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Abstract Objectives To compare the clinical effectiveness of Hawley retainers (HRs) and modified vacuum-formed retainers (mVFRs) with palatal coverage in maintaining transverse expansion throughout a 24-month retention period and to assess the subjects’ perception toward the retainers. Materials and methods The trial accomplished blinding only by the outcome assessor and data analyst. Data were collected from post-orthodontic treatment patients who met the inclusion criteria. Thirty-five subjects were randomly allocated using a centralized randomization technique into either mVFR (n = 18) or HR group (n = 17). Dental casts of subjects were evaluated at debond (T0), 3-month (T1), 6-month (T2), 12-month (T3), and 24-month retention (T4). The intercanine width (ICW), interpremolar width (IPMW), interfirst molar mesiobuccal cusp width (IFMW1), and interfirst molar distobuccal cusp width (IFMW2) were compared between groups over time using Mixed ANOVA. A pilot-tested and validated questionnaire consisting of six items were given at T4. Subjects were instructed to rate their retainer in terms of fitting, speech, appearance, oral hygiene, durability, and comfort on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results No statistically significant differences in arch width were found between the two groups at ICW (P = .83), IPMW (P = 0.63), IFMW1 (P = .22), and IFMW2 (P = .46) during the 24-month retention period. Also, no statistically significant differences were found between perception of both retainers in terms of fitting, speech, oral hygiene, durability, and comfort (P > .05) after 24-month wear. The appearance of mVFRs was rated significantly higher compared to HRs (P

Background: Venous leg ulcers severely affect patients' quality of life due to its high morbidity and recurrent nature. Currently, compression therapy is the first-line treatment for venous leg ulcers. Aim: This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of the Mobiderm® technology developed by Thuasne in a prospective case series of venous leg ulcers. Methods: Nine patients (N = 9) with venous leg ulcers were enrolled into this case series. Mobiderm® bandage was applied on to the affected limbs of the patients in the multi-component bandages system. The bandages were changed as frequent as the patients had their wound dressing for their standard treatment in a 12-week duration. Wound size and calf circumference were measured at week 0 and week 12. Paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean values of wound size and calf circumference pre- and post-treatment. Results: Reductions in wound size and calf circumference were observed in all nine patients (100%). Five patients were evaluable at week 12. The wound sizes significantly reduced by 27.2% to 53.2% (p = 0.02), and the calf circumferences significantly reduced by 3.2% to 26.0% (p = 0.02) after 12 weeks (N = 5). Safety was unremarkable, with no occurrence of treatment-emergent-related adverse event. Conclusion: Mobiderm® bandage was reported to be effective in promoting wound healing and reducing swelling, suggesting it to be integrated in the compression therapy for the management of venous leg ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to minimize relapse and maintain arch form, several retention devices have been used after orthodontic treatment. To date, Hawley retainers (HRs) are more commonly used in orthodontic retention where expanded arch stabilization is needed. However, there is a notable paucity of high-quality studies comparing the effectiveness of HRs and modified vacuum-formed retainers (mVFRs). This study aimed to compare the clinical effectiveness of HRs and mVFRs with palatal coverage in maintaining transverse expansion over a 6-month period. This is a multicenter randomized controlled trial study. Post-orthodontic treatment patients from the Orthodontic Unit of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Klinik Pakar Ortodontik Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Botanik Klang and Unit Pakar Ortodontik Klinik Pergigian Sungai Chua Kajang, who met the inclusion criteria were invited to participate. Inclusion criteria were 13 years old or greater, existing pre-treatment model and >3 mm arch width expansion in the upper arch. Subjects were randomly allocated by using a centralized randomization technique into two groups: mVFR group and HR group. Dental casts of subjects were assessed at debond (T0), 3-month (T1), and 6- month (T2) post-debond. The intercanine width (ICW), interpremolar width (IPMW), first molar intermesiobuccal cusp width (FIMBCW) and first molar interdistobuccal cusp width (FIDBCW) were compared between groups over time by using Mixed ANOVA. No statistically significant differences were found between the two retainer groups at ICW (P=.60), IPMW (P=.26), FIMBCW (P=.06) and FIDBCW (P=.24) during the 6-month retention period. There were no significant differences in degree on relapse between the HR and mVFR over a 6-month retention period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]