BackgroundAlong with its high prevalence, the burden of allergic rhinitis rests upon the serious impact on quality of life of patients. Allergic rhinitis is associated with impairments in daily activities, work and school performance, and practical problems. Patients suffer from sleep disorders and emotional problems. Тhe advantages of sublingual immunotherapy on quality of life have only recently begun to emerge. The objective of this prospective real-life study was to evaluate the effect of a three-year course of sublingual immunotherapy with house dust mite (HDM) and grass pollen extracts on quality of life in adults with allergic rhinitis.MethodsA total number of 191 adult patients [105 (54,979%) men; mean age 27.3 years (SD-6.14)] with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis and clinically relevant sensitization to house dust mites or grass pollen were prospectively evaluated in the course of management of their disease. Health-related quality of life was assessed by Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire at baseline and after three-year course of sublingual immunotherapy.ResultsThe mean overall Qol score assessed at baseline and at the end of the third year of treatment decreased significantly in patients treated with HDM extract (from 2.95 to 0.76) as well as with Grass pollen extract (from 2.83 to 1.22) (р < 0.001). The improvements in treated with HDM extract were as followed: activities – 3.52 to 0.68; sleep- 2.48 to 0.31; general problems – 1.79 to 0.49; practical problems – 3.57 to 0.68; nasal symptoms – 3.91 to 0.74; eye symptoms – 2.92 to 0.39; emotions – 3.03 to 0.39. The improvements in grass pollen group were: activities – 3.68 to 1.69; sleep- 1.85 to 0.84; general problems – 1.74 to 0.97; practical problems – 3.52 to 1.37; nasal symptoms – 3.72 to 1.57; eye symptoms – 3.58 to 1.3; emotions – 2.48 to 1.19.ConclusionOur study conducted in real life provided evidence that a three-year course of SLIT with HDM extract as well as with grass pollen extract significantly increased QoL in patients with allergic rhinitis.

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The aim of this work was to assess the risks and analyse the risk factors for development of chronic periodontitis in Bulgarian patients. The quality of life was investigated in a cohort of 228 patients with chronic periodontitis. Within the frame of this study, pilot research (a case-control study) was conducted among 80 patients (20 cases and 60 control patients without periodontitis) to evaluate the risk for development of chronic periodontitis. The minimum sample size of patients was determined based on power analysis for sample-size calculation. The mean age of participants in the control group was 31.33 ± 9.38 years and in the case group, 33.00 ± 11.52. Data were accumulated by clinical and sociological methods. Descriptive statistics and multi-factor logistic regression analysis (Backward Conditional procedure) were used. One-factor dispersion analysis showed that, of the 12 studied risk factors, the following variables were significant: stress, diabetes, presence of calculus, overlapping and misaligned teeth (P < 0.05). Multiple logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the association between the variables. Three predictors were selected in the final logistic regression equation: diabetes (B = 4.195; P = 0.001), crooked and overlapping teeth (B = 3.022; P = 0.010) and stress (B = 2.882; P = 0.014). The logistic risk assessment model for development of periodontitis has a predictive value of 93.80% (χ2 = 63.91; P = 0.000). Our results confirmed some proven risk factors for periodontal disease. In the studied population, diabetes was the single, most important predictor for development of periodontitis.

Introduction. The function of the masticatory apparatus is complete when the dentition is intact with contact between the individual teeth and proper occlusion with the antagonists. For years, occlusal contacts have been studied to determine their exact location and describing various materials and methods for their registration such as paper foil, silk, and Shimstock foil. For years, occlusal contacts have been studied to determine their exact location and describe various materials and methods for their registration such as paper foil, silk, shim stock foil, the T-Scan system, and more recently the OccluSense system. The primary aim of the study was at evaluating which of the occlusal indicators is the most commonly used in practice, and the secondary aim was whether dentists are willing to use digital methods to examine occlusion. Materials and Methods. The main primary information of the survey was collected by sending electronically anonymous questionnaires to 2014 dentists, randomly selected from all regions of the country. 228 questionnaires were filled in and returned. To achieve the goal of the study, the self-developed questionnaire was created and tested to survey the opinion about the use of occlusal indicators in dental practice. Each questionnaire contains questions about the sociodemographic and professional status of the people in the group and their opinion about the positives and negatives and the effectiveness of occlusal indicators. Results. The obtained results confirm the statement that the most frequently used occlusal indicator in dental practice is the articulation paper. Articulation foil and silk are used less frequently than articulation paper. Of the listed quality indicators, Shimstock foil is rarely used in practice. Of the indicated quantitative indicators, the T-Scan system is more used than the OccluSense system. In the era of rapid technology development, the opinion and desire of dentists to increasingly want to introduce in their clinical practice quantitative methods are the digital diagnosis of occlusion. Conclusion. In any dental practice, if technically possible, digital methods would be used, giving more accurate and reliable data on the registered occlusal contacts.

The aim of the paper is to present the validation of a scale for assessing the impact of periodontal diseases on individuals' quality of life in Bulgaria. A pilot research was made among 30 diagnosed patients with periodontitis visiting the Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The minimum sample size of 30 people was established based on a power analysis for sample size calculation. The mean age of participants was 48.95 ± 11.85 years, being 56.67 ± 9.05 years for males and 43.33 ± 9.05 years for females. Standard interviews were conducted using a specific instrument: self-designed questionnaire and a 5-degree ranked scale, containing initially 11 questions. The interviews were repeated after 3 months with the same patients for retest analysis. The data was statistically processed using SPSS v.13 software. Results received after the initial interviews: Cronbach's coefficient (α=0.882), Spearman-Brown coefficient (r(sb)=0.998), average inter-item correlation coefficient (R=0.426), difficulty of the questions from 0.173 to 0.757 and discrimination power from 0.405 to 0.809. Results after the second interviews: α=0.883, r(sb)=0.998, R=0.507, difficulty from 0.287 to 0.757 and discrimination power from 0.524 to 0.809. In two of the questions, a low level of inter-item correlation with the rest of the items was found and they were excluded. The final version of the questionnaire contained 9 questions. The validation proved that the developed scale is sufficiently reliable and will be used in the final research, the first one to use such an instrument for measuring oral health-related quality of life in Bulgaria.