Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE:Investigate whether depressive symptoms are linked to a higher likelihood of reporting poorer oral health conditions in older adults. THE BACKGROUND DATA DISCUSSING THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE FIELD/UNASSIGNED:Understanding the potential negative effects of depressive symptoms on the perception of oral health in older adults is crucial for implementing tailored interventions and improving overall well-being in this demographic. MATERIALS AND METHODS/METHODS:This is a cross-sectional study using data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey (PNS), conducted between 2019 and 2020. A total of 22,728 Brazilian older adults were analysed. A Poisson regression model was employed to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and self-reported oral health. The selection of independent variables for statistical modelling was guided by a conceptual framework of social determinants. All analyses were performed using Stata 14.0. RESULTS:The unadjusted findings suggest that individuals with 9 or more depressive symptoms had a 68% higher prevalence (PR: 1.68 [95% CI: 1.67-1.69]) of reporting poor self-perceived oral health compared to those with fewer depressive symptoms. After adjusting for confounding factors, it was observed that individuals with 9 or more depressive symptoms had an 11% higher prevalence (PR: 1.11 [95% CI: 1.08-1.13]) compared to individuals with fewer depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Even after adjusting for factors, those with nine or more depressive symptoms were more likely to report poor oral health. This highlights the role of mental health in older adults' oral health, emphasising integrated approaches for overall well-being and addressing emotional and physical aspects.

This article highlights the significance of 20 dental eponyms in prosthodontics, emphasizing the enduring legacy of the individuals behind them. Each name represents a pivotal advancement and a foundational contribution to the history of dentistry and prosthodontics in particular. Understanding their lives and innovations fosters a deeper appreciation of today's clinical practice, which are built on past discoveries. As current technologies become tomorrow's historical artifacts, recognizing the evolution of the field helps contextualize modern dentistry and anticipate future directions. Honoring these pioneers is essential to preserving the continuity of knowledge and valuing the individual efforts that have shaped the profession.

AIM/OBJECTIVE:Periapical mucositis (PAM) is defined as inflammation of the periapical tissues and localized oedema of the maxillary sinus mucosa, typically resulting from periradicular disease. Radiographically on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), PAM presents as mucosal thickening or a dome-shaped soft tissue expansion along the floor of the maxillary sinus, adjacent to the affected root apex. Although several studies have evaluated PAM, their findings vary considerably. This study aims (1) to evaluate the prevalence of PAM in maxillary posterior teeth amongst patients at NYU College of Dentistry, Department of Endodontics, and (2) to identify predisposing factors associated with PAM. METHODOLOGY/METHODS:CBCT evaluation and chart review were conducted at NYU College of Dentistry from 2016 to 2021. A total of 586 scans were screened, and 335 scans were included. The presence of PAM, periapical osteoperiostitis, maxillary sinus floor bony erosion, age, sex, pulpal and periapical diagnosis, size of the lesion, the vertical and horizontal distance between the sinus floor and roots, number of roots with apical lesions, type of tooth and iatrogenic errors during treatment were recorded. Chi-square, Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression were used to analyse the data. RESULTS:Of the 335 scans included, 13 presented with mucositis without periradicular disease and were excluded from the analysis. A total of 322 scans were analysed. The prevalence of PAM was 55.5%. The presence of maxillary sinus floor bone erosion was associated with 7.56 times higher odds of PAM than those without sinus floor erosion (p < 0.001). Each incremental increase in CBCTPAI was associated with a 1.43-fold increase in the odds of PAM occurrence (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:PAM was present in over half of patients presenting with apical periodontitis affecting the posterior maxillary dentition. Maxillary sinus bony floor erosion and periapical lesion size were predisposing factors to PAM development.

