All new patients commencing supportive periodontal therapy (periodontal maintenance) after treatment in a specialist periodontal practice from 1983 to 1986 were identified from practice records. Based on their compliance with the recommended schedule of visits, the patients were classified as either compliant or non-compliant. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between compliant and non-compliant patients with regards to age, sex, number of missing teeth, plaque score, or periodontal disease severity. More non-compliant patients than compliant patients were smokers (P less than 0.05). By contrast, more compliant patients were covered by private dental insurance (P less than 0.01) and more had periodontal surgery during treatment (P less than 0.001). Only 36% of the initial patient sample was found to be compliant at the end of 1989, with the greatest patient loss in the first year of supportive periodontal therapy of about 42%. The annual attrition rate decreased in subsequent years to average about 10% of those remaining in each year, indicating that a patient is more likely to remain compliant if he or she attends for at least 1 year of supportive periodontal treatment. Non-compliant patients were sent a questionnaire seeking reasons for their non-compliance. Forty percent of the questionnaires were returned. The most common reason given for non-compliance was that a general dental practitioner was attending to the patient's periodontal treatment needs. Many considered supportive periodontal therapy to be too expensive, while a significant proportion considered that they no longer required treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A technique is presented which improves visualization of the medio-lateral aspect of the maxillary sinus using rotational panoramic radiography. The method was also assessed for accuracy of styloid process projection. Using a specially constructed Perspex stand, dried skulls of varying ages were radiographed in various reproducible positions using a panoramic unit. The best medio-lateral view of the maxillary sinus of adult skulls was achieved by: (1) raising the height of the film approximately 20 mm in relation to the subject; (2) moving the subject 15-20 mm forward of the standard position for a panoramic view for adults (10-15 mm for children); and (3) tilting the occlusal plane downwards approximately 8-10 degrees. The styloid processes were readily seen using this maxillary sinus view. The resultant image of the process was elongated by a factor of 1.24 +/- 0.02 by this technique.
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