Periodontal Treatment and Computerized Occlusal Analysis

This chapter addresses the ongoing controversy regarding occlusion's role in the progression of periodontal disease. Occlusal force has been considered a non-factor in the initiation of periodontal attachment loss. However, the absence of a validated measuring device or quantifying method for analyzing the occlusion has contributed to the confusion that still exists in the scientific community today about the relationship between periodontal disease and occlusion. The development of the T-Scan occlusal measurement technology, which is independent of a clinician's occlusal contact force level subjective assessment, may change the scientific opinion about occlusion's role in periodontal disease. This chapter illustrates how the T-Scan 8 system aids in treating patients who have tissue loss and occlusal issues. Notably, after the major etiologic risk factors of periodontal disease have been controlled, adjusting the occlusion with the T-Scan improves healing outcomes resulting in less inflammation, decreased probing depths, and bone level stability.

Computerized Occlusal Analysis in Occlusal Splint Therapy

Occlusal splints are used to protect teeth, relieve orofacial pain, and preview the patient response to a simulated occlusal correction. This chapter outlines proper occlusal splint fabrication that employs T-Scan analysis to verify a therapeutic occlusion. The T-Scan provides objective relative occlusal force and timing data that guides the refinement of a splint's occlusal scheme. Therefore, this chapter explains adjusting an occlusal splint's contact pattern with ink ribbon followed by the T-Scan. It also addresses the controversy regarding the existence of, or lack thereof, a relationship between occlusal interferences and masticatory muscle dysfunction. The author postulates that the research studies that argue against the existence of a relationship are absent of occlusal measurement and lack a scientific basis to deny a relationship exists. Lastly, recommendations are made to include the T-Scan in Temporomandibular Disorder treatment studies with both occlusal splints and natural teeth, so that researchers might resolve this controversy for dental clinicians.

Thermal Evaluation of Myogenous Temporomandibular Disorders and Myofascial Trigger Points in the Masticatory Muscles

It is known that the myofascial trigger points (MTP) and myogenous temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) cause regional sympathetic hyperactivity in local temperature due to the cutaneous vasomotor activity and, for detection of functional changes, thermography is used as a complementary diagnostic imaging method. This chapter intends to study two masticatory muscles, masseter and anterior temporalis, in measurement of the cutaneous temperature of volunteers with and without myogenous TMD and MTP. Results: The temperature levels measured at both muscles regions in myogenous TMD volunteers were significantly lower than those measured in controls. Infrared imaging indicated differences between referred and local pain in MTPs of 0.5ºC. Conclusions: Infrared imaging measurements seem to indicate that it can be used as an aid in complimentary diagnosing of TMDs and MTPs in masticatory muscles.

Dental Tissue Engineering Research and Translational Approaches towards Clinical Application

Stem cell-based dental tissue regeneration is a new and exciting field that has the potential to transform the way that we practice dentistry. It is, however, imperative its clinical application is supported by solid basic and translational research. In this way, the full extent of the potential risks involved in the use of these technologies will be understood, and the means to prevent them will be discovered. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to analyze the state-of-the-science with regard to dental pulp stem cell research in dental tissue engineering, the new developments in biomimetic scaffold materials customized for dental tissue applications, and to give a prospectus with respect to translational approaches of these research findings towards clinical application.

An Evaluation of Oral and Dental Health Services in Turkey and in the Member States of the EU in Terms of Economy

Dental health expenditures are a big part of general health expenditures. In Turkey, oral health services are provided by both private practitioners and government sections. In 2012, approximately 7 million fillings were made by government clinics. According to Turkish Dental Association data, in the same year, the number of fillings that Turkish citizens needed was 247 million. Even if the entire budget of the Health Ministry of Turkey were spent for these fillings, it is impossible to handle this demand. In 2012, in the European Union with 24 member countries, dental health spending was close to 74 billion Euro. Because of this financial burden, Turkey and the other countries are trying to find cost-effective methods to minimize dental health spending. This chapter emphasizes dental health conditions of both Turkey and European Union, firstly, and then successful and cost-effective strategies are discussed.

