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The increasing demand for Indonesian female caregivers to Taiwan, raises issues related to caregiver burden. In this study, a segmentation analysis of 299 questionnaire data that consisted of Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) instrument and four dimensions: personal strain, role strain, dependency, and guilt (PRDG) was conducted to find selection pattern strategies of prospective caregivers based on their characteristics. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated the need to add "social life" as a new dimension (S+PRDG) representing the caregivers' social problems, while the results of multiple regression analysis indicated three most influential characteristics of a caregiver: number of children, education level, and work location. The segmentation analysis was carried out using Fuzzy C-Means on the modified PRDG model which is (S+PRDG) and resulted two best segments that have a fuzzy silhouette index value of 0.61. From the analysis of these two segments, the resilient caregivers were those in the second segment with the characteristics such as having children, having level of education up to junior high school, and working in the capital city of Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: The treatment effect of myofunctional appliance therapy has remained debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the skeletal and dentoalveolar effects in class II division I pediatric patients receiving Education Fonctionnelle (EF) myofunctional appliance therapy.Methods: Thirteen patients undergoing EF appliance treatment (9 boys and 4 girls；average 9.3years old) met the inclusion criteria and 13 untreated patients (9 boys and 4 girls；average 9.9 years old) served as controls. Initial and one-year follow-up lateral cephalometric measurement was used to assess skeletal and dentoalveolar changes. Gender ratio was analyzed using Chi-square test. Age and cephalometric measurement changes within and between the two groups were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank test and Benjamini - Hochberg procedure.Results: There were no significant differences in age, gender ratio, and initial cephalometric measurement data between the two groups. One-year follow-up skeletal findings revealed no significant differences between the two groups. Regarding the dentoalveolar changes, only the values of the upper incisor angle related parameters revealed significances between the two group (with adjusted p value).Conclusion: In this preliminary small sample size study, the EF group demonstrated significant upper incisor angle decrease, lower incisor angle increase, and lower incisor tip to mandibular plane distance decrease in comparison to the values measured in the control group. However, only the upper incisor angle changes were statistically significant after p-value adjustment. The skeletal effect of the EF appliance could not be verified in one-year follow-up of cephalometric data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many studies and reviews of the relationship between the asthma disease in young individuals on the one hand and caries and dental erosion on the other. The causes of caries and dental erosion might be related to the asthmatic drugs, low pH and the sweeteners that the inhaled drug contains and perhaps even the lifestyle of children and adolescents with asthma. The main focus of this review is therefore to describe various preventive strategies, based on long experience of preventive dental care in Sweden. Two fact boxes are presented, one on fluoride toothpaste as a population-based intervention for different ages and one on diet counselling in children and adolescents with asthma. The most important thing is to introduce fluoride toothpaste early in the child's life and that the parents brush the child's teeth twice a day, in the morning after breakfast and at night before bedtime, up to the age of 10. Moreover, a high-risk approach with an additional fluoride supply at home is presented, together with the application of fluoride varnish at the clinic. Regarding diet counselling, it is important to make sure that the child has regular meals during the day, maximum five to six times a day, to allow the teeth to rest between meals and restrict sweets and soft drinks to once a week. It is important to identify children and adolescents with asthma as early as possible and to refer them to a dental team for preventive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bond strength and durability of highly translucent zirconia ceramics to dentin is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of various surface treatments on the bond strength of self-adhesive resin cements to high-translucent zirconia crowns and dentin. A high-transparent zirconia and three self-adhesive resin cements (G-CEM LinkAce (GCL), RelyX U200 (RXU) and TotalCem (TTC)) were used. The zirconia surface was sandblasted with 50 μm alumina particles or coated with an SR Link primer, while a dentin primer (Tetric N-Bond Universal, TBU) was applied to the surface of the dentin. By using three self-adhesive resin cements, zirconia samples were bonded to the dentin surfaces of human teeth. The shear strength of the specimens was measured before and after 10,000-cycle thermocycling or 90-day aging. When using GCL to bond with the untreated dentin and various zirconia surfaces, the shear bond strength of the sandblasted (Z SB) and RS Link primer-coated (Z LK) groups was significantly higher than that of the untreated control group (Zc). However, in the case of TBU-treated dentin, the shear strength of the Z SB + LK + D TBU group was significantly higher than that of the other groups. After thermocycling and aging, the shear strength of the Z SB + LK + D TBU group using GCL and RXU cements decreased slightly, while the TTC showed no impact. The zirconia surface pretreated by sandblasting and bonding agent, which was sequentially bonded with a primer-treated dentin by using resin cements, can provide excellent shear bond strength and anti-aging performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient rapid sintering technique has employed to dental zirconia