The minimally important difference for the Xerostomia Inventory among Sjögren's disease patients.

Objective: Until now, the clinically relevant improvement for the Xerostomia Inventory (XI) has not been defined. Therefore, our aim was to determine the Minimally Important Difference (MID) of the XI for improvement in dry-mouth symptoms in SjD patients.

Method: The study recruited 34 SjD patients who underwent sialendoscopy of major salivary glands and 15 SjD patients in a nonintervention control group.

Kidney-Function Trajectories From Young Adulthood to Midlife: Identifying Risk Strata and Opportunities for Intervention.

Introduction: Understanding normative patterns of change in kidney function over the life course may allow targeting of early interventions to slow or prevent the onset of kidney disease, but knowledge about kidney functional change before middle age is limited. This study used prospective longitudinal data from a representative birth cohort to examine common patterns of change from young to midadulthood and to identify risk factors and outcomes associated with poorer trajectories.

Methods: We used group-based trajectory modeling in the Dunedin study birth cohort ( = 857) to identify the following: (i) common kidney function trajectories between the ages 32 and 45 years, (ii) early-life factors associated with those trajectories, (iii) modifiable physical and psychosocial factors across adulthood associated with differences in trajectory slope, and (iv) links between trajectories and kidney-related outcomes at age 45 years.

Childhood sexual abuse and pervasive problems across multiple life domains: Findings from a five-decade study.

The aim of this study was to use longitudinal population-based data to examine the associations between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and risk for adverse outcomes in multiple life domains across adulthood. In 937 individuals followed from birth to age 45y, we assessed associations between CSA (retrospectively reported at age 26y) and the experience of 22 adverse outcomes in seven domains (physical, mental, sexual, interpersonal, economic, antisocial, multi-domain) from young adulthood to midlife (26 to 45y). Analyses controlled for sex, socioeconomic status, prospectively reported child harm and household dysfunction adverse childhood experiences, and adult sexual assault, and considered different definitions of CSA.

Trends in maxillofacial fractures in Otago-Southland, New Zealand: 2009 to 2020.

Aims: Fractures to the maxillofacial region can have a serious impact on quality of life. The over-representation of males in the occurrence of almost all types and mechanisms of these injuries has tended to divert attention away from maxillofacial fractures in females. This study aimed to describe trends in maxillofacial trauma in a New Zealand tertiary trauma centre over a 12 year period, with a particular focus on gender differences.

Private practice dentists' views of oral health injustice.

Objectives: There is a lack of research examining how dentists in private practice conceptualise the challenge presented by oral health injustice and how attitudes towards low-income patients might be influenced by the commercial nature of private dental care. This study provides insights into how dentists navigated the interactions between the commercial nature of dental practice and the provision of care to patients who either struggled to (or could not) afford the cost of self-funded care in private practice.

Methods: Participants took part in semi-structured interviews and were invited to keep an online diary of reflections.

Rationalisation and 'McDonaldisation' in dental care: private dentists' experiences working in corporate dentistry.

Introduction This study examines how dentists experience the corporatisation of dentistry and the impacts of rationalisation. The emergence of corporate dentistry in the early twenty-first century has introduced greater competition into the dental marketplace. Ritzer's theory of 'McDonaldisation' explores the rationalisation of services through corporatisation and provides an apt framework with which to understand the qualitative insights gathered through this project.

Disparities in the pace of biological aging among midlife adults of the same chronological age have implications for future frailty risk and policy.

Some humans age faster than others. Variation in biological aging can be measured in midlife, but the implications of this variation are poorly understood. We tested associations between midlife biological aging and indicators of future frailty-risk in the Dunedin cohort of 1037 infants born the same year and followed to age 45.

Dentists' Perspectives on Commercial Practices in Private Dentistry.

Background: Dentistry is predominantly provided in a commercial context in Australia. Despite this, little is known about how dentists navigate potential tensions that may arise between commercial and professional obligations in private dental practice. This analysis uses a qualitative approach to explore dentists' perceptions and attitudes toward the commercialized nature of private dental practice and how these affect their professional role in providing care.

Overtreatment as an ethical dilemma in Australian private dentistry: A qualitative exploration.

Background: The phenomenon of overtreatment in dentistry is under-explored and has not been the subject of much research inquiry. Most dental care in Australia is provided by practitioners in private dental practice. This research expands understanding of how the nexus between professionalism and commercialism in dentistry is impacted by the phenomenon of overtreatment.

Dental trauma experience and oral-health-related quality of life among university students.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the impact of self-reported dental trauma on oral-heath-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of young adults and determine whether personality characteristics influenced how it was reported.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out using a sample of 435 university students. A questionnaire sought data on previous dental trauma.

The relationship between professional and commercial obligations in dentistry: a scoping review.

Introduction The practice of dentistry has become increasingly commercialised and commodified. Conflicts between the commercial and professional obligations that dental practitioners face have been discussed in the academic literature. This review collates the available information and discusses how the area of commercialism and professionalism has developed.

A metabolomic study of the effect of glutamate dehydrogenase deletion on growth and morphogenesis.

There are two glutamate dehydrogenases in the pathogenic fungus . One is an NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase () and the other is an NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (). These two enzymes are part of the nitrogen and nicotinate/nicotinamide metabolic pathways, which have been identified in our previous studies as potentially playing an important role in morphogenesis.

Oral Health and Dental Students' Perceptions of Their Clinical Learning Environment: A Focus Group Study.

Creating an optimal clinical learning environment poses a challenge to health professions educators. To evaluate and improve the clinical learning environment, it is necessary to understand students' experiences of their environment and the factors they perceive as having an impact on their learning. The aim of this explorative qualitative study was to examine University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment to gain insights into how learning outcomes could be enhanced.

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis of Candida albicans isolates colonizing acrylic dentures before and after denture replacement.

Yeast, in particular Candida albicans, are the principal fungal cause of denture stomatitis, and can also be present as a commensal in many individuals. Few studies, however, have examined oral retention of yeast strains over time. We analyzed the yeast present in saliva samples and from the dentures of 10 individuals colonized with yeast but with no signs of stomatitis, before new complete maxillary dentures were fitted and also at 1, 3, and 6 months after denture replacement.

Targeting efflux pumps to overcome antifungal drug resistance.

Resistance to antifungal drugs is an increasingly significant clinical problem. The most common antifungal resistance encountered is efflux pump-mediated resistance of Candida species to azole drugs. One approach to overcome this resistance is to inhibit the pumps and chemosensitize resistant strains to azole drugs.

Secretory component mediates Candida albicans binding to epithelial cells.

Objectives: Candida albicans attaches to oral surfaces via a number of mechanisms including adherence mediated by salivary components adsorbed to the C. albicans cell surface. Our goal was to identify the salivary molecules involved.

Trabecular bone microarchitecture in the median palate and maxillary premolar alveolar sites of edentulous elderly cadavers.

Purpose: The median palate has been proposed as an alternative site for implant placement supporting maxillary overdentures. The aim of our research was to compare the histologic bone microarchitecture of the median palatal and the maxillary premolar alveolar ridge in edentulous elderly human cadavers.

Materials And Methods: The bone quality and quantity were analyzed at two regions of analysis (ROA) in 16 maxilla of human cadavers: the median palate (ROA I) and edentulous maxillary alveolar premolar ridge (ROA II).

An exploratory study of pregnant women's knowledge of child oral health care in New Zealand.

Background: To be maximally effective, oral health preventive strategies should start at birth. There appear to be few reports on pregnant women's knowledge of oral health care for their developing children.

Objectives: This exploratory study assessed Dunedin expectant mothers' knowledge of the oral health care of their future children.