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Objective: To investigate the relationship between subjective symptoms of orofacial pain and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), as well as psychological distress in population-based middle-aged women.Material and methods: The two study samples comprised 1059 women, 38 and 50 years old, in representative cross-sectional studies. Women with long-lasting, frequent pain or headaches, related to temporomandibular disorders (TMD), with moderate-to-high estimates were analysed in relation to the non-case group. OHRQoL was measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-5). Psychological distress was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Sense of Coherence (SOC-13).Results: Women with orofacial pain (n = 82, 7.7%) had a significantly higher mean score on the OHIP-5, HADS-A and HADS-D and a lower mean score for SOC-13. In a multivariable logistic regression, orofacial pain was statistically significantly associated with poorer OHRQoL (OR = 1.2) and signs of depression (HADS-D) (OR = 2.0). A higher score for SOC-13 protected from the experience of orofacial pain (OR = 0.95).Conclusion: Orofacial pain was associated with poorer OHRQoL and signs of psychological distress. In interpreting the value of SOC, women with orofacial pain also appear to have a poorer adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aims of the study are to assess the reliability of the short clinical examination, and to compare the information gained with a well-known and validated examination, the diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD).Materials and Methods: The study comprises 52 consecutive, newly referred patients at their first visit and examination to an Orofacial Pain and TMD Clinic, 15 years and older, mean age 44 years. The patients first answered three screening questions for reported symptoms. The clinical examination was performed using both the short examination and the DC/TMD and the result was compared. Another group of 40 newly referred patients, with similar inclusion criteria, was examined twice according to the short clinical examination by two examiners, and the inter-examiner variation was studied. The protocol of the short clinical examination is described.Result: The overall agreement between the two methods was fairly good to excellent, as was the degree of agreement between repeated examinations and two examiners using the short clinical examination method. The sensitivity and specificity of the short examination for diagnoses were acceptable to high (with DC/TMD as the golden standard).Conclusions: The short clinical examination has acceptable reliability and, together with three screening questions, provides enough information about the jaw function to decide whether there is a dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim was to elucidate the relation between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis/arthrosis (OA) in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).Background: General epidemiological data support the hypothesis that osteoporosis and OA are inversely correlated but is not conclusively investigated in the TMJ.Materials and Methods: A group of 114 representative elderly women and men, randomised from a comprehensive population study in Gothenburg, Sweden, had bone mineral density established with whole-body, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as part of a health survey. In addition, dental examinations were performed, including panoramic radiographs exposed as an overview of the TMJ's and jaws. In 88 of the 80-year-old participants (48 women and 40 men), a clinical orofacial examination according to the RDC/TMD system was performed.Results: A diagnosis of osteopenia/osteoporosis was found in 36% of the 114, with a statistically different greater proportion of women. Condylar alterations evaluated from panoramic radiographs were observed in 34%, with no significant gender difference. No significant differences were found in the proportion of individuals with osteopenia/osteoporosis and any condylar radiographic alteration or not. Forty-one of the clinically examined subjects, 47%, fulfilled the criteria for an RDC/TMD diagnosis with no gender difference. All participants graded the orofacial pain as low chronic pain. An opening capacity of <40 mm denoted a higher risk of having pain in the temporomandibular system. No association was found between clinical diagnosis of RDC/TMD and osteopenia/osteoporosis.Conclusion: The prevalence of osteopenia/osteoporosis appears not to be of importance for radiological or clinical findings of OA in the TMJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Methods Results Conclusion We aimed to investigate plasma lamotrigine concentrations and clinical effects in infants exposed to lamotrigine through breastfeeding.This was a retrospective study of mother–infant dyads in a clinical follow‐up programme in Stockholm, Sweden. Data were collected from medical records.We included 47 breastfed infants, born from 2011 to 2021, with a median gestational age of 39 + 6 weeks/days and a median birth weight of 3420 g. The median lamotrigine concentration in the infants' plasma was 2.5 (range 2.5–14.0) μmol/L. These concentrations correlated significantly with both the maternal plasma concentrations and the maternal doses (R = 0.79, p < 0.001 versus R = 0.54, p < 0.001). During the follow up, lamotrigine concentrations within the reference range for epilepsy treatment were detected in six (14%) infants and one had clinical symptoms that were probably related to lamotrigine exposure. Liver transaminases were elevated in three of 21 infants. All infants whose mothers had a dose of 150 mg or less had undetectable plasma concentrations and no symptoms during follow up.Infants exposed to lamotrigine through breastfeeding had a low risk of toxic effects. All infants whose mothers had low lamotrigine doses had unmeasurable plasma concentrations and no symptoms of lamotrigine exposure. These low‐risk infants might be offered a simplified follow up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]