No abstract

Clinicians should appreciate the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) headsets for managing both the anxiety and the behaviour of non-cooperative paediatric patients who require treatment over several dental appointments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of using a VR headset as a distraction for managing the anxiety and behaviour of paediatric patients during their dental treatment. Eighty patients, aged between five and ten years old and who required dental treatment over three or more appointments, were randomly allocated into two groups. One group used a VR headset during all their appointments, and the other one did not use any distraction technique. The patients were asked to take a Facial Image Scale Test during their first and last appointments to assess their level of anxiety. Additionally, the dentist completed the Frankl Test to quantify the child’s behaviour at the beginning and the end of their treatment. The results obtained, both from the group using the VR headset and from the control group, were compared using the chi-square test. The use of a VR headset during dental treatment significantly reduced anxiety (95% of the children were happy) and improved behaviour (100% positive behaviour) as compared with the control group (40% and 57.5%, respectively). A VR headset can effectively distract a paediatric patient, helping to reduce anxiety and manage behaviour during dental treatment

The strongest correlation was found between age and L*, then between age and h* (both inverse relationships) and then between age and a*, C* and b* (direct relationships). In addition, a similar degree of change in the colour coordinates L*, C* and h* (of 0.60 units/year on average) was observed for natural tooth colour. Knowledge of the chromatic range of natural teeth may help to choose colour for the replacement of missing elements.

This study aims to assess the treatment outcomes (functional and subjective) of mandibular overdentures retained on two implants with or without an immediate loading protocol. In this randomized clinical trial, twenty fully edentulous patients were treated with a mandibular two-implant-retained overdenture and a complete new maxillary denture. In half of the sample, the implants were loaded immediately by means of VulkanLoc® abutments after emplacement of the implant, but in the counterparts, these VulkanLoc® abutments were connected to implants two months after the surgery (conventional protocol), and until that time the dentures were retained by healing abutments. Treatment outcomes were assessed at two, six, and twelve months after surgery. Functional outcomes were calculated according to masticatory performance, estimated by the mixed fraction of a two-coloured chewing gum after five, ten, and fifteen chewing strokes, by the occlusal force recorded by pressure-sensitive sheets, and by the bioelectrical muscular activity. The subjective outcomes of the treatment were assessed using both the oral satisfaction scale (visual analogue scale) and the Spanish version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-20). The findings of the present study show that new complete dentures resulted in significant improvements in chewing ability, patient satisfaction, and oral health-related quality of life and that subsequent implant-retained overdentures produced further and faster significant improvements. The loading protocol may influence those positive self-reported outcomes rather than the objective functional evaluations.

Symmetric, aligned and luminous smiles are usually classified as 'beautiful' and aesthetic. However, smile perception is not strictly governed by standardised rules. Personal traits may influence the perception of non-ideal smiles. We aimed to determine the influence of personality traits in self-rated oral health and satisfaction and in the aesthetic preference for different strategically flawed smiles shown in photographs. Smiles with dark teeth, with uneven teeth, with lip asymmetry and dental asymmetry were ordered from 1 to 4 as a function of the degree of beauty by 548 participants, of which 50·7% were females with a mean age of 41·5 ± 17·6 years (range: 16-89 years). Self-assessment and oral satisfaction were recorded on a Likert scale. Personality was measured by means of the Big Five Inventory (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness), and the Life Orientation Test was used to measure optimism and pessimism. Of the four photographs with imperfect smiles, dental asymmetry was the most highly assessed in 63% of the sample, and the worst was lip asymmetry, in 43·7% of the sample. Some personality traits (above all conscientiousness and openness) were significantly correlated with the position assigned to the photographs with dental and lip asymmetry or with misaligned teeth. The extraversion, agreeableness and openness traits were correlated with the self-perceptions of oral health and aesthetics of the participants. Dental asymmetry seems to be better tolerated than lip asymmetry. Personality traits are weakly but significantly correlated with the aesthetic preference and oral health values, conscientiousness and openness being the most relevant domains in this sense.