Preventive strategies in oral health for special needs patients

As regards to the most common oral disease in pediatric patients, intellectual disability is not a risk factor for caries disease itself, but it rather reduces the individual capability to self-care and therefore to his own oral care. Children suffering of systemic pathologies and/or with different stages of disability are to be considered at high risk for dental caries development. According to recent guidelines for oral health prevention in childhood, individual additional strategies for a preventive care should be applied for these patients. All the health providers, family and caregivers should be involved with the aim of being aware, motivated and informed on oral health issues, and a better access system to the dental care structure, both logistic, professional and economical should be assured

Healing environment in pediatric dentistry: strategies adopted by “Sapienza” University of Rome

Children’s dental anxiety has been of great worry for many years and it is still a barrier for dental care. According to recent guidelines for oral health prevention in childhood, additional strategies for a preventive care should be applied for pediatric patients. So it’s important to encourage pediatric dentists to develop a “child-friendly” environment for treating children. Environmental elements that produce positive feelings can reduce anxiety. The analysis of environmental design and features applied in Pediatric Dentistry Unit, Department of Oral and Maxillo-facial sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, highlighted special attention to the aspects supporting sensory conditions (colors, light, spatial organization); reassurance strategies (decorations, dental team attire, drawings); anxiety control strategies (playing area, TV, comics, toys); behavioral management strategies (positive reinforcement, modeling); in-formation (brochures, posters)

Peek polymer in orthodontics : a pilot study on children

The purpose of the study has been making the orthodontic space maintainers in PEEK polymer (Polyetheretherketone) through a digital workflow. New digital technologies are taking hold in diagnosis, therapy and in dental laboratories. The digital world can help dentist in diagnosis and therapy: -diagnosis through the acquisition of radiographic images (CBCT) or scanners which allow the creation of 3D digital models ? about therapy thanks to dental CAD CAM system. It consists of design devices through an dedicated software CAD and then realize devices through CAM system. We used digital system to improve the quality of the treatment and reduce costs. Peek polymer, subject of studies in recent years, thanking to its characteristics, resulted useful for this study. According to a nine month- follow up the devices were found comfortable, satisfying, personalized and minimally visible for the patients. These devices were found suitable to maintain the space. About material, thanks to its dimensional stability, mechanical strength but specially, thanks to its biocompatibility, PEEK was found as a very good material to build space maintainers. The workflow allowed a simulation of the treatment plan with a better collaboration and acceptance of the patient. Digital system reduced the systematic mistakes during the various phases and the production time. The digital system saved space creating a virtual plaster casts collection

Multipronged dental analyses reveal dietary differences in last foragers and first farmers at Grotta Continenza, central Italy (15,500–7000 BP)

This paper provides results from a suite of analyses made on human dental material from the Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic strata of the cave site of Grotta Continenza situated in the Fucino Basin of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The available human remains from this site provide a unique possibility to study ways in which forager versus farmer lifeways affected human odonto-skeletal remains. The main aim of our study is to understand palaeodietary patterns and their changes over time as reflected in teeth. These analyses involve a review of metrics and oral pathologies, micro-fossils preserved in the mineralized dental plaque, macrowear, and buccal microwear. Our results suggest that these complementary approaches support the assumption about a critical change in dental conditions and status with the introduction of Neolithic foodstuff and habits. However, we warn that different methodologies applied here provide data at different scales of resolution for detecting such changes and a multipronged approach to the study of dental collections is needed for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of diachronic changes