The comparison of two different mandibular positions for oral appliance therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: An oral appliance (OA) can alleviate upper airway obstruction by pulling the mandible forward during sleep. While a large mandibular advancement with an OA decreases the number of apnea and hypopnea events, long-term use may cause side effects, such as toothache, stiffness, and pain in the temporomandibular joint.

Objetives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different mandibular positions for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and determine the optimal therapeutic mandibular position.

Prosthodontic treatment can improve the ingestible food profile in Japanese adult outpatients.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of prosthodontic treatment on the ingestible food profile in adult Japanese outpatients, and to identify the related risk factors that can deteriorate the profile.

Methods: The participants were 277 outpatients who visited university-based specialty clinics in Japan for prosthodontic treatment. The demographic data, number of present teeth assessed via intraoral examination, and oral health-related quality of life assessed by the total Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-J54) scores of all participants were recorded before treatment.

Effectiveness of denture space recording method in the prosthetic treatment of edentulous patients.

Purpose: To present a clinical rationale for the effectiveness of denture space recording methods for the prosthetic treatment of edentulous patients through a review of the literature.

Study Selection: A total of 3167 studies were extracted from a search of four terms, namely denture space, neutral zone technique, flange technique, and piezography using PubMed and J-STAGE databases. A total of 57 documents that matched the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected.

Evaluation of implant-supported connecting crowns fabricated by optical and conventional impression methods.

Purpose To investigate the accuracy of implant-supported connecting crowns fabricated with digital definitive casts and conventional definitive casts.Methods Using a master model with two implant bodies inserted into the right mandibular molar area, 10 digital definitive casts were fabricated. Additionally, 10 conventional definitive casts were fabricated.

A multi-centered epidemiological study evaluating the validity of the treatment difficulty indices developed by the Japan Prosthodontic Society.

Purpose: The Japan Prosthodontic Society developed a multi-axis assessment protocol to evaluate the complex variations in patients who need prosthodontic care, and to classify the level of treatment difficulty. A previous report found the protocol to be sufficiently reliable. The purpose of this multi-center cohort study was to evaluate the validity of this multi-axis assessment protocol.

Assessment of oral appliance for obstructive sleep apnea patients.

Although oral appliances (OAs) have become widely used for the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), side effects of OAs are generally related to poor utilization. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate relationship between utilization and treatment efficacy of a boil-and-bite appliance for OSA patients. A total of 135 patients with OSA who had used an OAs were mailed a questionnaire to determine whether they were currently using the OA.

Japan Prosthodontic Society position paper on "occlusal discomfort syndrome".

Purpose: Dentists may encounter patients who present with a sense of a malocclusion but in whom no objective findings can be detected. For the patient who insists that there is occlusal discomfort, in the absence of evidence some dentists elect to perform an occlusal adjustment that not only fails to alleviate symptoms, and may, in fact, exacerbate the discomfort. The patient-dentist relationship is then likely compromised because of a lack of trust.

Identification and adjustment of experimental occlusal interference using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: The purpose of this study was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to quantify changes in brain activity during experimental occlusal interference.

Methods: Fourteen healthy volunteers performed a rhythmical tapping occlusion task with experimental occlusal interference of the right molar tooth at 0 mm (no occlusion), 0.5 mm, and 0.

Personal exposure to particulate matter and inflammation among patients with periodontal disease.

The association between particulate air pollution and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) has been well documented in epidemiological studies. Periodontitis has been linked to elevated hs-CRP levels in recent studies. It is still unknown whether patients with periodontal infections are more susceptible to particulate air pollution.

Clinical application of removable partial dentures using thermoplastic resin. Part II: Material properties and clinical features of non-metal clasp dentures.

This position paper reviews physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic resin used for non-metal clasp dentures, and describes feature of each thermoplastic resin in clinical application of non-metal clasp dentures and complications based on clinical experience of expert panels. Since products of thermoplastic resin have great variability in physical and mechanical properties, clinicians should utilize them with careful consideration of the specific properties of each product. In general, thermoplastic resin has lower color-stability and higher risk for fracture than polymethyl methacrylate.

Alterations of the Temporomandibular Joint on Magnetic Resonance Imaging according to Growth and Development in Schoolchildren.

The paper explains the alterations of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) visualized by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) according to the growth and development of schoolchildren. Appearance and disappearance of a "double contour-like structure" (DCLS) of the mandibular condyle on MRI according to the growth and development of schoolchildren were demonstrated. In addition, possible constituents of DCLS and the significance of detection of DCLS on MRI were also speculated.

Bonding property of two resin-reinforced glass-ionomer cements to zirconia ceramic.

Objectives: To investigate whether a stable bond could be obtained between resin-reinforced glass-ionomer cement and zirconia ceramic.

Method And Materials: Sixty disk specimens of a dental ceramic (Cercon zirconia ceramic, Dentsply) were made and treated by airborne-particle abrasion. They were divided into three groups and bonded to two resin-reinforced glass-ionomer cements (RelyX Luting [3M ESPE] and Fuji Plus [GC]) and one resin cement (Panavia F, Kuraray) as a control group.

