No abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the influence of various gingival displays on the esthetic perception in the presence of upper dental midline discrepancy. Methods: A smiling image of a male subject was altered digitally to produce five image series: normal smile (series A), decreased tooth show (series B), increased gingival show (series C), maxillary cant (series D), and asymmetric upper lip elevation (series E). In each image series, the midline was deviated to the right and left incrementally. A total of 210 raters (four professional groups and laypersons, n = 42 in each group) determined the midline deviation threshold and the attractiveness of midline position in each series. Results: The right and left thresholds were statistically similar for the symmetrical series (A, B, and C), while for series D, the right threshold was significantly lower. In most rater groups, the mean threshold order was: B > A > E > C > D. In all the series, the raters selected the coincident midline as the most attractive series except for series D, for which 1-2-mm deviations to the left were selected as the most attractive by almost all the groups. Conclusions: It is crucial to establish the coincident midline position in a symmetrical smile, especially when a gummy smile exists. In the asymmetrical gingival show, a coincident midline might not be the most esthetic midline position.

A ceramic onlay restoration is a more conservative treatment than full-coverage crowns for endodontically treated teeth (ETT); thus, it helps preserve the tooth structure. Deep margin elevation (DME) is a method to relocate subgingival margins into a more coronal position with resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI) or direct composite resin before the cementation of the indirect restoration. A 33-year-old male was referred to restore two ETT (teeth N. 46 and 47) with extensive coronal defects extending subgingivally between two teeth. Tooth N. 47 could not undergo a crown lengthening (CL) procedure due to its short root trunk. DME with RMGI was done for both teeth before preparation for ceramic onlays. In this case, by following the principles of biomimetic dentistry, we aimed to restore the tooth defect with a material that bore all functional stresses, in addition to achieving esthetic. It seems that DME in combination with ceramic onlay restoration can be a conservative method to restore ETT in the posterior region. The goal of considering the principles of biomimetic dentistry is to maintain the function of teeth using a good bond to hard tissue that unifies the tooth and its restoration hence distributing the stresses through the tooth as a unit with near-normal functional, biological, and esthetic features.

Background: One unprecedented year after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic is no longer a short-term stressor; the unremitting/chronic effects of COVID-19 disease is likely to cause impaired physical and mental health upon population and the implemented public health and social measures to limit transmission and reduce mortality and morbidity from COVID-19 expose many people to social isolation, job loss, and economic recession. This study aims to compare mental status and four mental symptoms (somatization, anxiety, depression, and social functions) between two periods during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Current study consists of two cross-sectional mental health surveys on the Iranian adult population carried out in two periods of March to April 2020 and December 2020 to February 2021 in two important Provinces of Iran (Fars and Khorasan Razavi). In the first survey, 1337 individuals participated in the study and completed the General Health Questionnaire-28, while in the second survey, 1205 participants completed the same questionnaire. Results: Among 1337 participants of the first survey, there were 876 (65.5%) females and 461 (34.5%) males with an average age of 37.41±10.58 years. In the second survey, there were 1205 participants with mean age of 33.79±19.57 years. The rates of females and males were 57.7% and 42.3%, respectively. Compared to the first survey, the second one showed that poor mental health condition that was 1.40 (95% confidence interval: 1.17-1.67) times higher based on the age, sex, education, marital status, economic, alcohol, cigarette, water-pipe, and sedative (P<0.001). Conclusion: Poor mental health status has increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic was a chronic stressor faced by people every day; therefore, more robust mental health-related considerations must be implemented. [GMJ.2021;10:e2199]

No abstract