Childhood disability in rural Niger: a population-based assessment using the Key Informant Method.

Background: Data on childhood disability is essential for planning health, education and other services. However, information is lacking in many low- and middle-income countries, including Niger. This study uses the Key Informant Method, an innovative and cost-effective strategy for generating population-based estimates of childhood disability, to estimate the prevalence and causes of moderate/severe impairments and disabling health conditions in children of school-going age (7-16 years) in the Kollo department of western Niger.

Four-Millimeter-Long Posterior-Mandible Implants: 5-Year Outcomes of a Prospective Multicenter Study.

Background: There is lack of evidence on long-term success of short dental implants in reduced alveolar bone.

Purpose: In this prospective 5-year study, survival and marginal bone loss of 4-mm implants, which supported fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) in severely resorbed posterior mandibles, were evaluated.

Material And Methods: In 28 patients, evaluation of 86 osseointegrated 4-mm-long implants, which supported a 3- or a 4-unit FDP by crown splinting without the use of pontics or cantilevers, was performed over a 5-year period.

The influence of relining or implant retaining existing mandibular dentures on health-related quality of life: a 2-year randomized study of dissatisfied edentulous patients.

Purpose: The purpose was to assess and compare self-reported oral health and oral and general health related quality of life (OHRQoL and HRQoL) in two groups of edentulous adults who reported dissatisfaction with their mandibular dentures, and who were treated with a conventional relining of this denture or by having it converted into an implant-retained one.

Materials And Methods: Sixty subjects were randomly allocated into two equal groups, a relined conventional denture (RCD) group and an implant-retained overdenture (IOD) group. Data on demographics, oral health, OHRQoL, and HRQoL were recorded by means of a self-administered questionnaire at baseline, 3 months, and 2 years.

The ARV roll out and the disability grant: a South African dilemma?

Background: Prior to the antiretroviral (ARV) drug roll out in 2004, people living with HIV (PLHIV) in South Africa received disability grants when they were defined as "AIDS-sick". In the absence of available and effective medication, a diagnosis of AIDS portended disability. The disability grant is a critical component of South Africa's social security system, and plays an important role in addressing poverty among PLHIV.