BACKGROUND:Assessing dental caries, sealants, and fluorosis is essential for public health surveillance, providing critical data to evaluate national prevention programs. Standard methods performed by dental professionals are often limited by affordability, accessibility, and scalability for both population-level and individualized assessments. Mobile health (mHealth) approaches to concurrently detect caries, sealants, and fluorosis have remained largely unexplored, especially at the population level. OBJECTIVE:This study leverages mHealth technologies that integrate computer vision using machine learning and deep learning with images captured by smartphone cameras and low-cost intraoral cameras. The primary objective is to develop and validate models for detecting caries lesions, identifying sealants, and quantifying fluorosis severity from standardized dental images, using standardized visual clinical examinations as the reference standard. METHODS:The proposed study population will include approximately 1000 adolescents in Colorado, United States, living in communities with naturally elevated fluoride levels in the public water system. Participants will undergo standardized clinical dental examinations and imaging using intraoral cameras and smartphones. Supervised learning models will incorporate reference chart-based color correction, radiomic spatial and textural features, and neural network classifiers. The reference standard will be standardized visual clinical examinations performed by trained and calibrated dental professionals. Two models will be developed and evaluated: one to detect caries lesions and sealants and another to assess fluorosis severity. Model performance will be evaluated against clinical assessments by dental professionals using stratified cross-validation and multiclass performance metrics while minimizing bias and accounting for confounders common to human examiners. RESULTS:A standardized dental examination, an intraoral imaging protocol, and a smartphone imaging protocol are used to assess all 8 permanent molars for caries and sealants, as well as the 6 upper anterior teeth for fluorosis severity. Pilot studies were conducted to test study logistics and calibrate 3 examiners in person, supplemented by debriefings, mobile app training, and a web-based calibration module. The study was funded in September 2022 with supplemental funding awarded in June 2024. The study launched in May 2024, and as of January 2026, data have been collected from approximately 300 participants. CONCLUSIONS:The integration of computer vision and mobile device imaging will enable affordable, scalable, population-level assessments for detecting caries and sealants and quantifying fluorosis severity among adolescents. mHealth technologies have been increasingly incorporated into dentistry for both clinical decision support and at-home use. This protocol will further help establish a structured methodological framework for acquiring, processing, and analyzing mobile imaging data for dental health surveillance and epidemiological studies. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)/UNASSIGNED:DERR1-10.2196/91239.

Cancer pain (CP) arises from a complex interplay between the tumour and its microenvironment. Many patients experience a mixed pain phenotype that encompasses nociceptive, neuropathic and neuroinflammatory mechanisms, and vary across tumour type and disease stage. Despite decades of intensive research, the mainstay of cancer pain treatment is still non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids. Recent advances in cancer neuroscience have provided novel insights into the neurobiology of cancer pain. The emerging picture of cancer pain is a disorder of aberrant crosstalk between the tumour, the sensory innervation that the tumour creates and the immune cells that these nerves attract. Precision approaches to disrupt this aberrant pain signalling cascade are guided by newly recognized molecular mechanisms. Here, we review the current practice of cancer pain management and the emerging future of personalized, mechanism-driven pain therapy in oncology.

This paper explores twenty dental eponyms related to periodontal disease and oral microbiology, highlighting key pathogens such as the Koch bacillus (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Actinomyces israelii, Treponema vincentii, Prevotella intermedia, and Veillonella parvula. It also examines seminal contributions to infection control and diagnostics, including Listerine, pasteurization, and histological stains such as the Gram and Giemsa stains. These eponyms commemorate the pioneering work of scientists like Koch, Pasteur, and Löffler, who made foundational discoveries under challenging conditions with limited laboratory resources. By revisiting their achievements, this paper underscores the importance of preserving historical memory in dental education and practice, ensuring that new generations appreciate the origins and enduring impact of these milestones in microbiology and periodontology.