Using Online Social Networks for Increasing Health Literacy on Oral Health

A descriptive study was conducted among the members of Oral Health group on a social media network (Facebook) through the Internet. The objective of this study was to explore online interactions on oral health among the Internet users. The study was divided into two parts. First part included content analysis of Oral Health group interactions during the period of July 2011 to April 2012 and second part included online survey findings. All the postings and their discussions in “Oral Health” group were collected and analyzed by using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Total 427 group members were included, 65.84% members were recruited by administrator (admin) and 34.16% by other members of Oral Health group. Among the group members 110 (23%) members were actively participating in group interactions. A total 384 interactive messages were exchanged between the members on 194 discrete topics were discussed (in average 2 messages exchanged per topic). The flow of group interactions mostly occurred between dental professional to dental professional 78%, followed by general to general 3%, dental professional to general 9%, general to dental professional 10%. Opinion of survey respondents about the oral health group online interactions were found as appreciative (52%), “modern technology of learning is useful”(34%), “improves clinical knowledge of professionals”(26%), “improves oral hygiene knowledge and practice”(22%), and “helps to solve oral health problems”(38%). Online oral health group appears to be an effective platform for sharing information, experiences and advice on oral health among the Internet users.

Force Finishing in Dental Medicine

This chapter introduces the Force Finishing concept that is based upon the T-Scan technology. During case finishing, the aesthetic components are clinically visible and guided by the subjective analyses of the patient and the clinician. Alternatively, the case occlusal force components are invisible and do not become apparent until their adverse effects become chronic. When the force components are not properly addressed, clinicians may encounter Occlusal Force Disorder (OFD) symptomatology. Often, clinicians focus on the aesthetic finishing while placing a low priority on the occlusal Force Finishing by relying on subjective articulating paper mark interpretation and the patient's subjective “feel” with which to guide occlusal adjustments. Because articulating paper is a poor indicator of occlusal force and timing, the T-Scan technology can greatly improve the occlusal case finishing. This chapter details how to integrate the Force Finishing concept into conventional case finishing to simplify achieving occlusal force harmony in every case.

Dental Diagnosis From X-Ray Images Using Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems

In practical dentistry, dentists use their experience to examine dental X-ray images and to derive symptoms from patients for concluding possible diseases. This method is based solely on the own dentists' experience. Dental diagnosis from X-Ray images is proposed to support for dentists in their decision making. This paper presents an application of consultant system for dental diagnosis from X-Ray images based on fuzzy rule. Fuzzy rule was applied in many applications and has important role in computational intelligence, data mining, machine learning, etc. Based on a dental X-ray image dataset, we use Fuzzy C-Means to classify them into clusters and construct the rule set. Fuzzy Inference System is then used to evaluate the rules by three validity indices. These rules accompanied with symptoms from patients help dentists in diagnosing dental diseases. This method is implemented and experimentally validated on the real dataset of Hanoi Medical University Hospital, Vietnam against the related algorithms.

Adding Technology to Diagnostic Methods

Adding technology to clinical diagnosis improves patient care, because objective measurements enhance the patient's report of symptoms and the observations made during an examination. The combination of multiple tests has universally been acknowledged to improve diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, as well as add value to treatment effectiveness monitoring and treatment outcomes. This chapter discusses four dental technologies that objectively measure differing masticatory functions: Surface Electromyography, Magnet-Based 3-Dimensional Electrognathography, Temporomandibular Joint Vibration Analysis, and T-Scan Computerized Occlusal Analysis. Each technology is presented with examples of its output data recorded from both an asymptomatic patient and one demonstrating masticatory system dysfunction. An included case report illustrates how combining these technologies can therapeutically improve a symptomatic Occluso-Muscle Disorder patient's diagnosis and treatment. Finally, recommendations are made that Dental Medicine accept these technologies as an indispensable part of modern clinical practice, so that resistance to their implementation will no longer inhibit their use.