A comparison of patient satisfaction and dentist evaluation of overdenture therapy.

It has been argued that the retention of some teeth in the jaws as overdenture abutments prevents negative feelings about the loss of natural teeth. This study set out to evaluate how satisfied a group of patients were with wearing overdentures, and to compare their subjective evaluations with those of a dentist using objective criteria to examine the prostheses. A questionnaire was developed using questions adapted from several other studies.

Oral health of persons with and without dementia attending a geriatric clinic.

This study of 230 hospital geriatric clinic patients compared the oral health of individuals with dementias with that of persons with no dementing illnesses. Data collected included dental examinations, subject questionnaires and review of hospital records. There were few differences among groups of patients based on categorization into groups of those diagnosed with (1) no dementia, (2) dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and (3) other dementias.

Radiographic findings, ridge resorption, and subjective complaints of complete denture patients.

To evaluate the relationship between the complaints of complete denture wearers and alveolar bone resorption as well as the location of mental foramina, 96 patients were interviewed. All subjects had received new dentures at the University of Iowa between August 1985 and July 1990. Panoramic radiographs had been made for all the subjects before dentures were fabricated.

Denture duplication technique with alternative materials.

This denture duplication technique uses addition silicone impression material. It is an easy, time-efficient method that allows the fabrication of the duplicate denture at a convenient time.

Disrupted splenic architecture, but normal lymph node development in mice expressing a soluble lymphotoxin-beta receptor-IgG1 fusion protein.

Early in ontogeny, the secondary lymphoid organs become populated with numerous cells of mesodermal origin which forms both the lymphoid and stromal elements. The critical receptor/ligand interactions necessary for lymphoid organogenesis to occur are for the most part unknown. Although lymphotoxin-alpha (LT alpha) has been shown to be required for normal lymph node, Peyer's patch, and splenic development, it is unclear if soluble LT alpha 3, and/or cell-bound lymphotoxin-alpha beta (LT alpha beta) mediate these developmental events.

Review: xerostomia: a symptom which acts like a disease.

This review considers the changes in salivary glands associated with ageing and concludes that there is no evidence to show that xerostomia is likely to result from the ageing process alone. The four main factors causing xerostomia are presented and it can be seen that the condition is a side-effect of diseases and the drugs used to treat these diseases. As xerostomia has a significant effect on a person's quality of life, a multifaceted approach to treating xerostomia is presented.

Periodontal considerations in an overdenture population.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have identified that persons wearing overdentures require regular care and maintenance of the remaining dentition. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the periodontal problems of 254 patients seen over a period of 12 years. At overdenture placement, baseline measurements and photographs were made by a single examiner.

Factors influencing nurses' aides' provision of oral care for nursing facility residents.

Nurses' aides provide the majority of direct care for nursing facility residents. This study investigated aides' self-reported oral care activities and personal, job, organizational, and resident factors associated with oral care. A 30-item questionnaire was completed by 488 aides, and interviews were conducted with 65 of these aides.

The old-old dental patient: the challenge of clinical decision-making.

As the U.S. geriatric population grows older, dentists should recognize the need to carefully consider age-related concerns that influence clinical decision-making.

Characterization of lpr-derived T cell hybridomas: Fas-deficient hybridomas are deathless, growth-arrested, and cytotoxic upon activation.

T cell hybridomas that are deathless upon TCR crosslinking were generated from lpr mice. The deathless hybridomas (1.4 and 5D5) expressed extremely low Fas even after anti-CD3 activation, whereas activation-induced cell death (AICD) was observed for Fas-expressing hybridomas.

Evaluating the longevity of restorative materials that seal the root canals of overdenture abutments.

Researchers have not established which restorative materials are most appropriate to seal the root canals of overdenture abutments. The author evaluated the longevity of a spherical amalgam, a composite resin and a glass ionomer in 123 patients. Results of this study showed a significant difference between the glass ionomer and the other two materials with regard to the time from placement to replacement of the restorations.

An evaluation of removable partial dentures: a retrospective study.

A 50% sample (N = 100) of all patients aged between 50-70 years at the time of treatment who received RPDs' were interviewed by telephone for 8-10 minutes. The questionnaires evaluated the subjects' denture experience, attitudes to dentures, and satisfaction with them. A large majority were satisfied with their RPD's but a higher proportion of women reported problems with mandibular RPD's.

Fas ligand-mediated cytotoxicity is directly responsible for apoptosis of normal CD4+ T cells responding to a bacterial superantigen.

Exposure of naive CD4+ T lymphocytes to superantigens such as staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) induces a strong proliferative response. Prolonged exposure or subsequent restimulation of the responding T cell population with SEB leads to the apoptotic events of activation-induced cell death (AICD). However, T cells derived from either Fas-deficient lpr or Fas ligand-deficient gld autoimmune mouse strains, fail to undergo AICD under these conditions.

