A new smartphone-based mobile teledentistry model used by mid-level dental providers shows potential for remote screening of dental caries.

Despite some limitations, the mobile teledentistry approach has shown the potential to detect occlusal caries from photographs taken by a smartphone camera with an acceptable diagnostic performance compared to traditional face-to-face screening. This study suggests that telemedicine and cellular phone technology can be combined to create an inexpensive and reliable screening tool.

Background: Despite great improvement in child oral health, some children subgroups still suffer from higher levels of dental caries. Geographic and socioeconomic barriers and the lack of access to dental care services are among common reasons for poor oral health in children. Historically in Australia, oral health therapists or dental therapists have been responsible for providing dental care for school children through the School Dental Services (SDS). The current SDS has been unable to provide sustainable dental care to all school children due to a reduction in workforce participation and limited resources. We propose a paradigm shift in the current service through the introduction of user-friendly technology to provide a foundation for sustainable dental care for school children. Methods/design: We describe an ongoing parallel, two-armed, non-inferiority randomised controlled trial that compares routine and teledental pathway of dental care in children aged 4-15 years (n = 250). Participating schools in Western Australia will be randomly assigned to the control or teledental group, approximately three schools in each group with a maximum of 45 children in each school. All participants will first receive a standard dental examination to identify those who require urgent referrals and then their teeth will be photographed using a smartphone camera. At the baseline, children in the control group will receive screening results and advice on the pathway of dental care based on the visual dental screening while children in the teledental group will receive screening results based on the assessment of dental images. At 9 months follow-up, all participants will undergo a final visual dental screening. The primary outcomes include decay experience and proportion of children become caries active. The secondary outcomes include the diagnostic performance of photographic dental assessment and costs comparison of two pathways of dental care. Discussion: The current project seeks to take advantage of mobile technology to acquire dental images from a child's mouth at school settings and forwarding images electronically to an offsite dental practitioner to assess and prepare dental recommendations remotely. Such an approach will help to prioritise high-risk children and provide them with a quick treatment pathway and avoid unnecessary referrals or travel.

Background Greater awareness and knowledge of oral cancer has been shown to increase patient presentation for opportunistic screening. This study aimed to identify the level of awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst adult patients in regional New South Wales. Methods A total of 444 adult dental patients participated in a self‐administered questionnaire at one of five regional university dental clinics between 23rd May and 25th July. Data analyses were performed using the chi‐square test and binary logistic regression to compare sociodemographic characteristics and the self‐declared awareness and knowledge of oral cancer. Results The study revealed that 73.8% of patients were aware of oral cancer; however, only 28.8% knew that they had been previously screened for oral cancer. Being female (P < 0.001, OR = 2.57), having an excellent level of oral health (P = 0.042, OR = 3.34) and previous attendance at a dental clinic of the regional university (P = 0.014, OR = 2.89) significantly enhanced awareness of oral cancer. Conclusion The findings of this study have broad implications for both clinicians and public health professionals, providing a platform for discussion regarding the sociodemographic factors contributing to reduced knowledge and awareness of oral cancer amongst patients. This study also identified an essential avenue to allow a more targeted approach in future campaigns to increase education.

This study provided evidence that a robust system for store-and-forward screening for dental problems can be developed, and leads to the need for further testing of its robustness to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the teledentistry system.

Traumatic dental injuries have become an important issue in public health and dentistry. Prevention and treatment of TDI should be emphasised to the public, the health professional and the policy maker. Future investigations into the relationship between TDI related events and their determinants are indicated.

Chronic stress could induce cancer metastasis by constant activation of the sympathetic nervous system, while cellular mechanism remains obscure. The aim of this research is to explore the metastasis associated negative effect of chronic stress. The analysis of transcriptome sequencing implied that activation of STAT3 signaling pathway by downregulated miR-337-3p might be a potential mechanism to induce epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cell and promote metastasis under chronic stress. We also verified this biological process in further experiments. Downregulation of miR-337-3p could downregulate E-cadherin expression and upregulate vimentin expression in vitro and in vivo. STAT3, related signal pathways of which are involved in metastasis regulation, was directly targeted by miR-337-3p. In conclusion, the above results denoted that activation of miR-337-3p/STAT3 axis might be a potential pathway for the increasing metastasis of breast cancer under chronic stress.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are highly conserved signaling molecules that are part of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta superfamily, and function in the patterning and morphogenesis of many organs including development of the dentition. The functions of the BMPs are controlled by certain classes of molecules that are recognized as BMP antagonists that inhibit BMP binding to their cognate receptors. In this study we tested the hypothesis that USAG-1 (uterine sensitization-associated gene-1) suppresses deciduous incisors by inhibition of BMP-7 function. We learned that USAG-1 and BMP-7 were expressed within odontogenic epithelium as well as mesenchyme during the late bud and early cap stages of tooth development. USAG-1 is a BMP antagonist, and also modulates Wnt signaling. USAG-1 abrogation rescued apoptotic elimination of odontogenic mesenchymal cells. BMP signaling in the rudimentary maxillary incisor, assessed by expressions of Msx1 and Dlx2 and the phosphorylation of Smad protein, was significantly enhanced. Using explant culture and subsequent subrenal capsule transplantation of E15 USAG-1 mutant maxillary incisor tooth primordia supplemented with BMP-7 demonstrated in USAG-1+/− as well as USAG-1−/− rescue and supernumerary tooth development. Based upon these results, we conclude that USAG-1 functions as an antagonist of BMP-7 in this model system. These results further suggest that the phenotypes of USAG-1 and BMP-7 mutant mice reported provide opportunities for regenerative medicine and dentistry.