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Machined abutments retained a significantly greater percentage of torque compared with cast abutments. Casting procedures decrease the percentage of applied torque, which may influence final screw joint stability.

Background. The functional benefits of mandibular reconstruction following a composite resection remain unclear. Although microvascular surgical techniques have dramatically increased the predictability of bone and soft-tissue reconstruction towards presurgical anatomic norms, the specific factors responsible for improved function remain controversial. Objective measures of masticatory function need to be more clearly determined before the predictability and efficacy of reconstructive approaches is established.Methods. We evaluated objective measures of oral function and patient reports of function in 10 reconstructed mandibulectomy patients, 10 without reconstruction, and 10 controls. Measures of oral function included bite force assessed at the first molar and incisal edge, a measure of tongue and cheek function, and patient reports of food they could eat.Results. Both reconstructed and nonreconstructed patients presented decreased biting force, a more restricted diet, and compromised cheek and tongue function as compared with normals. However, reconstructed patients had significantly better measures of tongue function and ability to eat a varied diet than did nonreconstructed patients. Of the objective measures used to measure masticatory performance, bite force was poorly correlated, whereas measures of tongue function strongly correlated with successful mastication. Conclusion. Both reconstructed and nonreconstructed patients presented with a significant functional deficit when compared with normals, with reconstructed patients having better overall function than nonreconstructed patients.

Our purpose was to compare admissions criteria as predictors of dental school performance in underachieving and normally tracking dental students. Underachieving dental students were identified by selecting ten students with the lowest class grade point average following the first year of dental school from five classes, resulting in a pool of fifty students. Normally tracking students served as a control and were randomly selected from students who had completed their first year of dental school not in the underachieving group. Admission measures of college grade point average (GPA), science grade point average (SGPA), academic average (AA), Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), college rigor, and academic load in college were evaluated with descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis with first-year and graduating GPA as the dependent variables. Admissions criteria were generally weak predictors of first-year and graduating GPA. However, first-year dental school GPA was a strong predictor (R 2 =0.77) of graduating GPA for normally tracking students and a moderate predictor (R 2 =0.58) for underachieving students. Students who completed the first year of dental school having a low GPA tended to graduate with a low GPA. Therefore, remediation and monitoring would be important during the dental school experience for these students.Dr. Curtis is Professor,

Accurate self-assessment is an important attribute for practicing dentists and, therefore, an important skill to develop in dental students. Our purpose was to examine the relationship between faculty and student assessments of preclinical prosthodontic procedures. Seventy-six second-year students completed two consecutive examinations and two self-assessments. The examinations involved setting maxillary denture teeth on a model to simulate the clinical procedure of a complete maxillary denture. Results indicated no significant increases in examination or student self-assessment mean scores; however, regression analysis indicated changes in student self-assessment scores explained 16.3 percent of the variation in examination scores. In essence, improvement in student self-assessment predicted improvement in examination scores among dental students completing a preclinical dental procedure.Dr. Curtis is Professor,

Tracking student performance in preclinical and clinical courses can be helpful in developing and refining a curriculum. Our objective was to correlate student performance on three fixed prosthodontic examinations taken by eighty junior dental students. Examinations included a knowledge-based objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a manual skills exercise completed on a typodont (Typodont), and a competency casting exam (Casting CE) on a patient. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the OSCE and Typodont exam scores, as independent variables, were not statistically significant predictors (P=0.07; P=0.87, respectively) of Casting CE exam performance, which was the dependent variable. Correlations were weak for the OSCE (r=0.21) and nearly nonexistent for the Typodont exam(r=0.03) when compared to the Casting CE. Our results indicate a weak correlation between an OSCE-based knowledge exam measuring students' knowledge of critical errors in preparations and castings and a competency exam involving the preparation of a full veneer crown. Results also indicate virtually no correlation between a typodont preparation examination designed to provide a measure of students' clinical skill and a clinical competency exam involving the preparation of a full crown.Dr. Curtis is Professor,

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