According to the results of the present study, styloid process elongation is more common in older adults with no correlation to gender. In addition, menopause had no effect on the calcification or elongation of the stylohyoid chain. The sum of the elongated SP and the calcified stylohyoid ligament was 28.8 %.

Sjögren syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of unknown cause whose main characteristic is severe dryness of the eyes and the mouth. The decreased functional capacity of the lacrimal and salivary glands which is the result of the inflammatory process and lymphocytic infiltration observed in SS is accountable for this complication. Twenty-nine patients with SS whose ages were ranging between 24-77, who were under treatment in Ege University Faculty of Medicine Department of Rheumatology, participated in the study, and their informed consents were obtained upon enrollment. Each patient recorded their subjective complaints on a separate questionnaire. The baseline and subsequent evaluation of the subjective findings on predetermined times (1 h after application of the material, at the end of the 1st, 7th, and 14th days) were also recorded on separate questionnaire sheets. Throughout the 14-day treatment period, no statistically significant differences were noted between the Xialine and placebo groups with regard to burning tongue, diminished taste, and waking up at night to sip water (p = 0.925, 0.527, and 0.066, respectively). However, patients' satisfaction with placebo decreased by 25.63% at the end of the test period, whereas it increased by 16.37% after Xialine administration. Overall, the patients preferred Xialine at the end of the study (p = 0.011). The main motive to administer saliva substitute is to improve lubrication and hydration of oral tissues. The results of this study indicated that Xialine is helpful in the management of xerostomia-related symptoms of SS patients. However, further investigations in larger scale group of patients are recommended to provide the effects of these agents on various complaints of xerostomia.

Products have been developed to provide palliation for persons with dry mouth. In addition to mouth-wetting agents, some products incorporate antimicrobial constituents with the goal of improving oral microbial defenses. The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the potential antimicrobial and antifungal effects of two commercially available saliva substitutes on Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Candida albicans by using the agar-well diffusion method. Antimicrobial activity as measured by the size of the inhibition zone growth for S. mutans and L. acidophilus was observed only with Biotene Dry Mouth Oral Rinse® and BioXtra® gel. The zone of inhibition of Biotene Dry Mouth Oral Rinse was larger than that of BioXtra gel (p= 0.00, p < 0.01). No anticandidal effect was seen with any of the test products. The pH of the preparations, the variations between the amount of active ingredients within the products, and the potential antimicrobial effects of inactive ingredients should be investigated to determine the factors that impacted microbial inhibition.

Objective The purpose of this study was to measure and classify sinus septa variables (prevalence, numbers, heights, locations, orientations, and morphology) and to determine the effects of age, gender, and dental status on the presence of septa and also to evaluate the effects of septa on pathological mucosal thickening. Materials and Methods A total of 2,000 patients were analyzed through conebeam computed tomography (CBCT). The total of 500 maxillary sinuses were included in this study. The number of maxillary sinus septa was determined on axial sections of CBCT images. Their locations, orientations, and morphologies were determined on both the axial and sagittal sections, and their heights were determined only on the sagittal sections. The influence of age, gender, dental status, and pathological mucosal thickening on the presence of septa was statistically analyzed. Mann–Whitney U-test and descriptive statistics were used for statistical analysis. Results The average height of the determined 287 septa was measured as 7.36 mm. The highest rates of septa location, morphology, and orientation were found, respectively, in the middle region septa (57.49%), completed septa (75.95%), and transverse septa (93.37%). The effect of dental status, age, and gender on the presence of septa was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion These high rates of findings support the importance of CBCT in the diagnosis of the variations of the maxillary sinus septa. Therefore, it is important to evaluate CBCT images of the relevant region to increase the success of surgical interventions in the maxillary posterior region and to eliminate possible complications.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to compare subjective image quality of clinical images obtained with a storage phosphor plate (SPP)-based digital and conventional filmbased panoramic system for the visualization of various anatomical structures and to evaluate the effect of various processing algorithms on image interpretation. Methods: Panoramic radiographs were taken in 42 patients both with film and with a SPP system. SPP images were treated with shadow, sharpen, negative, greyscale sigma and greyscale exponential filters. Four observers subjectively evaluated films and unfiltered and filtered SPP images for the visibility of anatomical structures with various radiodensities as well as for overall image quality on a three-point rating scale. The statistical methods used were Kruskal-Wallis, odds ratio analysis and Cohen's kappa. Results: No statistically significant difference was found between film and unfiltered digital images except for low-contrast structures (P . 0.05). Film images were preferred for the visibility of low-contrast structures (P , 0.05). Best overall image quality was obtained with sharpened images (P , 0.05) followed by films and unfiltered digital images. Among all filtered images, sharpened ones received the highest ratings for the visibility of all anatomical structures (P , 0.05). The intra-and interobserver agreement ranged between moderate and substantial and between fair and moderate, respectively. Conclusions: Film and unfiltered SPP-based panoramic images performed equally well in terms of overall quality; however, films were best for the perception of low-contrast structures. The sharpening filter may be recommended for enhancing SPP panoramic images to improve the visual perception of most of the anatomical structures as well as overall quality.