ceramics for shortening the fabrication time of zirconia restorations. The purpose was to compare the optical properties of two generations of rapid sintered translucent zirconia using two dental colorimeters. Two generations of translucent zirconia ceramics, 3 mol% yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP): Copran Zr-i Ultra-T (UT) and Cercon HT (HT), and 5 mol% yttria-tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (5Y-TZP): Cercon xt (XT), of different thicknesses (0.5, 0.8, and 1.2 mm; n = 5) underwent rapid sintering (RS) or conventional sintering (CS). The CIELAB values were measured on the white and black backgrounds, respectively, by digital colorimeters, shadepilot, DeguDent (DD) and Easyshade V, Vita (Vita). Translucency parameter (TP), color difference (ΔE), surface morphology, and surface roughness were evaluated. RS resulted in reduced lightness, except in the XT group. The chromaticity increased slightly after RS. Translucency decreased with increasing material thickness. ΔE values differed between both sintering processes but were clinically acceptable (ΔE < 5). Grain size of XT decreased after RS. RS did not affect the surface roughness. RS is a feasible method for shortening the manufacturing time of zirconia restorations. A significant difference in TP value was only in the XT group between both sintering methods as measured on DD. Color differences in rapid sintered translucent zirconia materials are imperceptible and acceptable. The specimen thickness affected more in the TP values of Vita than DD. DD has higher sensitivity to translucency and color compared with Vita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic restorations have been increasingly applied over recent years. But the performance of cement is still unknown after cementation. This study was aimed to compare the compressive strength and the performances of three different types of composite resin after lithium disilicate inlay cementation. Twenty-four human maxillary premolars were embedded in resin blocks, finished a MOD inlay preparation and scanned with an extraoral scanner. Lithium disilicate ceramic inlays (IPS e.max, Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein) were fabricated according to the scanner's model. All the specimens were then etched, bonded, and cemented with three different composite resins. Right after 5000 thermal cyclings, the specimens were accepted compressive tests to evaluate the compressive strength and failure types. Moreover, the fracture fragments of the specimens were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to verify the fracture type. Dual-cured resin cement (Rely X Ultimate) showed the highest compressive strength (1002 ± 508 N), followed by the light-cured flowable resin (Z350 XT) (971 ± 209 N) and light-cured bulkfill (Filtek Bulkfill) resin (581 ± 191 N). Type IV (root fracture) failures in the dual-cured resin cement group was 25%, and light-cured flowable resin was 37.5%. But none of type IV fracture was found in the light-cured bulkfill flowable group. Dual-cured resin cement demonstrates the highest compressive strength after ceramic inlay cementation. Light-cured bulkfill resin shows the lowest compressive strength, but catastrophic failure is absent in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the correlation between the occurrence of three-rooted deciduous mandibular second molars and three-rooted permanent mandibular first molars in children. Orthopantograms (n = 977) obtained from August 2008 to December 2010 were retrospectively screened and examined. Among the 977 orthopantograms, those of 591 participants (314 boys and 277 girls; mean age, 8.7 years) with bilateral deciduous mandibular second molars and permanent mandibular first molars were studied. The gender predilection and prevalence of three-rooted mandibular molars were assessed, and the pattern of concurrence was investigated. The prevalence of three roots were 28.4% and 27.6% in the deciduous mandibular second molars and permanent mandibular first molars, respectively. Bilateral occurrence of three-rooted mandibular molars was almost 60% for both deciduous and permanent molars. There was a significantly greater prevalence of three-rooted mandibular molars on the right side of the mandible than that on the left side. Deciduous and permanent molars show a similar prevalence of three roots. The presence of three-rooted deciduous mandibular second molar can strongly predict the possibility of three roots in permanent mandibular first molar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diode laser is widely used in dentistry, especially on treating soft tissues. Currently neither the effect of diode laser pulpotomy nor its comparison with formocresol (FC) pulpotomy has been fully investigated. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of diode laser pulpotomy and formocresol pulpotomy on human primary molars. Healthy two-to eight-year-olds were treated with pulpotomies on primary molars as part of their regular dental treatment. The pulpotomy teeth were randomly assigned into one of two groups. The experimental group was treated with diode laser; the control group was treated with 1:5 dilution FC. Forty-five teeth with diode laser and 45 teeth with FC in 70 healthy children were studied. In 12 months follow-up, the clinical success rates were 92.9%, and 90.9% for laser and FC respectively, and the radiographic success rates were 78.6%, and 72.7% for laser and FC respectively. Conclusion: There is no significant difference of clinical and radiographic success rate between diode laser and FC pulpotomy in human primary molars followed for 12 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a common, chronic disease that causes respiratory symptoms in children. Dental caries is also a common chronic disease in the pediatric population. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between asthma medications and dental caries among children in Taiwan. