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Summary  Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a frequent finding in cases of facial trauma or dental malpractice, and legal claims for TMD damage have been increased over the years. Temporomandibular disorders assessment in the medical legal setting is complicated by the peculiarities of these disorders, whose symptoms are heterogeneous, fluctuant, and recognise a multifactorial origin. A systematic Medline search in the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database pointed out that, despite the medical legal aspects of the dental profession are gaining a growing attention, there is a paucity of literature dealing with patients with TMD assessment. For these reasons, evidence-based knowledge in the field of TMD diagnosis and treatment was summarised in this article with the aim of providing useful suggestions for a medical legal approach to TMD.

The current "gold standard" to treat bone lesions is allografts and autografts, both presenting important disadvantages such as risk of infection and morbidity. Synthetic grafts and scaffolds for bone regeneration represent a promising solution. Fused deposition modeling is a valid tool for developing synthetic bone grafts of complex shapes, which is a key issue. The possibility of building polylactic acid-nanohydroxyapatite (PLA/nanoHA) composites by 3D printing was systematically evaluated. PLA/nanoHA filaments for low-cost 3D printers were produced by a multistep solvent-free procedure and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry, and rheometry. TGA analysis confirmed the presence of the nanoHA amounts used in the composites, equal to 5 and 15 wt %. The glasstransition temperature and degree of crystallinity of PLA are not influenced by presence of nanoHA, which remains substantially amorphous. The morphological analysis and compression testing on printed samples showed that nanoHA was uniformly dispersed within the PLA matrix and improved the PLA mechanical properties without changing the rheological performance. V C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44656.

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This study is aimed at the synthesis of antimicrobial hydroxyapatite (HAP)-based composites for dental application by stereolithography (SLA). A micron-sized commercial HAP was modified by methacrylate and quaternary ammonium salt, and, then, it was used in different amounts (namely 2.5, 5, and 10 wt%) as filler for a photocurable custom made resin for SLA.Thermal stability, microstructure, and particles size of the pristine (HAP) and modified HAP (mHAP) were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and particle size analyser (CILAS). The suitability of each formulation for stereolithography process was assessed by measuring viscosity, degree of conversion (DC%) by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), glass transition temperature, and thermal stability. Photo-cured specimens for physical, mechanical, and antimicrobial testing were built by SLA. The flexural strength of the samples was measured using a 3-point bending test method, and the fractured surface was analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antimicrobial activity of samples was investigated against some standard microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans), as representative Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and fungus, respectively. The flexural strength increased with a filler content up to 5% and slightly decreased for higher content. SEM analysis confirmed the presence of uniformly distributed HAP. The incorporation of mHAP reduced the bacterial and fungal growth in dose-dependent manner in comparison with the neat samples. Finally, a prototype of dental bite was built by SLA. KEYWORDSantibacterial, dental bite, quaternary ammonium, stereolithography