Behaviour management problems in Finnish children with operated congenital heart disease : a practice-based study

Purpose This retrospective, practice-based study investigates behaviour management problems (BMPs) in dental care among Finnish children with operated congenital heart disease (CHD). Methods All the heart-operated children born between the years 1997 and 1999 were identified in the national ProCardio database (n = 570). Primary dental care records were requested from this population and were eventually received from 211 patients. Information on gender, diagnosis, number of heart operations and perioperative care were collected from the ProCardio database, and the CHDs were categorised as shunting/stenotic/complex/other defects. Data on BMP/dental fear, oral conscious sedation, dental general anaesthesia (DGA) and past and present caries indices at 6, 12 and 15 years (d/D, dmft/DMFT) were assessed. Results Notes on behaviour management problems or dental fear were found in 19% of the study population. BMPs in dental care were more frequent among boys. Children with re-operations, longer post-operative intensive care stay and hospitalisation, and complications had not more BMP than others. Those children diagnosed with syndromes had more BMP often than the rest. Past and present caries experience were significantly associated with BMP, need of oral conscious sedation and DGA. Oral conscious sedation, nitrogen oxide sedation and dental general anaesthesia were used in 17/211, 2/221 and 24/211 CHD patients, respectively. Conclusion Dental caries remains a main factor associated with BMP in the CHD population. Need for oral conscious sedation and DGA were rather common. To maintain a good oral health and to avoid development of BMP, CHD children benefit from focus in health promotion and preventive care.Peer reviewe

Characterisation of the course of Mycoplasma bovis infection in naturally infected dairy herds

Mycoplasma bovis causes bovine respiratory disease, mastitis, arthritis and otitis. The importance of M. bovis has escalated because of recent outbreaks and introductions into countries previously free of M. bovis. We characterized the course of M. bovis infection on 19 recently infected dairy farms over 24 months. Our objective was to identify diagnostic tools to assess the efficacy of control measures to assess low risk infection status on M. bovis infected farms. PCR assays and culture were used to detect M. bovis, and in-house and BioX ELISAs were used to follow antibody responses. Cows and young stock were sampled on four separate occasions, and clinical cases were sampled when they arose. On 17 farms, a few cases of clinical mastitis were detected, mostly within the first eight weeks after the index case. Antibodies detected by in-house ELISA persisted in the serum of cows at least for 1.5 years on all farms, regardless of the M. bovis infection status or signs of clinical disease or subclinical mastitis on the farm. Six out of 19 farms became low risk as the infection was resolved. Our results suggest that, for biosecurity purposes, regular monitoring should be conducted on herds by screening for M. bovis in samples from cows with clinical mastitis and calves with pneumonia, in conjunction with testing young stock by screening longitudinally collected nasal swabs for M. bovis and sequential serum samples for antibody against recombinant antigen.Peer reviewe

A European interlaboratory trial to evaluate the performance of different PCR methods for Mycoplasma bovis diagnosis

Background Several species-specific PCR assays, based on a variety of target genes are currently used in the diagnosis of Mycoplasma bovis infections in cattle herds with respiratory diseases and/or mastitis. With this diversity of methods, and the development of new methods and formats, regular performance comparisons are required to ascertain diagnostic quality. The present study compares PCR methods that are currently used in six national veterinary institutes across Europe. Three different sample panels were compiled and analysed to assess the analytical specificity, analytical sensitivity and comparability of the different PCR methods. The results were also compared, when appropriate, to those obtained through isolation by culture. The sensitivity and comparability panels were composed of samples from bronchoalveolar fluids of veal calves, artificially contaminated or naturally infected, and hence the comparison of the different methods included the whole workflow from DNA extraction to PCR analysis. Results The participating laboratories used i) five different DNA extraction methods, ii) seven different real-time and/or end-point PCRs targeting four different genes and iii) six different real-time PCR platforms. Only one commercial kit was assessed; all other PCR assays were in-house tests adapted from published methods. The analytical specificity of the different PCR methods was comparable except for one laboratory where Mycoplasma agalactiae was tested positive. Frequently, weak-positive results with Ct values between 37 and 40 were obtained for non-target Mycoplasma strains. The limit of detection (LOD) varied from 10 to 103 CFU/ml to 103 and 106 CFU/ml for the real-time and end-point assays, respectively. Cultures were also shown to detect concentrations down to 102 CFU/ml. Although Ct values showed considerable variation with naturally infected samples, both between laboratories and tests, the final result interpretation of the samples (positive versus negative) was essentially the same between the different laboratories. Conclusion With a few exceptions, all methods used routinely in the participating laboratories showed comparable performance, which assures the quality of diagnosis, despite the multiplicity of the methods

