Ann M. Bruhn

Parkinson’s disease: considerations for dental hygienists

The prevalence of Parkinsons disease (PD) is expected to double over the next 20 years owing to the increase in life expectancy. This progressive disease has several implications relating to oral health, and many are manageable with proper awareness and knowledge about the disease. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and characteristics of PD, as well as the treatments and oral health considerations to enable dental hygienists to undertake an informed approach to patient management strategies and provide optimal care.

Testing a Novel 3D Printed Radiographic Imaging Device for Use in Forensic Odontology

There are specific challenges related to forensic dental radiology and difficulties in aligning X‐ray equipment to teeth of interest. Researchers used 3D printing to create a new device, the combined holding and aiming device (CHAD), to address the positioning limitations of current dental X‐ray devices. Participants (N = 24) used the CHAD, soft dental wax, and a modified external aiming device (MEAD) to determine device preference, radiographers efficiency, and technique errors. Each participant exposed six X‐rays per device for a total of 432 X‐rays scored. A significant difference was found at the 0.05 level between the three devices (p = 0.0015), with the MEAD having the least amount of total errors and soft dental wax taking the least amount of time. Total errors were highest when participants used soft dental wax—both the MEAD and the CHAD performed best overall. Further research in forensic dental radiology and use of holding devices is needed.

Familiar Video Stories as a Means for Children with Autism: An Analytics Approach

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may experience extreme anxiety and stress when faced with unfamiliar or novel situations. The use of video social stories is one common approach to helping children with ASD cope with these situations. Despite some literature on the positive outcomes associated with the use of video social stories, the overall results on the success of this intervention are inconsistent. One possible explanation for these inconsistencies is that the characters portrayed in the video are often generic and therefore unfamiliar. In order to address this hypothesis, Chen et al. Developed a video face replacement technology, which presents a unique and individualized video to the child that includes familiar faces and places. With this technology, it was found that the personalized videos encouraged children with ASD to express more positive emotions during a novel experience. Although the children with ASD demonstrated decreased stress and anxiety after viewing the video with the face replacement technology, it is still difficult to ascertain how much of the desired information was actually gleaned from watching the video social story. In order to address this critical issue, an existing video learning analytic system was used to determine how subjects with ASD perceived video materials during the viewing of an individualized video social story. The preliminary results of this pilot study demonstrated that subjects with ASD were capable of interacting with the video and did so in order to better understand the content of the video social story. These preliminary results indicate the need for further investigation into how the user interface and its enhancements can provide precise information on the perception and cognition of the individuals with ASD.