Modern concepts in non-surgical esthetics; a review

New non-surgical esthetics is the most dynamic field in contemporary medicine. At the same time, it is greatly influenced by our contemporary society. This paper reviews modern methods used in non-surgical esthetics, especially in Romania. From injectology and non-surgical face lifting to non-surgical body contouring, we analyzed all procedures performed by Romanian physicians, and we show the advantages and disadvantages of the advanced esthetic procedures. Injectology typically implies hyaluronic acid, botox and mesotherapy (for wrinkles and rejuvenation). Laser and radiofrequency treatment are used for wrinkles as well, with fewer unwanted adverse reactions and results exceeding those of injectables. Non-surgical lifting has gained more ground because it requires little recovery time and the results are very positive. Elective treatment for facial discoloration is the laser approach. For non-surgical body contouring, cryolipolisis, vacuum, radio frequency, and infrared systems have all revolutionized this part of esthetics, but each has limitations, and only after establishing the correct course of action, might we think of achieving favorable results and thus raising to the expectations of patients

The Reliability Of Facial Soft Tissue Landmarks With Photogrammetry

Introduction:With attention being given to the deleterious effects of radiation exposure from dental radiographs and inaccuracies in cephalometric soft tissue measurements, an alternative method of facial analysis with sufficiently reliable soft tissue landmarks should be developed. The goals of this study were threefold: (1) to define a new, low-cost method for capturing standardized frontal and sagittal facial images, (2) to determine on which photographic view that landmarks can be more reliably located, and (3) to determine which landmarks are appropriate for quantitative facial analysis. Materials and Methods:Simultaneous frontal and right sagittal facial images of 10 male and 10 female dental student subjects were captured using high-definition webcams as part of a low-cost set-up. Seventeen identical predefined facial soft tissue landmarks were located by 5 examiners on both types of images and were recorded as coordinate values. These coordinate values were used to calculate the best estimate of the true value for each landmark, mean deviation from this best estimate, and reliability in the X- and Y-axes using the Shrout-Fleiss intraclass correlation coefficient with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Two examiners repeated the landmark location to evaluate intra-examiner reliability. Results:With a 95% confidence interval range of \u3e0.950, nose and mouth landmarks were among the most reliable landmarks on frontal and sagittal facial images. Converselyright soft tissue gonionwas one of the least reliable landmarks located in this study. In general, landmarks located by a single examiner showed greater reliability than when there were multiple examiners. Conclusions:This low-cost method yielded frontal and sagittal images sufficient for landmark identification. The magnitude of error varies between landmarks, is largest for poorly demarcated landmarks, and most had a non-circular envelope of error. Certain landmarks were more reliable on sagittal images and others were more reliable on frontal images. All landmarks had greater reliability and less mean deviation when located by a single examiner

Strategic Afro-Modernism, Dynamic Hybridity, and Bebop's Socio-Political Significance

In this chapter, I argue that one can articulate a historically attuned and analytically rich model for understanding jazz in its various inflections. That is, on the one hand, such a model permits us to affirm jazz as a historically conditioned, dynamic hybridity. On the other hand, to acknowledge jazz’s open and multiple character in no way negates our ability to identify discernible features of various styles and aesthetic traditions. Additionally, my model affirms the sociopolitical, legal (Jim Crow and copyright laws), and economic structures that shaped jazz. Consequently, my articulation of bebop as an inflection of Afromodernism highlights the sociopolitical, and highly racialized context in which this music was created. Without a recognition of the sociopolitical import of bebop, one’s understanding of the music is impoverished, as one fails to grasp the strategic uses to which the music and discourses about the music were put

The Dilemma of the Open Gingival Embrasure Between Maxillary Central Incisors

Aim: The aim of this report is to present the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment planning strategy in the presence of an open gingival embrasure between the maxillary central incisors. Background: The open gingival embrasure or “black triangle” is a visible triangular space in the cervical region of the maxillary incisors. It appears when the gingival papilla does not completely fill in the interdental space. The space may occur due to: (1) disease or surgery with periodontal attachment loss resulting in gingival recession; (2) severely malaligned maxillary incisors; (3) divergent roots; or (4) triangular-shaped crowns associated with or without periodontal problems and alveolar bone resorptions. Report: The post-treatment prevalence in adult orthodontic patients is estimated to be around 40% compromising the esthetic result. Conclusion: Several methods of managing patients with open gingival embrasure exist, but the interdisciplinary aspects of treatment must be emphasized to achieve the best possible result. The orthodontist can play a significant role in helping to manage these cases