Statistical methods in dental research, with special reference to time-to-event methods

Abstract Statistical methods are an essential part of the published dental research. It is important to evaluate the use of these methods to improve the quality of dental research. In the first part, the aim of this interdisciplinary study is to investigate the development of the use of statistical methods in dental journals, quality of statistical reporting and reporting of statistical techniques and results in dental research papers, with special reference to time-to-event methods. In the second part, the focus is specifically on time-to-event methods, and the aim is to demonstrate the strength of time-to-event methods in collecting detailed data about the development of oral health. The first part of this study is based on an evaluation of dental articles from five dental journals. The second part of the study is based on empirical data from 28 municipal health centres in order to study variations in the survival of tooth health. There were different profiles in the statistical content among the journals. The quality of statistical reporting was quite low in the journals. The use of time-to-event methods has increased from 1996 to 2007 in the evaluated dental journals. However, the benefits of these methods have not been fully adopted in dental research. The current study added new information regarding the status of statistical methods in dental research. Our study also showed that complex time-to-event analysis methods can be utilized even with detailed information on each tooth in large groups of study subjects. Authors of dental articles might apply the results of this study to improve the study protocol/planning as well as the statistical section of their research article.Tiivistelmä Tilastolliset tutkimusmenetelmät ovat olennainen osa hammaslääketieteellistä tutkimusta. Menetelmien käyttöä on tärkeä tutkia, jotta hammaslääketieteen tutkimuksen laatua voitaisiin parantaa. Tämän poikkitieteellisen tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä osassa tavoite on tutkia erilaisten tilastomenetelmien ja tutkimusasetelmien käyttöä, raportoinnin laatua ja tapahtumaan kuluvan ajan analysointimenetelmien käyttöä hammaslääketieteellisissä artikkeleissa. Toisessa osassa osoitetaan analysointimenetelmien vahvuus isojen tutkimusjoukkojen analysoinnissa. Ensimmäisen osan tutkimusaineiston muodostavat viiden hammaslääketieteellisen aikakauslehden artikkelit. Toisen osan tutkimusaineiston muodostivat 28 terveyskeskuksessa eri puolella Suomea hammashoitoa saaneet potilaat. Lehdet erosivat toisistaan tilastomenetelmien käytön ja tulosten esittämisen osalta. Tilastollisen raportoinnin laatu oli lehdissä puutteellinen. Tapahtumaan kuluvan ajan analysointimenetelmien käyttö on lisääntynyt vuosien 1996–2007 aikana. Tapahtumaan kuluvan ajan analysointimenetelmät mittaavat seuranta-ajan tietystä aloituspisteestä määriteltyyn päätepisteeseen. Tämän väitöksen tutkimukset osoittivat, että tapahtumaan kuluvan ajan analysointimenetelmät sopivat hyvin isojen tutkimusjoukkojen analysointiin. Menetelmien hyötyä ei ole kuitenkaan vielä saatu täysin esille hammaslääketieteellisissä julkaisuissa. Tämä tutkimus antoi uutta tietoa tilastollisten tutkimusmenetelmien käytöstä hammaslääketieteellisessä tutkimuksessa. Artikkelien kirjoittajat voivat hyödyntää tämän tutkimuksen tuloksia suunnitellessaan hammaslääketieteellistä tutkimusta

MMP Inhibitors and Dentin Bonding : Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives. Resin-dentin bond strength decreases over time. This reduction is related to the loss of hybrid layer integrity. Collagenolytic enzymes, especially matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), are responsible for the degradation of the collagen matrix of the hybrid layer. Various MMP inhibitors with the ability to prevent enzymatic degradation have been identified. This study aimed to systematically review the literature for studies which evaluated the effect of MMP inhibitors on the immediate and aged dentin bond strengths. Study SelectionScreening and analysis were carried out by two reviewers. Two databases were searched, and from a total of 740 articles, 43 were accepted for full review. 21 articles with 0.2%-2% chlorhexidine (CHX) treatments were included for meta-analysis. A risk of bias assessment was performed on all studies chosen for meta-analysis. A variety of MMP inhibitors have been studied, CHX being the most widely used. Conclusions. A clear trend for a lower loss of dentin bond strength was observed with different MMP inhibitors. In meta-analysis, no significant difference was seen between the CHX and control in the immediate bond strengths. Bond strengths in the CHX group were significantly higher than the control group after aging (PPeer reviewe

Use of data analysis methods in dental publications:is there evidence of a methodological change?

