Australian Dental Journal

September 2005 - Volume 50 Number 3

REVIEWS

Effects of endogenous sex hormones on the periodontium – Review of literature This review focuses on the effects of endogenous sex hormones on the periodontium and the goal was to inform and update practitioners’ knowledge about the impact of these hormones on periodontal status. In addition, this review article will analyze how these hormones influence the periodontium at different life stages such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause and postmenopause. Moreover, the effects of contraceptives and hormone replacement therapies on the periodontium will be discussed.

GN Guncu TF T¨ozum F Çaglayan

Is orthodontic treatment without premolar extractions always non-extraction treatment? While it is common in contemporary orthodontic and orthopaedic treatment to commence treatment for many growing patients during the mixed dentition, the creation of anterior space, often involving the attempted distalization or holdingback of the upper and lower permanent molar teeth has been shown to commonly result in posterior space deficiencies.

S Kandasamy MG Woods

ADRF RESEARCH REPORTS

Discal attachments of the human temporomandibular joint Despite its clinical significance, the anatomy of the human temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and its relationship to the lateral pterygoid muscle remains poorly described and often misrepresented in standard texts. The aim of this study was to describe how the anterior and posterior attachments of the TMJ disc vary between lateral, central and medial regions of the joint.

JE Christo S Bennett TM Wilkinson GC Townsend

Why do poor adults rate their oral health poorly? The reasons why socioeconomic circumstances are associated with oral health are not well understood. This study investigated whether psychosocial factors might play an explanatory role.

AE Sanders AJ Spencer

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES

Accessing government subsidized specialist oral and maxillofacial surgery services in Western Australia In Western Australia the vast majority of government subsidized dental specialist services is provided through the University of Western Australia (UWA). With predicted expanding demand for services and the high cost of providing specialist services it is important that access to specialist care is targeted at need. In this study the waiting lists for oral surgery services at UWA was analyzed to test the hypothesis that demand for oral surgical care is distributed evenly across the eligible population of Western Australia.	E Kruger M Tennant
Erosive effects of common beverages on extracted premolar teeth Dental erosion is highly prevalent today, and acidic drinks are thought to be an important cause. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the erosive potential of a range of common beverages on extracted human teeth.	WK Seow KM Thong
Radiation-induced root surface caries restored with glass-ionomer cement placed in coventional and ART cavity preparations: Results at two years There are no published studies comparing the clinical performances of more-viscous glass-ionomer cement (GIC) restorations when placed using conventional and atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) cavity preparation methods to restore root surface caries.	JY Hu XC Chen YQ Li RJ Smales KH Yip
Job satisfaction of registered dental practitioners This study was designed to measure job satisfaction among registered clinical dentists so as to identify issues which may influence recruitment and retention of dentists in active clinical practice.	L Luzzi AJ Spencer K Jones D Teusner
The Oral Health Assessment Tool – Validity and reliability The Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) was a component of the Best Practice Oral Health Model for Australian Residential Care study. The OHAT provided institutional carers with a simple, eight category screening tool to assess residents’ oral health, including those with dementia. This analysis presents OHAT reliability and validity results.	JM Chalmers PL King AJ Spencer FAC Wright KD Carter

CASE REPORT

Chronic suppurative osteomyelitis of the mandible: Case report Osteomyelitis of the maxillofacial skeleton is rare in developed countries such as Australia. This case report describes the successful surgical treatment of chronic suppurative osteomyelitis (CSO) of the mandible in a 75 year old man. The precipitant factor was thought to be a retained tooth root in the (right) posterior body of the mandible.

SC Yeoh S MacMahon M Schifter

DATA WATCH

High caries children in Australia: A ‘tail’ of caries distribution Population epidemiology of dental caries frequently involves reporting on the mean number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (designated ‘dmft’ in the deciduous dentition and ‘DMFT’ in the permanent dentition) for a given age group. While mean scores can neatly summarize a variable of interest a number of issues arise when the sample of scores is appreciably skewed. In this scenario there is a tendency for the ‘tails’ of a distribution, that is people who have scores at the extremes of a distribution, to be subsumed and effectively hidden.

Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health

COCHRANE REVIEWS WITH COMMENTARY

Interventions for treating asymptomatic impacted wisdom teeth in adolescents and adults The prophylactic removal of asymptomatic impacted wisdom teeth is defined as the (surgical) removal of wisdom teeth in the absence of local disease. Impacted wisdom teeth have been associated with pathological changes, such as inflammation of the gums around the tooth, root resorption, gums- and alveolar bone disease, damage of the adjacent teeth, the development of cysts and tumours.

TG Mettes MEL Nienhuijs WJM van der Sanden EH Verdonschot AJM Plasschaert

Recall intervals for oral health in primary care patients The frequency with which patients should attend for a dental check-up and the potential effects on oral health of altering recall intervals between checkups have been the subject of ongoing international debate for almost three decades. Although recommendations regarding optimal recall intervals vary between countries and dental healthcare systems, six-monthly dental check-ups have traditionally been advocated by general dental practitioners in many developed countries.

P Beirne A Forgie JE Clarkson HV Worthington