Publications by authors named "Boyen Huang"

Article Synopsis
  • mHealth is showing promise for assessing traumatic dental injuries (TDI) remotely, with this study focusing on the diagnostic accuracy of TDI detection through smartphone photos.
  • The study involved photographing the upper and lower anterior teeth of 153 participants, and the images were evaluated independently by dental professionals to determine how accurately they could identify TDIs.
  • Results indicated that diagnostic sensitivity ranged from 59-95% for TDIs, with better accuracy for urgent cases and primary/mixed dentition, suggesting mHealth could be a valuable tool in emergency dental care and future research may involve enhancing photographic assessment techniques and integrating machine learning.
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  • The study investigates how distance affects the use of Emergency Departments (EDs) for non-urgent medical issues, highlighting a global public health concern.
  • A systematic review found that among the 15 articles examined, over half indicated that shorter travel distances correlate with higher ED utilization for non-urgent cases.
  • The results suggest that healthcare policies could be more effective if they address the factors leading to increased non-urgent ED visits, emphasizing the importance of access to alternative care options.
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  • Oral health knowledge is crucial for making informed oral health decisions and influences overall well-being, as demonstrated by its relationship with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).
  • A study of 372 first-year undergraduate students in Minnesota found that those with better oral health knowledge experienced fewer issues related to OHRQoL, such as speech difficulties and social participation problems.
  • The results indicate that enhancing oral health education at universities could significantly improve OHRQoL among students, alongside providing affordable dental services.
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Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the splatter contamination generated by rotary instrumentation and irrigation during simulations of surgical extractions. Specifically, comparisons of the splatters generated were made between traditional assistant-based irrigation and self-irrigating drills and between saline and hydrogen peroxide irrigant.

Materials And Methods: A fluorescein solution was infiltrated into the irrigation system of high-speed drills, and the surgical extraction procedures were performed on manikins with the typodont teeth.

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Objectives: To examine the effect of individualized smartphone-recorded video review on dental student confidence in performing local anesthesia (LA) techniques, in a manikin-based simulation environment.

Methods: All University of Minnesota second-year dental students were invited to participate in this randomized trial developed following the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement, in 2020. With a parallel trial design, 104 students were randomly divided into two groups (52 per group) prior to the learning experience.

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With a higher pH level and being unlikely to erode the tooth, bottled water has been considered a safe alternative to acidic beverages. However, recent studies have reported some bottled water products in different countries to be acidic. The present paper aimed to examine the pH values of 42 bottled waters commercially available in Australia, using a pH meter and probe, and classify their risks to cause erosive tooth wear in comparison with the critical pH of enamel and dentine.

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Background: Erosive tooth wear has significant impacts on oral and general health. This study aimed to measure the awareness of dental erosion to establish the relationships among sociodemographic factors, awareness and knowledge of dental erosion, and beverage consumption behaviours, in a sample of university students in Australia.

Methods: All undergraduate students enrolled in the targeted programs at an Australian University were invited.

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This study uses a general formulation of integrated visual grading regression (IVGR) and applies it to cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan data related to anatomical landmarks for dental implantology. The aim was to assess and predict a minimum acceptable dose for diagnostic imaging and reporting. A skull phantom was imaged with a CBCT unit at various diagnostic exposures.

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Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2)-deficient mice can be used to model congenital tooth agenesis in humans. Conversely, uterine sensitization-associated gene-1 (Usag-1)-deficient mice exhibit supernumerary tooth formation. Arrested tooth formation can be restored by crossing both knockout-mouse strains; however, it remains unclear whether topical inhibition of Usag-1 expression can enable the recovery of tooth formation in Runx2-deficient mice.

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Purpose: In response to COVID-19, dental educators have been tasked with maintaining the quality of education while reducing cost, increasing efficiency, and leveraging technology.

Methods: This collaborative, multisite virtual health policy course used the Staged Self-Directed Learning Model (SSDL) to lead a diverse group of students studying health policy. Twelve Core sessions were offered with three additional sessions in August or December for a total of 15 total synchronous Zoom sessions that covered policy issues on supply, demand, and need for dental care.

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  • A study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of intraoral photographs with traditional visual dental exams in detecting dental caries in children aged 4 to 14 years.
  • The researchers found that while caries prevalence rates from both methods were similar (30-39% for photographs vs. 42% for visual exams), the photographic method had a sensitivity of 58-80% and a very high specificity of 99.7-99.9%.
  • Overall, the photographic approach proved to be a reliable alternative for caries detection, especially in younger children, with strong reliability among different reviewers assessing the photographs.
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Background: Non-nutritive sucking habits, bottle feeding, and facial hyperdivergency have been suggested as the influencing factors of anterior open bite (AOB). There was inconsistent reporting of prevalence and a gap of knowledge in the literature.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of AOB in 7- to 12-year-olds, with a special interest to characterise the determinants of this malocclusion.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of areca nut consumption and to identify social and behavioural determinants among a Taiwanese adolescent population.