Abstract Objectives: To evaluate how data analysis methods in dental studies have changed in recent years. Methods: A total of 400 articles published in 2010 and 2017 in five dental journals, Journal of Dental Research, Caries Research, Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, Journal of Dentistry, and Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, were analyzed. The study characteristics and the reporting of data analysis techniques were systematically identified. Results: The statistical intensity of the dental journals did not change from 2010 to 2017. Dental researchers did not adopt the data mining, machine learning, or Bayesian approaches advocated in the computer-oriented methodological literature. The determination of statistical significance was the most generally used method for conducting research in both 2010 and 2017. Observational study designs were more common in 2017. Insufficient and incomplete descriptions of statistical methods were still a serious problem. Conclusion: The stabilization of statistical intensity in the literature suggests that papers applying highly computationally complex data analysis methods have not meaningfully contributed to dental research or clinical care. Greater rigor is required in reporting the methods in dental research articles, given the current pervasiveness of failure to describe the basic techniques used

Behaviour management problems in Finnish children with operated congenital heart disease:a practice-based study

Abstract Purpose: This retrospective, practice-based study investigates behaviour management problems (BMPs) in dental care among Finnish children with operated congenital heart disease (CHD). Methods: All the heart-operated children born between the years 1997 and 1999 were identified in the national ProCardio database (n = 570). Primary dental care records were requested from this population and were eventually received from 211 patients. Information on gender, diagnosis, number of heart operations and perioperative care were collected from the ProCardio database, and the CHDs were categorised as shunting/stenotic/complex/other defects. Data on BMP/dental fear, oral conscious sedation, dental general anaesthesia (DGA) and past and present caries indices at 6, 12 and 15 years (d/D, dmft/DMFT) were assessed. Results: Notes on behaviour management problems or dental fear were found in 19% of the study population. BMPs in dental care were more frequent among boys. Children with re-operations, longer post-operative intensive care stay and hospitalisation, and complications had not more BMP than others. Those children diagnosed with syndromes had more BMP often than the rest. Past and present caries experience were significantly associated with BMP, need of oral conscious sedation and DGA. Oral conscious sedation, nitrogen oxide sedation and dental general anaesthesia were used in 17/211, 2/221 and 24/211 CHD patients, respectively. Conclusions: Dental caries remains a main factor associated with BMP in the CHD population. Need for oral conscious sedation and DGA were rather common. To maintain a good oral health and to avoid development of BMP, CHD children benefit from focus in health promotion and preventive care

Reporting data analysis methods in high-impact respiratory journals

Abstract Data analysis methods play an important role in respiratory research. We evaluated the application and complexity of data analytical methods in high-impact respiratory journals and compared the statistical reporting in these respiratory articles with reports published in other eminent medical journals. This study involved a total of 160 papers published in 2015 in the European Respiratory Journal, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Chest and Thorax, and 680 papers published between 2007–2015 in other medical journals including the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine. We manually reviewed the articles to determine the way in which they reported the methods applied in data analysis. The statistical intensity in the respiratory journals was equal to that in eminent medical journals. Traditional ways of testing statistical significance were widely used in respiratory articles. Statistical procedures were not always described in sufficient detail, and the prominent respiratory journals did not display different profiles with respect to their statistical content. Readers of the prominent respiratory journals need to possess a substantial level of statistical expertise if they wish to critically evaluate the design, methodology, data analysis and interpretation of the findings published in these journals

An instrument to assess the statistical intensity of medical research papers

Abstract Background: There is widespread evidence that statistical methods play an important role in original research articles, especially in medical research. The evaluation of statistical methods and reporting in journals suffers from a lack of standardized methods for assessing the use of statistics. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an instrument to assess the statistical intensity in research articles in a standardized way. Methods: A checklist-type measure scale was developed by selecting and refining items from previous reports about the statistical contents of medical journal articles and from published guidelines for statistical reporting. A total of 840 original medical research articles that were published between 2007±2015 in 16 journals were evaluated to test the scoring instrument. The total sum of all items was used to assess the intensity between sub-fields and journals. Inter-rater agreement was examined using a random sample of 40 articles. Four raters read and evaluated the selected articles using the developed instrument. Results: The scale consisted of 66 items. The total summary score adequately discriminated between research articles according to their study design characteristics. The new instrument could also discriminate between journals according to their statistical intensity. The inter-observer agreement measured by the ICC was 0.88 between all four raters. Individual item analysis showed very high agreement between the rater pairs, the percentage agreement ranged from 91.7% to 95.2%. Conclusions: A reliable and applicable instrument for evaluating the statistical intensity in research papers was developed. It is a helpful tool for comparing the statistical intensity between sub-fields and journals. The novel instrument may be applied in manuscript peer review to identify papers in need of additional statistical review