Focused US system for MR imaging-guided tumor ablation.

Purpose: To measure the performance characteristics of a focused ultrasound (US) system for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided tumor ablation.

Materials And Methods: The authors constructed a focused US system for MR imaging-guided tumor ablation. The location of the heated region and thermal dose were monitored with temperature-sensitive MR images obtained in phantoms and rabbit skeletal muscle after application of each sonic pulse.

Fas(CD95)/FasL interactions required for programmed cell death after T-cell activation.

Receptor crosslinking of T-cell hybridomas induces cell activation followed by apoptosis. This activation-induced cell death requires de novo synthesis of RNA and proteins, but the actual gene products that provide the death signal have not been identified. We show here that receptor crosslinking induces Fas ligand and upregulates Fas, and that the ensuing engagement of Fas by Fas ligand activates the cell-death programme.

The vitamin D3 hydroxylase-associated protein is a propionamide-metabolizing amidase enzyme.

Previously we isolated a novel protein that coimmunoprecipitates with the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-24R-hydroxylase and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1 alpha-hydroxylase. This kidney-specific protein found in the inner membrane of mitochondria is named the vitamin D3 hydroxylase-associated protein (VDHAP). To determine a putative function for this protein, an extensive computer search of the deduced amino acid sequence of VDHAP was performed.

Factors influencing the future need for treatment of root surfaces.

This paper discusses the current status of root surface caries in the elderly population and the need for treatment of this condition in the future. Although root surface exposure and root caries have been reported for adults at all ages, the people at greatest risk for these conditions are the elderly. In the United States, life expectancy and the population aged 65 years and older has increased substantially, and the proportion of the elderly population who are dentate has increased and is projected to increase further.

Participation of target Fas protein in apoptosis pathway induced by CD4+ Th1 and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells.

The results presented here provide evidence that the presence of Fas protein in target cells is essential to permit cytotoxicity (resulting in apoptosis) mediated by cloned CD4+ Th1 cells. Using mitogen-activated B cells as targets, antigen-dependent lysis by CD4+ Th1 effectors was observed with MRL/MpJ+ but not with MRL/MpJ-lpr targets. The congenic MRL/MpJ-lpr strain is defective in Fas expression.

Controlled spatial bright soliton emission from a nonlinear waveguide.

An efficient technique for controlling the spatial bright soliton emission from a nonlinear waveguide is demonstrated numerically for what is to our knowledge the first time. The principle of this technique is based on the addition of a weak antisymmetric signal as a probe, the control parameters being the amplitude and the phase of the probe. A novel nonlinear device, the three-waveguide soliton coupler, is introduced and discussed as an application.

Functional distinctions between MRL-lpr and MRL-gld lymphocytes. Normal cells reverse the gld but not lpr immunoregulatory defect.

Homozygosity for either of the autosomal recessive mutations, lpr or gld, confers an autoimmune syndrome characterized by massive lymphoid hyperplasia and extensive autoantibody production. Despite the similarities in disease progression, functional distinctions in these genetic defects have been observed in bone marrow transplantation studies. To elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the aberrant immune phenotype of these strains, we analyzed interactions between normal T cells and T cells from the two autoimmune strains with regard to their in vitro responses to autologous and allogeneic stimuli and in an in vivo bone marrow transplantation model.

Effect of fluoride on overdenture abutments.

This study evaluated the caries preventive effects of high concentrations of fluoride on overdenture abutment teeth. Twenty-four extracted caries-free teeth were randomly selected from a pool of patients aged 50-70 and prepared as for overdenture abutments. The teeth were sectioned mesiodistally into two halves.

cDNA cloning and characterization of a vitamin D3 hydroxylase-associated protein.

We previously reported the generation of monoclonal antibodies which immunoprecipitate a fraction of the total chick kidney 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-24R-hydroxylase activity. These antibodies were used to screen a chick kidney lambda gt11 cDNA library resulting in the isolation of a full-length cDNA encoding a protein that is not the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-24R-hydroxylase but another protein we term the vitamin D3 hydroxylase-associated protein (VDHAP). The deduced amino acid sequence agreed with an NH2-terminal amino acid sequence from the isolated VDHAP.

Mature CD4+ T lymphocytes from MRL/lpr mice are resistant to receptor-mediated tolerance and apoptosis.

The goal of this study was to examine the functional responses and tolerance susceptibility of T lymphocytes from mice of the autoimmune strain, MRL/lpr. A population of autoreactive CD4+ T cells can be readily expanded from the lymphoid tissues of young lpr mice. Lines of IL-2-producing autoreactive and alloreactive lpr and alloreactive +/+ T cells were developed to study their responses to tolerance-inducing stimuli.