Side effects of boil and bite type oral appliance therapy in sleep apnea patients.

Introduction: Based on a mail-out questionnaire, this study analyzed compliance and side effects of one commonly used (TheraSnore) boil and bite oral appliance (OA) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Methods: The questionnaire was sent to 84 patients 6 months after the delivery of the OA.

Results: Fifty-eight percent (n = 47) of the patients returned the questionnaire.

[Dental rehabilitation of using telescope-based preventive, removable prosthesis system].

Purpose: This paper aimed at introducing an improved konuskrone telescope system with the advantages of both the fixed denture and the removable, partial dentures for clinical application in restoring the missing teeth.

Methods: The konuskrone telescope system was modified and named as the Preventive, Removable Prosthesis (PRP) system in which the inner crown was fixed on the abutment teeth, and the outer crown with bridge, rest and connector together as a whole was formed a removable unit.

Results: The clinical case reports indicated that the PRP system saved at least 50% cut-out of the abutment teeth,and helped the patients improve their oral hygiene,cure and rehabilitation.

Blood flow changes of a superficial temporal artery before and after low-level laser irradiation applied to the temporomandibular joint area.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the blood flow changes of a superficial temporal artery before and after low-level laser irradiation was applied to the TMJ area of healthy subjects.

Methods: Right TMJ areas of six healthy subjects were irradiated with a CO2 laser. Variation of diameter, blood flow rate, and blood flow volume of the vessel, on both the irradiated side and opposite side, before and after irradiation on the TMJ were evaluated by using a Doppler flowmeter.

[Effects of wearing palatal plate on swallowing and its habituation].

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of wearing a palatal plate on swallowing and its habituation.

Methods: Nine healthy dentate subjects participated in this study. They wore palatal plates of 1.

Effect of jaw position on forced maximum inspiratory airflow in normal Japanese subjects and in Japanese patients with sleep apnea syndrome.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether maximum forced inspiratory airflow changes occur by changing the jaw position in Japanese normal subjects and patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) classified by their craniofacial features.

Materials And Methods: The subjects included 8 male non-OSA subjects and 15 male patients with OSA whose conditions had been diagnosed with a polysomnographic recording. The OSA subjects were divided into 2 groups by means of a craniofacial (CF) score based on cephalometric variables: a high-score group (CF score > or = 4) and a low-score group (CF score < or = 3).

Use of a tongue-pressure measurement system to assist fabrication of palatal augmentation prostheses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine a baseline value of tongue pressure on the palatal region in normal subjects that could then be used to assist in fabrication of a palatal augmentation prosthesis (PAP).

Materials And Methods: A tongue-pressure measurement system with 36 rubber pressure sensors was constructed for this study. This system was applied to 16 normal subjects, and the tongue pressure on the palatal region was measured when they were swallowing.

[Evaluation of effective jaw position and body posture for oral appliance of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome].

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether substantial airflow changes occur by changing both jaw position and body posture in normal subjects and patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Methods: Fifteen normal controls (9 males and 6 females) and 15 male OSAS patients participated in this study. For all subjects their maximum forced inspiratory flow (FIF(25-75)) curve was measured in seven positions as follows: a) 0% jaw forward-upright position, b) 0% jaw forward-supine position, c) 50% jaw forward-supine position, d) 75% jaw forward-supine position, e) 0% jaw forward-lateral position, f) 50% jaw forward-lateral position, and g) 75% jaw forward-lateral position.

Evaluation of facial thermographic changes before and after low-level laser irradiation.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the facial thermographic changes before and after low-level laser irradiation applied to the temporomandibular joint in normal subjects.

Background Data: Although this therapy has been reported to be effective in the pain management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and degenerative joint disease, several researchers have stated that this therapy has no effect on pain of myogeneous origin.

Materials And Methods: Nine healthy subjects underwent irradiation using the continuous wave setting of a CO2 laser with a power output of 1.

Significance of frequency-selective fat saturation T2-weighted MR images for the detection of bone marrow edema in the mandibular condyle.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of frequency-selective fat saturation (FS) T2-weighted images (T2WI) for the detection of bone marrow edema in the mandibular condyle. MR evidence of bone marrow abnormalities was examined on the set of FS T2WI and conventional T1WI or of conventional T2WI and T1WI in 200 patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) related pain. Other parameters studied were TMJ effusion, disk displacement categories, and cortical bone abnormalities.

Diagnostic image analyses of activator treated temporomandibular joint in growth and maturing stages.

This study evaluates the condylar response to activator in growth and in maturing patients using radiographs and magnetic resonance images (MRI). Seven patients (four in growth and three in maturing stages) treated for mandibular distal occlusion were studied. In all seven patients, lateral roentgen cephalograms, panoramic radiograms, and MRIs were made before and following functional treatment.