Reducing the disparities in healthcare access is one of the important goals in healthcare services and is significant for national health. However, measuring the complexity of access in truly underserved areas is the critical step in designing and implementing healthcare policy to improve those services and to provide additional support. Even though there are methods and tools for modeling healthcare accessibility, the context of data is challenging to interpret at the local level for targeted program implementation due to its complexity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a concise and context-specific methodology for assessing disparities for a remote province in Thailand to assist in the development and expansion of the efficient use of additional mobile health clinics. We applied the geographic information system (GIS) methodology with the travel time-based approach to visualize and analyze the concealed information of spatial data in the finer analysis resolution of the study area, which was located in the border region of the country, Ubon Ratchathani, to identify the regional differences in healthcare allocation. Our results highlight the significantly inadequate level of accessibility to healthcare services in the regions. We found that over 253,000 of the population lived more than half an hour away from a hospital. Moreover, the relationships of the vulnerable residents and underserved regions across the province are underlined in the study and substantially discussed in terms of expansion of mobile health delivery to embrace the barrier of travel duration to reach healthcare facilities. Accordingly, this research study addresses regional disparities and provides valuable references for governmental authorities and health planners in healthcare strategy design and intervention to minimize the inequalities in healthcare services.

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Objective. This study evaluated the biomechanical effects of a metallic orthodontic mini-implant (OMI) covered with various types of angled revolving cap on the peri-OMI bone and the canine periodontal ligament (PDL) by finite element (FE) analyses. Materials and Methods. Three-dimensional FE models included comprised cortical bone and cancellous bone of the maxilla, and the OMIs were created. The forces (0.98 N) pulled in both the canine hook and the revolving cap, pulling towards each other in both directions as loading conditions. The upper surface of the maxilla was fixed as a boundary condition. Results. The bone stresses were increasing in the models by using OMI covered with a revolving cap as compared with that in the conventional model (in which only the OMI was placed). However, no obvious differences in bone stresses were observed among the models with various types of angled revolving cap. The minimum principal strain in the canine PDL was highest for condition 180T, followed by condition 180L. However, the maximum differences in the values between each experimental model and the conventional model were around 5%. Conclusion. This study showed no obvious effects in decreasing or increasing stress/strain in bone and PDL by using various types of angled revolving cap covered metallic mini-implant in orthodontic treatment of canine retraction.

The most common oral manifestation from head and neck radiotherapy is mucositis. A part of complications is backscattering from metallic dental materials in radiation field, resulting in a dosage enhancement at the tissue-metal interface. The proper management of the patient’s restorative materials must be performed preoperatively to reduce these complications. This research compared the relative dose enhancement (RDE) in the different restorative materials (Amalgam, Composite resin, Glass ionomer cement and Ketac Silver®), the different tooth preparations (Class I, Class I other, Class II MOD, Cusp Tipping and Core build-up) and the location of ionizing chamber (buccal, occlusal, lingual surface). The dimension of controlled 20 teeth are as followed lower third molar, buccolingual width (10.41±0.82mm), mesiodistal width (11.28±0.72mm), dentin and enamel buccolingual width (1.5±0.5mm). The experiment is set using a modular radiation beam analyzer with at least 2 cm water as soft tissue equivalent material, 3 times irradiated with LINAC 6MV 200MU. The backscattering occurred in the amalgam filled tooth at the buccal and occlusal aspect in every preparation. The highest RDE occurring at the buccal aspect of cusp tipping amalgam filled tooth was 2.7%. In the lingual aspect, every preparation of amalgam filled tooth demonstrated lower RDE. The composite resin and glass ionomer cement produced low backscattering, while Ketac Silver® produced higher RDE. For any amalgam restorations in the radiation field, we recommended using the one-layer glass ionomer technique, which is suitable in preparing patient ahead of head and neck radiation. The recommended filling technique may decrease mucositis the adjacent area and improve the patient’s quality of life.