The Effect of Orthodontic Appliances on the Evaluation of the Professionalism and Esthetics of an Adult Employee

This study explored the influence of fixed and removable orthodontic appliances on participants’ ratings of the job performance, intelligence, and attractiveness of an adult female. Ninety-four adult subjects were recruited from the Graduate School of Management at Marquette University. Each subject received an identical employee performance review with an attached photograph of a female employee. The smile of the photo was manipulated to represent one of four conditions: no orthodontic appliance, a metal orthodontic appliance, a ceramic orthodontic appliance, or a clear aligner. Subjects then rated the employee on three continuous Likert scales. Ratings of job performance, intelligence, and attractiveness were not correlated. There were no significant differences between the types of orthodontic appliance for overall ratings of job performance, intelligence, and attractiveness. However, when analyzed by the subject’s gender, there was a significant interaction between gender and type of orthodontic appliance pictured for intelligence ratings. Female respondents rated the photos with the metal appliance with lower intelligence than the photo with the clear aligner while male respondents answered in the opposite manner. Background facial attractiveness may be a better predictor than smile esthetics of the psychosocial ratings of individuals. However, both gender and the presence or absence of an orthodontic appliance can influence assessments of perceived intelligence or similar qualities in the workplace

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (dsc) Analyses Of Esthetic Nickel-Titanium Wires As-Received And After Clinical Use

Introduction: The demand for esthetic orthodontics has increased rapidly over the past few decades, and much progress has been made in the development of esthetic clear and translucent brackets for labial orthodontics. However, the majority of wires used with these clear brackets are still the traditional alloys. Recently, American Orthodontics (Sheboygan, WI) and Opal (Ultradent; South Jordan, UT) have released epoxy resin coated nickel-titanium archwires that give a tooth-colored appearance. American Orthodontics has released EverWhite and Opal has released Via Pearl. The goal of this study was to compare the thermal properties of these new archwires with their uncoated counterparts before and after clinical use via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Materials and Methods: Four types of nickel-titanium orthodontic archwires were evaluated in this study. The four types consisted of two epoxy coated wires and two comparable control wires of the same .016 x 0.022 inch dimension. The transformation temperatures and phase transformations of these wires were determined in the as-received condition and after 4 to 12 weeks in the oral cavity by differential scanning calorimetry. In addition, the amount of coating lost for each coated archwire after clinical use was determined using a scanned image of the wire and matlab software. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in thermal properties when comparing archwires before and after clinical use. However, significant differences were observed between the as-received uncoated and coated counterparts from both manufacturers. Both wire types lost a significant amount of esthetic coating after use, but the Opal Via Pearl wire maintained significantly more coating compared to the EverWhite type. Conclusions: The significant differences between as-received uncoated and coated wires from the same manufacturer indicate that these wires may perform differently in clinical situations contrary to the manufacturers\u27 claims. In addition, improvements to the coating processes or alternative wires are needed to provide a more esthetic archwire with limited coating loss

Norwich’s Entropy Theory: how not to go from abstract to actual

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ask whether a first-order-cybernetics concept, Shannon’s Information Theory, actually allows a far-reaching mathematics of perception allegedly derived from it, Norwich et al.’s “Entropy Theory of Perception”. Design/methodology/approach – All of The Entropy Theory, 35 years of publications, was scrutinized for its characterization of what underlies Shannon Information Theory: Shannon’s “general communication system”. There, “events” are passed by a “source” to a “transmitter”, thence through a “noisy channel” to a “receiver”, that passes “outcomes” (received events) to a “destination”. Findings – In the entropy theory, “events” were sometimes interactions with the stimulus, but could be microscopic stimulus conditions. “Outcomes” often went unnamed; sometimes, the stimulus, or the interaction with it, or the resulting sensation, were “outcomes”. A “source” was often implied to be a “transmitter”, which frequently was a primary afferent neuron; elsewhere, the stimulus was the “transmitter” and perhaps also the “source”. “Channel” was rarely named; once, it was the whole eye; once, the incident photons; elsewhere, the primary or secondary afferent. “Receiver” was usually the sensory receptor, but could be an afferent. “Destination” went unmentioned. In sum, the entropy theory’s idea of Shannon’s “general communication system” was entirely ambiguous. Research limitations/implications – The ambiguities indicate that, contrary to claim, the entropy theory cannot be an “information theoretical description of the process of perception”. Originality/value – Scrutiny of the entropy theory’s use of information theory was overdue and reveals incompatibilities that force a reconsideration of information theory’s possible role in perception models. A second-order-cybernetics approach is suggested

