The orthodontic treatment attitude largely depends on age, gender and geographical context but is not influenced by the real level of orthodontic therapy need.

Background: In daily clinical practice of a dental department it's common to find gingival overgrowth (GO) in periodontal patients under treatment with Cyclosporine A (CsA). The pathogenesis of GO and the mechanism of action of Azithromycin (AZM) are unclear. A systematic review was conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of Azithromycin in patients with gingival overgrowth induced by assumption of Cyclosporine A.

Background: Several studies have tried to clarify the role that malocclusion has on an individual’s selfconcept or on level of satisfaction with one’s dental or facial appearance, but little research on psycho-social attitudes towards malocclusion has been conducted on pre-adolescent children. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of socio-economic status (SES) on the perception of dental appearance in third-grade school-children. Methods: A pilot survey was conducted in 2008 in order to collect data from a representative sample of 101 eight-nine years-old children (62 M - 39 F), examined by trained orthodontists. Each child filled in the Children’s Orthodontic Attitude Survey (COAS) questionnaire, and then they were examined by 3 residents. The clinical parameters were correlated with the questionnaire findings and with the SES. The latter was assessed using a previously validated scale, graded into classes from I to V reflecting the parents’ job activity. Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 12.0 for Windows, using Chi Square Test for nominal variables and Kruskal-Wallis test for ordinal scales. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A statistical association was found between clinical status and SES only for the Oral Hygiene level (p = 0.022). Chi-Square test also showed a statistically significant association between SES and R.O.M.A. Index (p = 0.009). The relation between questionnaire findings and SES was significantly observed only for the following question “Does the way your teeth look bother you” (p = 0.022). Conclusions: Familial SES is not a determinant in children’s satisfaction with dental appearance. Children with different SES demonstrate they have almost completely the same approach towards braces.

Background: Multiple-language versions of the same psychometric instrument are increasingly needed, butsimply translating an English version word-to-word into another language is not adequate to account forlinguistic and cultural differences. Our aim was to validate an Italian version of the Axis II of the ResearchDiagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD) and to test its reproducibility in order to usethis important diagnostic instrument in Italian patients.Methods: The original English-language version was translated and culturally adapted for Italian-speakingpeople, back-translated to English and then tested on 68 subjects: 34 TMD patients and 34 healthy subjects.Internal consistency was assessed by calculating the Cronbach coefficient alpha for the entire scale in the twosamples. The reproducibility of the domains was assessed with the use of the Spearman-Brown test-retestreliability test, Wilcoxon matched pair test, Sign test and 2x2table Chi Square test according to the data types.Correlation of the initial and test-retest scores of the Axis II was measured with the Spearman rank correlationcoefficient as an additional measure of reproducibility.Results: The Italian version of Axis II has a good reproducibility; the internal consistency (measured with theCronbach coefficient alpha) of the overall final questionnaire was excellent: 0.95.Conclusions: The Axis II Italian version appeared reliable and it could be useful to assess TMD patients andto standardize the data acquisition in this relevant and common disease.

Aim: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) occur frequently in the population and measuring health-related quality of life may prove to be a very useful complementary measure. The aim of our study was to evaluate both the correlation and the agreement between SF-36 and the Axis II of Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD in the assessment of health-related quality of life in TMD patients. Methods: This study was conducted on consecutives patients referred to our Department from 1 July 2007 to 31 January 2008. Each subject completed the Axis II and SF-36 questionnaires. Correlation of the SF-36 vs. the Axis II scales (graded chronic pain, depression, somatization with and without pain, jaw disability checklist) was calculated using non-parametric Spearmen coefficient. Results: The examined sample was composed by 146 subjects (30 males, 116 females; mean age 35,2 ±14,38 years). There isn’t significant gender difference in age (p=0.083). All the considered Axis II scales are significantly inversely related with all the SF-36 domains. Conclusion: Due to the good agreement with Axis II, SF-36 can be used for measuring Health Related Qualit of Life in TMD patients.