The addition of subgingival PVP-iodine irrigation to conventional mechanical therapy may be a cost-effective means of reducing total counts of periodontal pathogens and helping control periodontal disease. However, subgingival irrigation with PVP-iodine without concomitant mechanical debridement might not improve microbiological and clinical variables in comparison with saline irrigation, at least not in sites with radiographic evidence of subgingival calculus.

To evaluate efficacy of a problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in preclinical and clinical teaching, test scores of 234 undergraduate dental students from the conventionally taught classes of 2003 and 2004 were compared with scores of 274 dental students from the PBL classes of 2005 and 2006. Although the groups' means were close together, t-test analysis of scores revealed that PBL students performed significantly better than traditional (TRAD) students on midterm (p=.0001) and final (p=.015) examinations taken on student partner/mock patients. ANOVA comparing the classes with each other showed significant differences for the midterm and final, but not for the clinical examination. Further multiple comparison tests (Tukey HSD) for the midterm and final revealed that differences specifically reflected superior performance of PBL classes against one of the TRAD classes (2004). There was no difference in performance between PBL (n=134) and TRAD (n=233) students on examinations taken with actual clinical patients who were undergoing nonsurgical periodontal treatment. Over a two-year period, PBL students rated their program instructors at a mean of 4.41 on a Likert-type scale of 1 (not helpful) to 5 (outstanding). The program provides a PBL model for teaching preclinical and clinical skills supported by a four-year evaluation of manual skills outcomes.

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Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of successful slow maxillary expansion without fixed appliances or retainers in the mixed dentition on patients with unilateral crossbites, using Haastype, hyrax, or quad helix appliances. Materials and Methods: Serial dental casts of 110 patients were evaluated at three time points: preexpansion (T1) (mean age 7 years/7 months), postexpansion (T2) (mean age 8 years/ 8 months), and approximately 4 years later in the permanent dentition (T3) (mean age 12 years/ 9 months). Maxillary and mandibular intercanine and intermolar widths, arch length, and perimeter and molar angulation were measured at all three time intervals with the Michigan published growth norms serving as a control. Results: Successful treatment by slow maxillary expansion (SME) produced similarly favorable expansion by all three expanders in all measurements for both arches. Maxillary arch widths were narrower than controls pretreatment (T1) and wider than controls immediately post treatment (T2). Long-term (T3) maxillary intermolar width was the same as controls, with intercanine width significantly wider than controls. Maxillary intercanine and intermolar width increased from T1 to T3, by 4.5 mm and 3.5 mm, respectively, with 98% of intercanine and 80% of intermolar expansion remaining at T3. Maxillary arch circumference increased by 1 mm from T1 to T3. Mandibular width did not change significantly. Conclusion: Maxillary arch dimensions in early mixed dentition in patients with unilateral posterior crossbite showed good stability 4 years post treatment in the permanent dentition. (Angle Orthod. 2011;81:616-623.)

The tendency of women to exhibit higher knee extensor moments relative to hip extensor moments may be explained, in part, by the relative strength of the hip and knee extensors.