Soft Tissue Grafting to Improve Implant Esthetics

Dental implants are becoming the treatment of choice to replace missing teeth, especially if the adjacent teeth are free of restorations. When minimal bone width is present, implant placement becomes a challenge and often resulting in recession and dehiscence around the implant that leads to subsequent gingival recession. To correct such defect, the author turned to soft tissue autografting and allografting to correct a buccal dehiscence around tooth #24 after a malpositioned implant placed by a different surgeon. A 25-year-old woman presented with the chief complaint of gingival recession and exposure of implant threads around tooth #24. The patient received three soft tissue grafting procedures to augment the gingival tissue. The first surgery included a connective tissue graft to increase the width of the keratinized gingival tissue. The second surgery included the use of autografting (connective tissue graft) to coronally position the soft tissue and achieve implant coverage. The third and final surgery included the use of allografting material Alloderm to increase and mask the implant from showing through the gingiva. Healing period was uneventful for the patient. After three surgical procedures, it appears that soft tissue grafting has increased the width and height of the gingiva surrounding the implant. The accomplished thickness of gingival tissue appeared to mask the showing of implant threads through the gingival tissue and allowed for achieving the desired esthetic that the patient desired. The aim of the study is to present a clinical case with soft tissue grafting procedures

Altering Occlusal Vertical Dimension Provisionally with Base Metal Onlays: A Clinical Report

This article presents a method for altering occlusal vertical dimension (OVD) to restore dentitions with limited restorative space due to loss of tooth structure. A provisional increase in OVD is achieved using predominately base metal onlays, which offer advantages over conventional techniques. The onlays are resistant to wear, may be bonded well to nonrestored and restored tooth surfaces with resin cements, and provide a fairly reversible method of increasing OVD. A patient situation is presented which demonstrates the use of provisional base metal onlays in complete mouth rehabilitation

Limitations on applying Peircean semeiotic. Biosemiotics as applied objective ethics and esthetics rather than semeiotic.

This paper explores the critical conditions of such semiotic realism that is commonly presumed in the so-called Copenhagen interpretation of biosemiotics. The central task is to make basic biosemiotic concepts as clear as possible by applying C.S. Peirce’s pragmaticist methodology to his own concepts, especially to those that have had a strong influence on the Copenhagian biosemiotics. It appears essential to study what kinds of observation the basic semiotic concepts are derived from. Peirce had two different derivations to the concept of sign, both having a strong logical character. Therefore, it is discussed at length what Peirce’s conception of logic consists of and how logical concepts relate to the concepts of other sciences. It is shown that Peirce had two different perspectives toward sign, the ‘transcendental’ one and the objective one, and only the latter one is executable in biosemiotic applications. Although Peirce’ theory of signs seems to appear as twofold (if not even manifold), it is concluded that the ore conception has been stable. The apparent differences are presumably due to the different perspectives of consideration. Severe limitations for the application of Peirce’s semiotic concepts follow from this analysis that should be taken into account in biosemiotics relying on its Copenhagen interpretation. The first one concerns the ‘interpreter’ of a suggested biosemiotic sign — whether it is ‘we’ (as a ‘meta-agent’) or some genuine biosemiotic ‘object-agent’. Only if the latter one is determinable, some real biosemiotic sign-action may occur. The second one concerns the application of the concept of the object of sign — its use is limited so that a sign has an object if and only if it seeks a true conception about it. This conclusion has drastic further consequences. Most of the genuinely biosemiotic sign-processes do not tend toward truth about anything but toward various practical ends. Therefore, the logical concept of sign, e.g. the one of Peirce’s semeiotic, is an insufficient concept for biosemiotics. In order to establish a sufficient one, Peircean theoretical ethics and esthetics are introduced. It is concluded that they involve simpler and more general but still normative concept of sign — the concept of anticipative or constructive representation that does not represent any object at all. Instead, it is a completely future-oriented representation that guides action. Objective ethics provides the suitable concept of representation, but it appeals to objective esthetics that provides a theory of (local) natural self-normativity. The concepts of objective logic form the special species of objective ethics. The conclusion is that biosemiotics should be based on applied objective ethics and esthetics rather than on (Peircean semeiotic) logic and its metaphysical application. Finally, the physiosemiotic over-generalization of the concept of sign is shortly discussed. It is suggested that it would be more appropriate to rename such controversial generalizations than to adhere to semiotic terminology. Here, again, Peirce appears as a healthy role model with his ‘ethics of terminology’