BACKGROUND:The 2023 iteration of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) estimated prevalence, incidence, and health burden for 375 diseases and injuries, including 12 mental disorders. We assess past, current, and emerging trends in the prevalence and burden of mental disorders across sexes and age groups, for 21 regions, 204 countries and territories, and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile, from 1990 to 2023. METHODS:Mental disorders included in GBD 2023 were anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability, and a residual category of other mental disorders. A literature review identified epidemiological data for each disorder. These were analysed via a Bayesian meta-regression to estimate prevalence by disorder, sex, age, location, and year. Disorder-specific prevalence was multiplied by disability weights representing the severity of health loss associated with each disorder to estimate years lived with disability (YLDs). Deaths due to anorexia nervosa were assessed with a Cause of Death Ensemble modelling strategy to estimate deaths by sex, age, location, and year, and then multiplied by the standard life expectancy at age of death to estimate years of life lost (YLLs). YLDs equalled disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for all mental disorders except anorexia nervosa (the only mental disorder considered as an underlying cause of death in GBD), for which DALYs represented the sum of YLDs and YLLs. We presented prevalence, deaths, YLDs, YLLs, and DALYs as counts, age-specific rates per 100 000 population, and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population. FINDINGS/RESULTS:We estimated 1·17 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1·06-1·31) prevalent cases of mental disorders globally in 2023, equivalent to an age-standardised prevalence rate of 14 210·7 cases (12 849·5-15 940·1) per 100 000 population. These estimates represented a 95·5% (75·0-121·2) increase in prevalent cases and 24·2% (11·4-41·4) increase in age-standardised prevalence rate between 1990 and 2023. All mental disorders showed increases in prevalent cases between 1990 and 2023, while notable increases were seen in age-standardised prevalence rates for anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, schizophrenia, and conduct disorder. There were an estimated 171 million (127-228) DALYs due to mental disorders globally across sex and age in 2023, equivalent to an age-standardised DALY rate of 2070·5 DALYs (1519·1-2750·5) per 100 000 population. Mental disorders contributed to 6·1% (4·8-7·6) of all-cause DALYs in 2023, making them the fifth leading cause of global DALYs (up from 12th in 1990). DALYs were almost entirely composed of YLDs. Mental disorders were the leading cause of YLDs in 2023 (up from second in 1990), explaining 17·3% (14·8-20·6) of all-cause global YLDs. Leading causes of mental disorder DALYs were anxiety disorders (ranked 11th among the 304 diseases and injuries at Level 4 of the GBD cause hierarchy), major depressive disorder (15th), and schizophrenia (41st). Globally in 2023, mental disorder age-standardised DALY rates were higher among females (2239·6 [1643·7-3014·1] per 100 000) than among males (1900·2 [1399·8-2510·8] per 100 000), and peaked in the 15-19 years age group (2617·3 [1850·6-3696·8] per 100 000). All locations showed increased mental disorder DALY rates in 2023 compared with 1990, ranging across countries and territories from 1302·4 (952·7-1683·7) per 100 000 in Viet Nam to 3555·8 (2661·9-4715·0) per 100 000 in the Netherlands. Across SDI quintiles, DALY rates ranged from 1853·0 (1352·1-2469·3) per 100 000 for middle SDI to 2184·1 (1606·1-2890·3) per 100 000 for high SDI. INTERPRETATION/CONCLUSIONS:A significant health burden was imposed by mental disorders in all countries and territories in 2023, irrespective of the health resources available. In some instances, this burden has increased over time and is unevenly distributed across populations. Stronger surveillance systems, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, are required. Additionally, we need more coordinated and inclusive policies to reduce the burden through early treatment and prevention, tailored to sex and age differences across locations. Responding to the mental health needs of our global population, especially those most vulnerable, is an obligation, not a choice. FUNDING/BACKGROUND:Gates Foundation, Queensland Health, and University of Queensland.

Ameloblasts are specialized epithelial cells that form enamel during the secretory and maturation stages, the latter involving an increase in Ca²⁺ transport to mineralize the enamel crystals. During enamel formation, ameloblasts travel several microns while secreting a matrix and are surrounded by several cell layers in the confined space of the enamel organ. Presumably, ameloblasts are subjected to mechanical stimuli e.g. pressure, stretch. Mechanosensitive (MS) or stretch-gated channels are expressed in the membranes of many cells including mineralizing cells. The opening of MS channels occurs in response to physical stimuli and results in the influx of ions. Piezo1 is a non-selective class of MS channel permeable to Ca²⁺ and hence it may contribute to Ca²⁺ homeostasis in ameloblasts. Here we show that secretory and maturation stage ameloblasts express similar protein levels of Piezo1. Cultured rat primary secretory and maturation stage ameloblasts showed stretch-activated currents by patch-clamp. Ameloblasts loaded with the cytosolic Ca²⁺ indicator Fura-2 were also stimulated with the Piezo1-selective activator Yoda1. We show that ameloblasts are sensitive to Piezo1 stimulation which evoked an increase in cytosolic Ca²⁺. This effect was inhibited by Piezo1 blockers. Mechanical analysis of the incisors of Piezo1 cKO mice showed no alterations in hardness or elastic modulus relative to littermate control mice. Our work provides the first evidence that Piezo1 channels are functional in both ameloblast stages and their activation leads to an elevation in cytosolic Ca²⁺, however, Piezo1 does not appear to be essential for enamel mineralization.

A key aspect of biological studies is the reliance on computation, including the use of mathematical models to mimic the behaviour of cellular functions and networks. Quantitative descriptions of biological processes typically rely on physics and chemistry and thus the generated models are mechanistic e.g. they explain behavior. With some exceptions, such models have been lacking in studies of ameloblasts biology and physiology, in part due to the absence of experimental observations. Here we provide a computational model for Ca²⁺ dynamics in ameloblasts based on recent quantitative data, allowing us to investigate how dynamic forces operate in ameloblasts at the secretory and maturation stages. We simulate the effects of mutations occurring in key Ca²⁺ handling proteins. Finally, we compare how ameloblasts differ from other non-mineralizing cell systems.