Publications by authors named "Dounis G"

Though overall death from opioid overdose are increasing in the United States, the death rate in some states and population groups is stabilizing or even decreasing. Several states have enacted a Naloxone Accessibility Laws to increase naloxone availability as an opioid antidote. The extent to which these laws permit layperson distribution and possession varies.

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We aim to examine temporal trends of orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors in the nation and states of Oregon and Washington where marijuana legalization was accepted earlier than any others.As aging society advances in the United States (U.S.

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Background: Health care workforce shortages and an increase demand for health care services by an older demographic challenged by oral-systemic conditions are being recognized across health care systems. Demands are placed on health care professionals to render coordinated delivery of services. Management of oral-systemic conditions requires a trained health care workforce to render interprofessional patient-centered and coordinated delivery of health care services.

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Background: The authors identified and described dietary strategies appropriate for dental patients who receive dental care that includes the placement and maintenance of dental prostheses.

Conclusions: Identification of a patient's perception of food choices associated with placement of a dental prosthesis can lead to delivery of patient-focused dietary guidance for the promotion of targeted food choices to improve oral health and systemic health. An interview guide for assessment of patient satisfaction and a guide for suggested dietary choices and modifications are provided.

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Purpose: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. If current trends persist, tobacco will kill more than 8 million people worldwide by 2030 and 1 billion by the end of the century. The purpose of this study was to determine trends in tobacco/marijuana use in Nevada adolescents and their effect on dental health status.

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This study measured whether a tobacco cessation program in Nevada's Clark County School District (CCSD) delivered by dental educators affected ninth-grade students' short-term perceived knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and intentions (KABI) toward tobacco use and whether the CCSD's immersion approach led to positive changes in students' KABI. A quantitative research methodology with a descriptive research design was used. Data were collected from 617 students using pre- and post-program surveys self-administered by the participants.

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Background: The objective of this study was to measure the validity and reliability of a multifactorial Risk Factor Model developed for use in predicting future caries risk in Nevada adolescents in a public health setting.

Methods: This study examined retrospective data from an oral health surveillance initiative that screened over 51,000 students 13-18 years of age, attending public/private schools in Nevada across six academic years (2002/2003-2007/2008). The Risk Factor Model included ten demographic variables: exposure to fluoridation in the municipal water supply, environmental smoke exposure, race, age, locale (metropolitan vs.

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Background: With the increasingly polarized distribution of dental caries among children and adolescents, the usual DMFT measure has become a less meaningful population descriptor. To re-focus on identifying the high caries prevalence group the Significant Caries Index (SiC) was created. The aims of this study were to analyze the prevalence and severity of dental caries in Nevada youth over a period of eight years and to compare its expression by means of DMFT and SiC; analyze the caries trends in the population and their underlying factors, and determine whether Nevada youth were at risk for significantly high levels of dental caries.

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Objective: Oral health is an integral component of general health, and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of oral health status and acces\s to dental care by Southern Nevada Assisted Living Facilities Residents.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study design was used to survey residents between 34 and 99 years old residing in Assisted Living Facilities.

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Background: The main purpose of this study was to compare the 30% of Nevada Youth who presented with the highest Decayed Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index to a cohort who were caries free and to national NHANES data. Secondly, to explore the factors associated with higher caries prevalence in those with the highest DMFT scores compared to the caries-free group.

Methods: Over 4000 adolescents between ages 12 and 19 (Case Group: N = 2124;

Control Group: N = 2045) received oral health screenings conducted in public/private middle and high schools in Nevada in 2008/2009 academic year.

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The growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population, as well as escalating dental expenditures, is leading to major changes in the demands on oral health care delivery.

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Background: In three separate scenarios, the authors illustrate dietary assessment evaluations completed in dental settings by oral health care professionals (OHCPs) using time-efficient guidelines and targeted realistic patient education messages.

Conclusions: Patients' responses to key questions can provide OHCPs with a road map for conducting dietary assessments and evaluations, selecting specific assessment approaches, and developing targeted patient nutrition and oral health education messages.

Clinical Implications: To individualize and enhance comprehensive patient care, OHCPs can conduct dietary assessments, evaluate results, refer patients when indicated, and provide patient nutrition and oral health education.

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This clinically simulated study examined the accuracy of full-arch impression materials using successive casts reproduced from single impressions. Materials tested included a polyether polyvinyl siloxane, medium viscosity material, and putty wash. Maxillary full-arch Dentoform models were created with four abutments prepared for complete crowns.

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The authors present the case of a healthy 40-year-old man who developed a myocardial infarction because of traumatic dissection of the left circumflex coronary artery following a fall from height. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a traumatic lesion of the left circumflex artery is being reported after a fall.

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Traumatic tricuspid insufficiency, a rare complication of blunt chest trauma, has been reported with increasing frequency during the last 40 years. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of traumatic tricuspid valve regurgitation. The most frequently reported injury is chordal rupture, followed by rupture of the anterior papillary muscle and leaflet tear, primarily of the anterior leaflet.

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Aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva (ASV) is a rare cardiac disease that may be acquired or congenital. It is usually an asymptomatic condition; however, when it ruptures, symptoms appear and the condition deteriorates rapidly. Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) is a localized "saccular" deformity of the interatrial septum that is associated with cerebrovascular events of embolic origin.

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Fifteen hypertensive patients (13 men) with left ventricular hypertrophy, mean age 69 6 5 years, having complete heart block and paced in the DDD mode, were studied by two-dimensional and Doppler echo in 100 and 200 ms atrioventricular delays. ANF plasma levels were measured at rest and at peak exercise, during pacing with the two different atrioventricular delays. ANF plasma levels were significantly higher at pacing with long atrioventricular delays (200 ms), at rest (152.

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We report the case of a 57-year old man who was admitted to our department because of worsening dyspnea - orthopnea and whose aortic valve had been replaced 31 years previously, with a Starr-Edwards caged-ball prosthesis. His symptoms' deterioration was due to a recent myocardial infarction which in combination with the chronic mitral regurgitation of rheumatic origin led to heart failure. As assessed by echocardiography the mechanical prosthesis did not show signs of significant dysfunction and except for mild regurgitation, it had a good performance.

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Left ventricular diastolic function was studied by Doppler echocardiography in 35 patients with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction, on the third and tenth day of hospitalization and six weeks after hospitalization and was correlated with electrocardiogram, serum enzyme values, and angiographic data. Normal diastolic function on the first echocardiographic study predicted (p = 0.0001) the existence of no or single-vessel disease, and excluded (p = 0.

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Stroke is often caused by atherosclerotic lesions in the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. The authors evaluated conventional lateral cephalometric radiographs of 1,063 healthy men aged 25 to 85 years for the presence of such lesions. Approximately 2 percent of these people had lesions, which were at the level fo the third and fourth cervical vertebrae and were superimposed over these structures, the pre-vertebral fascia and the pharyngeal air space.

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This study compared the marginal fit of complete-arch fixed prostheses under simulated clinical conditions. Prostheses were made on casts constructed from three commonly used impression materials; polyether, polyvinyl siloxane (medium-viscosity and putty-wash), and reversible hydrocolloid. A maxillary dentoform with four abutment teeth was used as the master cast and six impressions were made with each material.

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