Since 1985, only four studies have been published that present data on attachment loss in populations. The purpose of this study was to present the incidence of attachment loss over an 18‐month period in a representative sample of community‐dwelling older adults. In addition, the utility of multivariate prediction models to distinguish between people who will and will not experience disease progression was explored. The Piedmont 65 + Dental Study of the Elderly is a longitudinal investigation of a random sub‐sample of over 1,000 community‐dwelling people over the age of 65 in five contiguous North Carolina counties. The five dentists who conducted the in‐home examinations and interviews at baseline also participated at 18 months and examined the same subjects. The overall attrition rate for blacks was 27% and the rate for whites was 23%. At 18‐months, the baseline attachment level scores for those subjects who were lost from the study were not significantly different from the scores of those who remained in the study. A change in attachment loss of 3 mm or more over the 18 months was set as a conservative estimate of actual change taking place. Blacks were significantly more likely to experience attachment loss irrespective of the number of sites involved (P <.05). Approximately half the people had at least one losing site and about one‐third of the blacks and one‐fourth of the whites had at least two losing sites. A total of 24% of blacks and 16% of whites had 3 or more losing sites. The multivariate etiologic model for blacks implicates the presence of P. gingivalis and P. intermedia in concentrations greater than 2%. In addition, people who indicate that they do not floss regularly, that their memory is getting worse, and had dental visits more than 3 years ago were at higher risk of attachment loss over the 18‐month period. The etiologic model for whites indicates that people who had P. gingivalis present in concentrations greater than 2% were at higher risk for attachment loss than people who did not have P. gingivalis; that people who sought medical care in the last 6 months were at higher risk; that people who felt depressed were at higher risk; and that people who smoke cigarettes regularly were at higher risk. J Periodontol 1994; 65:316–323.

This article presents a review of research in dental health education and health promotion. In the period 1982 to 1992, a total of 57 studies evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to alter individuals' behavior related to dental health were identified. Combining the results of these 57 studies with descriptive articles published over the same period, it appears that dental health education can result in improvements in objective measures of dental health behaviors and actual oral health measures, but has only limited success in changing attitudes towards dental issues and achieves only short-term gains in knowledge. The limited use of theoretical frameworks, poor statistical analyses, the use of convenient samples and the short post-intervention follow-up periods diminish the contribution of this research to the development of dental health policy and the formation of strategies to improve the health of communities.

Objective: To compare changes in pharyngeal airway volume and minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) between patients undergoing rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and a matched control group and to identify markers for predicting airway changes using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Pre- and posttreatment CBCT scans were selected of children who had RME (14 girls and 12 boys; mean age, 12.4 years) along with scans of a control group (matched for chronological age, skeletal age, gender, mandibular inclination) who underwent orthodontic treatment for minor malocclusions without RME. Changes in airway volume and MCA were evaluated using a standardized, previously validated method and analyzed by a mixed-effects linear regression model. Results: Upper airway volume and MCA increased significantly over time for both the RME and matched control groups (P &lt; .01 and P = .05, respectively). Although the RME group showed a greater increase when compared with the matched controls, this difference was not statistically significant. A reduced skeletal age before treatment was a significant marker for a positive effect on the upper airway volume and MCA changes (P &lt; .01). Conclusions: Tooth-borne RME is not associated with a significant change in upper airway volume or MCA in children when compared with controls. The younger the skeletal age before treatment, the more positive the effect on the upper airway changes. The results may prove valuable, especially in RME of young children.

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Abstract:There is a lack of objective data documenting the growth of cone beam radiology in Australia.Since July 1 2011, Medicare rebates for CBCT scans have been available. The aim of this study was to examine the Medicare data on the use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), in order to quantify the growth of this technology over a three year period and to assess if the growth of Medicare rebatable CBCT was impacting upon the use of Medicare rebatable dental panoramic radiology (PR). In the period of July 2011 to June 2014, a total of 226,232 CBCTs and 2,881,351 panoramic radiographs were rebated through Medicare. The rate of CBCT services provided per 100,000 population increased by 42.3 percent over the three year period, whereas the rate of panoramic radiographs remained fairly constant. From the age group 5-14 years through to 55-64 years, females received more CBCTs and panoramic radiographs than males. The total number of panoramic radiographs rebated through Medicare increased slightly over each previous three year time periods (2005-2008 and 2008-2011). However, there was a steady decrease in the number of Accepted ArticleThis article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.panoramic radiographs requested for surgical diagnosis, which may indicate a growing preference for CBCT radiology assessment for surgical assessments.