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was used in this retrospective cohort study to analyze the correlation between asthma and dental caries in children. The prevalence and severity of caries were compared between children with and without asthma. The effects of different asthma medications on dental caries were also compared. A total of 4601 children with asthma and 4589 children without asthma were included in this study. The caries prevalence of children without asthma was 85.2%, and that of children with asthma was 90.0%. The prevalence of caries in children with asthma was significantly higher than that in children without asthma (P < 0.001). The caries status was categorized into mild, moderate and severe dental caries. The rate of mild dental caries was higher in the children without asthma (35.1%) than in the children with asthma (29.8%). The rate of severe caries was significantly higher in children with asthma (34.3%) than in those without asthma (30.7%). Also, children with asthma using bronchodilators had a higher rate of severe dental caries (39%) than in children without asthma (30.7%). Children receiving asthma medications had higher dental caries prevalence and higher rate of severe caries than children without asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB) are associated with dental caries, but the acquisition of these organisms in young children with early childhood caries (ECC) and severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) has only been partly described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the salivary MS and LB levels of preschool children with ECC and S-ECC, and the correlation of MS, LB levels with caries severity. The study population was comprised of children from 3 to 6 years of age who visited the Pediatric Dental clinic of TCVGH. Oral examinations were performed, and whole unstimulated salivary samples were collected for buffer capacity, MS and LB counts by using commercially available diagnostic kits (CRT bacteria kit). The participants were divided into mild (dmft < 6), moderate (dmft:6–9) and severe caries (dmft > 9) groups; the salivary microbiological tests and buffer capacity were compared. A total of 72 children with a mean age of 4.5 years participated in this study. The salivary test showed that the higher the salivary MS level the more severe the caries status in children (P = 0.001). There was also a tendency toward a higher salivary LB level in children with more severe caries, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.088). There was no significant correlation between buffer capacity and caries status. The salivary MS level in preschool children was significantly correlated with the severity of early childhood caries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Knowledge of root canal anatomy is important for dental practice and for identifying features of anthropological significance. Three-rooted permanent mandibular molars are considered an anatomical variant of the Mongoloid race. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of three-rooted primary mandibular first molars in Taiwanese subjects.Methods: Vertical bite-wing radiographs of 227 subjects, which had been obtained previously in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, from January 2004 to December 2007, were screened retrospectively. Images of 121 subjects [54 boys and 67 girls; mean age (range), 5.8 (2.4-10.4) years] who had bilateral primary mandibular first molars were studied. The sex, symmetry and frequency of occurrence of three-rooted primary mandibular first molars were recorded and statistically analyzed.Results: The overall prevalence of subjects with three-rooted primary mandibular first molars was 5.0% (6/121), and 83.0% of the molars were unilateral. The prevalence of teeth that showed an extra root among all teeth examined was 2.9% (7/242). Such prevalence did not differ significantly between the right and left sides of the mandible, bilateral and unilateral, or with sex.Conclusion: The data presented here indicate that approximately 5% of Taiwanese subjects had a threerooted mandibular primary first molar and 80% of such teeth occurred unilaterally. Dentists should take into account the prevalence of these three-rooted variants in primary mandibular first molars among Taiwanese patients during their daily endodontic and exodontic procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Nd:YAG laser pulpotomy to formocresol pulpotomy on human primary teeth. Patients with a primary tooth that required pulpotomy because of pulpal exposure to caries, were selected for this study. After removal of coronal pulpal tissue, Nd:YAG laser at 2 W, 20 Hz, 100 mJ or a 1:5 dilution of formocresol was introduced into the canal orifice for complete hemostasis. IRM paste was then placed over the pulp stump, and the tooth was restored either with composite resin or stainless steel crown. Sixty-eight teeth were treated with Nd:YAG laser and followed up for 6 to 64 months. Clinical success was achieved in 66 out of the 68 teeth (97 %), and 94.1 % were radiographically successful. In the control group, 69 primary molars were treated with formocresol and followed up for 9 to 66 months; 85.5 and 78.3% achieved clinical and radiographic success, respectively. The success rate of Nd:YAG laser pulpotomy was significantly higher than that of formocresol pulpotomy. The permanent successors of the laser-treated teeth erupted without any complications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigate the effects of relative deprivation and efficiency wages on labor productivity in manufacturing industries in Taiwan. Using data from six different years in the period from 1979 to 1995, our results indicate that - contrary to the usual assumption made by many labor economists - efficiency wages do not have a net positive effect on labor productivity. The findings do indicate, however, a substantial negative effect of relative deprivation. In particular, labor productivity in Taiwanese manufacturing industries is lower to the extent that their workers are paid below the national average given their human capital and demo- graphic characteristics. These results suggest that the wage structure of an industry does have an important effect on its labor productivity, but understanding this issue more fully may require that researchers focus more on relative deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]