an electronic mobility testing device. RESULTS: The percentage of residual biomaterial was 5.6% +/- 8.9% for FIS (P <0.001), 20.2% +/- 17.0% for BPBM (P <0.05), and 12.0% +/- 16.4% for COR (P <0.001). The amount of residual biomaterial after 6 months showed a significant relationship with the insertion torque measurements during the first third of implant insertion (P <0.05) and with values of the electronic mobility testing device at the abutment connection (P = 0.05). Histologically, new bone apposition was seen on BPBM particles. FIS sites showed similar ingrowth of blood vessels and osteocytes as empty controls. CONCLUSION: All sites revealed good primary stability at implant insertion and proper implant rigidity at abutment placement, indicating that early implant osseointegration was not influenced by the application of bone biomaterials used in this study.

Overgeneral autobiographical memory predicts diagnostic status in depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterised by difficulties in retrieving specific autobiographical memories, with a significant propensity towards categoric memories (i.e. memories of a summary type). Previous studies have demonstrated that this overgeneral memory is a valid predictor of the course of depression, with reduced specificity being associated with worse outcome. Most of these studies have employed continuous measures of depression to assess the course of the symptoms. This study investigated whether overgeneral memory also predicts clinical status at follow-up (i.e. whether patients still meet criteria for depression). Patients who fulfilled criteria for major depressive disorder were tested shortly after admission to the hospital and were retested some weeks later. It was found that lower levels of specificity or a higher number of categoric memories were associated with a higher probability of still being diagnosed with MDD. These memory variables outperformed other relevant indices, such as depression severity, rumination, level of self-esteem and dysfunctional attitudes.

On the nature of the affective priming effect: effects of stimulus onset asynchrony and congruency proportion in naming and evaluative categorization.

In line with the hypothesis that affective priming of evaluative categorization responses is based on processes that operate at a response selection stage, it has been observed that increasing the proportion of congruent trials brings about increased affective priming effects at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) in the evaluative categorization task. In the present study, we orthogonally manipulated the congruency proportion (.25, .50, and .75) and the SOA (0, 200, and 1,000 msec) in the evaluative categorization task and a naming task. Results showed that at both short and long SOAs, the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task was influenced by the congruency proportion. In contrast, affective priming effects in the naming task were unaffected by the congruency proportion at short SOAs. This pattern of results provides corroborating evidence for the hypotheses (1) that different processes underlie the affective priming effect in the evaluative categorization task and the naming task and (2) that valenced stimuli can automatically preactivate the memory representations of other, affectively related stimuli.