Going against the herd: psychological and cultural factors underlying the 'vaccination confidence gap'

By far the most common strategy used in the attempt to modify negative attitudes toward vaccination is to appeal to evidence-based reasoning. We argue, however, that focusing on science comprehension is inconsistent with one of the key facts of cognitive psychology: Humans are biased information processors and often engage in motivated reasoning. On this basis, we hypothesised that negative attitudes can be explained primarily by factors unrelated to the empirical evidence for vaccination; including some shared attitudes that also attract people to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In particular, we tested psychosocial factors associated with CAM endorsement in past research; including aspects of spirituality, intuitive (vs analytic) thinking styles, and the personality trait of openness to experience. These relationships were tested in a cross-sectional, stratified CATI survey (N = 1256, 624 Females). Whilst educational level and thinking style did not predict vaccination rejection, psychosocial factors including: preferring CAM to conventional medicine (OR .49, 95% CI .36 .83, 95% CI .71 to vaccination. Furthermore, for 9 of the 12 CAMs surveyed, utilisation in the last 12 months was associated with lower levels of vaccination endorsement. From this we suggest that vaccination scepticism appears to be the outcome of a particular cultural and psychological orientation leading to unwillingness to engage with the scientific evidence. Vaccination compliance might be increased either by building general confidence and understanding of evidence-based medicine, or by appealing to features usually associated with CAM, e.g.–.66), endorsement of spirituality as a source of knowledge (OR–.96), and openness (OR .86, 95% CI .74–.99), all predicted negative attitudes‘strengthening your natural resistance to disease’

The relationship between a primary maxillary incisor with a talon cusp and the permanent successor: A study of 57 cases

Background. Most reported cases of talon cusps in the primary dentition have been on the maxillary central incisors and. the permanent successors have remained unaffected. Four of the five reported cases on a maxillary lateral incisor, however, have been associated with a supernumerary permanent successor. Aim. This paper describes the relationship between the presence of talon cusps on a primary maxillary incisor, and the morphology and number of the permanent successors in a opulation of Chinese children.Design. The dental records of children diagnosed with a talon cusp on a primary incisor were retrieved for review. The diagnoses took place in a regional school dental clinic in Hong Kong between April 2002 and August 2005. Results. Fifty-eight primary maxillary incisors with talon cusps were found. When the central incisors were involved, 32 of the 35 (91.4%) underlying permanent successors were not found to be associated with any odontogenic abnormalities. When the lateral incisors were involved, however, 18 of the 23 cases (78.3%) showed odontogenic abnormalities, 14 of which were associated with supernumerary teeth. Conclusions. The present study shows that, when there is a talon cusp on a primary maxillary lateral incisor, a high proportion of the underlying permanent successors can be expected to exhibit odontogenic abnormalities. © 2007 BSPD, IAPD and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.link_to_subscribed_fulltex