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Tinea capitis is a contagious dermatophyte infection of scalp and associated hairs. On the other hand, asymptomatic carriage is a status of positive dermatophyte scalp culture, but without signs or symptoms of tinea capitis, and no evidence of hair shaft invasion confirmed by direct microscopy. Tinea capitis and asymptomatic carriage mostly occur in children, but adult females are becoming another population in recent decades. In this study, we focused on the prevalence and related fungi of tinea capitis and asymptomatic carriage in elderly by the shampoo brush method, as well as the source of transmission, in 10 nursing home residents. Two hundred and thirteen residents were screened, and 186 isolates were identified, of which only three were dermatophytes (1.4%). The scalp dermatophyte isolates were identified as Trichophyton rubrum by morphological characters and sequences comparisons in all three cases. After revisiting, these cases were proved to be asymptomatic carriers by negative microscopic and culture examination; however, two cases were found to have concurrent tinea pedis and onychomycosis, which were identified as T. rubrum and Trichophyton interdigitale. The source of the T. rubrum scalp carriage may come from tinea elsewhere on the body of the same subject or from other people in the same institute. Finding and treating the source of carriage, as well as treating scalp carriage patients according to the colony counts, may help prevent disease spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cortical bone thickness and implant length on strain in the surrounding bone and micromotion at the bone-implant interface in single immediately loaded implants., Materials and Methods: Experiments with rapid prototyping technique and finite element simulations were performed to evaluate bone strain and micromotion at the bone-implant interface. Implants (13-mm long) were embedded into models with three thicknesses of cortical bone (0.5, 1.7, and 3.4 mm), and implants with different lengths (11.5 and 15.0 mm) were inserted into models with 1.7 mm of thickness of cortical bone. Vertical and lateral loads of 130 N were applied to the models., Results: On lateral loading, the strains were highly concentrated on one side of the mandible in both experimental and finite element models. Sliding and gap distances were reduced when the cortical bone was thicker and when the implant was longer., Conclusion: Placement of a longer implant into thicker cortical bone will result in reduced sliding and gap distances. However, bone strain is influenced more by the cortical bone thickness than by the implant length for single immediately loaded implants.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of 3-rooted primary mandibular second molar teeth in Chinese patients via vertical bitewing radiography., Methods: Vertical bitewing radiographs of 227 patients previously obtained from the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan, from June 2004 to July 2007 were retrospectively screened and examined. Images of 185 patients (92 boys and 93 girls; mean age=5.6 [range=2.5-11.9] years old) with bilateral primary mandibular second molars were studied. The gender, symmetry, and frequencies of occurrence of 3-rooted primary mandibular second molars were compared., Results: Eighteen (9%) 3-rooted primary mandibular second molars were found in the 185 patients, with a bilateral incidence of a symmetrical distribution of 28% (5/18). The prevalence of 3-rooted primary second molars did not differ significantly between the mandible's right and left sides (P<.41), or with gender (P<.31)., Conclusions: The data presented here indicate that approximately one tenth of Chinese individuals have a 3-rooted primary mandibular second molar and that this condition is bilaterally symmetric in approximately one third of such individuals in a Taiwan hospital.