Paediatric dentists' role in child protection practice: Progress over time?

Background: Child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) is a global public health problem. Healthcare professionals must contribute to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children at risk.

Aim: To determine whether paediatric dentists' rates of child protection training, experience and practice have changed and to identify factors currently associated with maltreatment recognition and referral.

Making white spots disappear! Do minimally invasive treatments improve incisor opacities in children with molar-incisor hypomineralisation?

Background: Children with molar-incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) frequently seek aesthetic treatment for incisor opacities. Surprisingly, few studies have evaluated the clinical success of such interventions.

Aim: To quantify the effectiveness of minimally invasive treatments in reducing enamel opacity visibility in children with MIH.

Determinants of children's oral health-related quality of life following aesthetic treatment of enamel opacities.

Objectives: To identify clinical and psychosocial predictors of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children with molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) following aesthetic treatment of incisor opacities.

Methods: Participants were 7- to 16-year-old children referred to a UK Dental Hospital for management of incisor opacities. Prior to treatment (T), participants completed validated questionnaires to assess OHRQoL and overall health status (C-OHIP-SF19), and self-concept (Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children [SPPC]).

Change in Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Following Minimally Invasive Aesthetic Treatment for Children with Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation: A Prospective Study.

Molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) is a common enamel condition, presenting with incisor opacities, which may be of psychosocial concern to children. This clinical study sought to determine whether minimally invasive treatment, aiming to improve incisor aesthetics, would also improve children's oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). 111 MIH patients, aged 7⁻16 years, referred to a UK Dental Hospital, were invited to complete the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (C-OHIP-SF19) prior to any intervention (T₀) and again at one-month following the intervention (T₁) for MIH.

Heimler Syndrome Is Caused by Hypomorphic Mutations in the Peroxisome-Biogenesis Genes PEX1 and PEX6.

Heimler syndrome (HS) is a rare recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), amelogenesis imperfecta, nail abnormalities, and occasional or late-onset retinal pigmentation. We ascertained eight families affected by HS and, by using a whole-exome sequencing approach, identified biallelic mutations in PEX1 or PEX6 in six of them. Loss-of-function mutations in both genes are known causes of a spectrum of autosomal-recessive peroxisome-biogenesis disorders (PBDs), including Zellweger syndrome.

Ethnicity and perception of dental shade esthetics.

Aim And Objectives: To determine whether or not people from different ethnic backgrounds have different attitudes towards dental esthetics and chose different dental appearances in terms of tooth shade, and to determine whether the dental professional's choice and the individual's own choice have any relationship with what the individual ideally perceives as esthetically pleasing.

Methodology: For this cross-sectional analytical study, 120 volunteer students from the University of Sheffield (excepting dental students) from various ethnic backgrounds, of different ages, of both genders, and with varying degree/educational levels were recruited from the campus. The volunteers were asked to complete a questionnaire containing 9 adapted attitudinal statements regarding positive or negative dental esthetic perceptions in terms of tooth shade, with responses on a 5-point Likert scale from "Entirely agree" to "Entirely disagree".

Change in supporting tissue following loss of a permanent maxillary incisor in children.

Alveolar bone resorption is an inevitable consequence of tooth loss and may be detrimental to long-term dental aesthetics and function. The aim of the present study was to quantify the degree of tissue resorption following the loss of a permanent incisor in a young population. The study group comprised 11 boys and five girls who all required the extraction of a permanent maxillary central incisor due to trauma-related sequelae.

Comparison of methods for measurement of hypoplastic lesions.

Enamel hypoplasia is a quantitative defect of enamel thickness. Methods previously used for its measurement have limitations in clinical studies. The aim of this study was to investigate new methods of measurement using image analysis.

The new Enamel Defects Index: testing and expansion.

The Enamel Defects Index (EDI) was created based on three innovative principles: (i) a basic level of the three major categories of defects; (ii) more detailed subcategories of each major category; and (iii) each category scored independently as present [1] or absent [0], simplifying decision making. The aim of this investigation was to further test the index in a number of applications and to expand it to record defect subtype and treatment need. Testing was undertaken by operators with different levels of clinical experience.

The patterning of hypodontia in a group of young adults in Sheffield, UK.

Objective: Identifying the patterning of congenitally absent teeth will contribute to understanding the aetiology of hypodontia. The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of hypodontia in a group of young adults in Sheffield, UK involving specific tooth types, gender differences and maxilla:mandible and left:right correlations.

Methods: The patients were 198 unrelated Caucasian young adults (86 males and 112 females) with non-syndromic hypodontia.

Fluctuating dental asymmetry of multiple crown variables measured by an image analysis system.

Objective: Fluctuating dental asymmetry as an indication of the effect of environmental insults during tooth development requires further investigation. The aim of this study was to assess asymmetry in tooth crown dimension for the increased range of parameters possible with image analysis compared to previous manual measurements.

Methods: Study models of 25 male and 25 female white Caucasian subjects were measured from buccal and occlusal views to determine mesio-distal, bucco-lingual, occluso-gingival and tooth surface area dimensions using image analysis.

Peripheral mechanisms for the initiation of pain following trigeminal nerve injury.

Injury to a branch of the trigeminal nerve may lead to the development of chronic pain in the affected area. The etiology of this condition is not clear, but there is strong evidence to suggest that spontaneous and mechanically induced neural discharge from the injury site plays a crucial role. In laboratory studies, we have characterized this discharge following injury to the inferior alveolar or lingual nerves and have shown a temporal association with the accumulation of neuropeptides in the damaged axons.

Incisor crown shape and crowding.

The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between the shape of mandibular incisor crowns and crowding. Study models of 50 untreated white subjects (25 men and 25 women) with varying degrees of crowding were studied. The lower incisors were sectioned and imaged at the contact point and midpoint levels, and the mesiodistal width was measured.

Novel missense mutations and a 288-bp exonic insertion in PAX9 in families with autosomal dominant hypodontia.

We describe the molecular analysis of three families with hypodontia involving primarily molar teeth and report two novel mutational mechanisms. Linkage analysis of two large families revealed that the hypodontia was linked to the PAX9 locus. These two families revealed missense mutations consisting of a glutamic acid substitution for lysine and a proline substitution for leucine within the paired domain of PAX9.