Subjects And Methods: A random sample of 5,343 high school students aged between 15-18 years in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, participated in the study. Participants underwent a clinical dental examination and completed a self-administered questionnaire.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Despite improvements in child oral health, some groups in Australia still face high rates of dental cavities due to geographic, socioeconomic barriers, and insufficient access to dental care.
  • - The School Dental Services (SDS) has struggled with workforce issues and resource limitations, leading to a need for innovative solutions in dental care for school children.
  • - An ongoing study is comparing traditional dental care methods to a new teledental approach using smartphone imaging for children aged 4-15, aiming to evaluate effectiveness, costs, and long-term dental health outcomes.
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Background: Greater awareness and knowledge of oral cancer has been shown to increase patient presentation for opportunistic screening. This study aimed to identify the level of awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst adult patients in regional New South Wales.

Methods: A total of 444 adult dental patients participated in a self-administered questionnaire at one of five regional university dental clinics between 23 May and 25 July.

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Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that has been recognized as a therapeutic target for EML4-ALK fusion-positive nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment using type I kinase inhibitors such as crizotinib to take over the ATP binding site. According to Shaw's measurements, ALK carrying G1202R mutation shows reduced response to crizotinib (IC = 382 nM vs. IC = 20 nM for wild-type), whereas L1198F mutant is more responsive (IC = 0.

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Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in various cancers. In its basal state, the structure of ALK is in an autoinhibitory form stabilized by its A-loop, which runs from the N-lobe to the C-lobe of the kinase. Specifically, the A-loop adopts an inhibitory pose with its proximal A-loop helix (αAL-helix) to anchor the αC-helix orientation in an inactive form in the N-lobe; the distal portion of the A-loop is packed against the C-lobe to block the peptide substrate from binding.

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Anterior open bite (AOB) is one of the most complex malocclusions to manage. AOB is caused by either by skeletal, genetic or environmental factors. Numerous treatment options are currently utilised to manage AOB.

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Adult Cebpb KO mice incisors present amelogenin-positive epithelium pearls, enamel and dentin allopathic hyperplasia, fewer Sox2-positive cells in labial cervical loop epitheliums, and reduced Sox2 expression in enamel epithelial stem cells. Thus, Cebpb acts upstream of Sox2 to regulate stemness. In this study, Cebpb KO mice demonstrated cementum-like hard tissue in dental pulp, loss of polarity by ameloblasts, enamel matrix in ameloblastic layer, and increased expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in a Cebpb knockdown mouse enamel epithelial stem cell line.

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Oxygen homeostasis in normal and tumor cells is mediated by hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which are active as heterodimer complexes, such as HIF-2α-aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) and HIF-1α-ARNT. A series of mutations on the interfaces between HIF-2α and ARNT and on the domain-domain interface within HIF-2α has been reported to exert varying effects on HIF-2α-ARNT dimerization. In the present study, molecular dynamic simulations were conducted to evaluate HIF-2α mutations, namely R171A, V192D, and R171A/V192D, which are not involved in the interaction with ARNT but impede HIF-2α-ARNT dimerization.

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Dental students have reported a high prevalence of psychological stress and the causes are associated with the challenging dental environmental and demographic factors. This study aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation on dental students' stress status, using a sample of first-to-third-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery students in an Australian university. Special interests included causes of dental environmental stress and access to help services.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of using a smartphone camera for remote screening of dental caries through a mobile teledentistry approach.
  • - It involved 100 participants who had their dental images captured via an Android app and sent to a telemedicine server, where off-site dentists evaluated them compared to traditional face-to-face assessments.
  • - Results showed moderate sensitivity (60-63%) for detecting caries with the smartphone method, indicating it could serve as a cost-effective and reliable screening tool in the dental field despite some limitations.
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Supernumerary teeth and tooth agenesis are common morphological anomalies in humans. We previously obtained evidence that supernumerary maxillary incisors form as a result of the successive development of the rudimentary maxillary incisor tooth germ in Usag-1 null mice. The development of tooth germs is arrested in Runx2 null mice, and such mice also exhibit lingual epithelial buds associated with the upper molars and incisors.

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Background: Wnt5a and Mrfzb1 genes are involved in the regulation of tooth size, and their expression levels are similar to that of Bmp7 during morphogenesis, including during the cap and early bell stages of tooth formation. We previously reported that Usag-1-deficient mice form supernumerary maxillary incisors. Thus, we hypothesized that BMP7 and USAG-1 signaling molecules may play important roles in tooth morphogenesis.

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