Orthodontic Treatment Completion and Discontinuation in a Rural Sample from North Central Appalachia in the USA

Use of dental services in childhood, especially preventive care, is associated with many important oral health outcomes throughout life. The Andersen behavioral model of healthcare utilization posits that predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and need factors predict utilization in oral and other healthcare domains. Inequities that produce lower utilization of dental services in north-central Appalachia have been documented in comparison to the USA generally. Additionally, within Appalachia, there are disparities, such as those across different states related to varying public policies and resources supporting healthcare. Predictors of dental utilization in Appalachia have been a focus in adults, but less so in children. The aim of the current study was to understand predictors of dental utilization in children in north-central Appalachia in order to inform future research about how to intervene to address these disparities. In this study, there were 1,178 children, ages 1 through 10 years, from selected representative counties in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, along with a parent/caregiver, who were part of the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA1) cohort. Use of dental services by their child was indicated by parents/caregivers, who also reported on sociodemographic, dental care-related anxiety and fear, and values and attitudes associated with oral healthcare. Results indicated that use of professional dental services by children was related to child age, dental anxiety and fear, and parental oral health values and attitudes. Older children in this age group, those who evidenced more dental care-related anxiety and fear, and whose parent/caregiver placed higher value on oral health and healthcare for themselves, were more likely to have had a dental visit in the past year.

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Predictors of dental care utilization in north‐central Appalachia in the USA

Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology ◽

10.1111/cdoe.12453 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 283-290 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mengxia Chen ◽

Casey D. Wright ◽

Oluwabunmi Tokede ◽

Alfa Yansane ◽

Alexander Montasem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dental Care ◽

Care Utilization ◽

North Central ◽

Dental Care Utilization ◽

Central Appalachia ◽

The Usa

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Non-Association of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) Polymorphisms with Homocysteine Levels, Venous or Arterial Thromboses in 1,141 North-Central Appalachian Patients

Cancer and Clinical Oncology ◽

10.5539/cco.v5n2p21 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 21

Author(s):

Farhad Khimani ◽

Peter Perrotta ◽

Gerry Hobbs ◽

Thomas Hogan

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Patient Population ◽

Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase ◽

Plasma Homocysteine ◽

Minimal Cost ◽

Frequency Pattern ◽

Mthfr Polymorphism ◽

Mthfr Polymorphisms ◽

North Central ◽

Central Appalachia

Objectives: MTHFR polymorphism testing has been used by clinicians for thrombophilia risk assessment. We questioned the utility of such testing.Methods: 1,141 patients age 18 and above had MTHFR testing for both C677T and A1298C polymorphisms, 2006 through 2012. Available plasma homocysteine levels were obtained and ICD-9 billing codes were grouped to identify venous or arterial clots in these patients.Results: 901 women and 240 men were tested; median age in women was 33 years (range 18-86); median age in men was 47 years (range 18-83). County of residence mapping confirmed that this MTHFR tested population was from north-central Appalachia. Only 144 (13%) of the 1,141 patients had no polymorphism at either the C677T or the A1298C locus; only 4 patients (0.4%) had 3 or more polymorphisms; 993 patients (87%) had either one or two polymorphisms. We found polymorphism frequency pattern similar in both sexes. Although men had higher homocysteine levels, MTHFR polymorphisms did not associate with homocysteine levels in either sex. In 901 women tested, the ICD-9 coded incidence of arterial clots was 20%, and of venous clots was 21%; in 240 men tested, the incidence of arterial clots was 48% and of venous clots was 40%. MTHFR polymorphisms did not associate with arterial or venous clots in either sex. Based on CPT billing codes, a minimal cost estimate was $137,000 for performing these 1,141 MTHFR tests.Conclusions: MTHFR testing was costly and did not add useful information during thrombophilia evaluation in this patient population.

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Orthodontic treatment as an adjunct to periodontal therapy

Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics ◽

10.1590/2177-6709.24.4.080-092.bbo ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 80-92

Author(s):

Pedro Marcelo Tondelli

Keyword(s):

Bone Loss ◽

Periodontal Disease ◽

Orthodontic Treatment ◽

Clinical Case ◽

Tooth Movement ◽

Dental Hygiene ◽

Treatment Completion ◽

Scaling And Root Planing ◽

Dental Esthetics

ABSTRACT This study discusses the role of orthodontic treatment as an adjunct to the control and treatment of periodontal disease conditions, and describes a clinical case of severe anterior mandibular crowding and periodontal disease followed up for nine years and three months after orthodontic treatment completion. Malocclusion impaired proper dental hygiene, which led to bone loss and development of a periodontal abscess between mandibular canines and lateral incisors. After scaling and root planing, orthodontic treatment was initiated with extraction of the four second premolars, to correct the deficiency detected in cephalometric and model analysis. Treatment objectives were met, and facial and dental esthetics was satisfactory. Adequate periodontal management, hygiene control and tooth movement ensured ideal occlusion and facilitated the control of biofilm.

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Testing a novel technique, geotubes with mycotechnosoil, to mitigate post-fire erosion and enhance ecosystem recovery

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20618 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dalila Serpa ◽

Jan J. Keizer ◽

Ana I. Machado ◽

Martha Santos ◽

Bruna R. F. Oliveira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Water Quality ◽

Field Trials ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Ecosystem Recovery ◽

North Central ◽

Monitoring Period ◽

Soil Burn Severity ◽

The Usa ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Burnt Areas

Recently burnt areas have frequently been documented to produce strong to extreme catchment-scale hydrological and erosion responses to major rainfall events, even if these responses have rarely been quantified. These responses have raised important concerns, both among forest owners and managers on the on-site implications of soil (fertility) loss and among water resources managers for the off-side impacts on downstream values-at-risk such as road and hydraulic infrastructures, flood zones, and surface water quality in reservoirs or at river intake points. State-of-the-art emergency stabilization management, as practiced in the USA and Galicia, aims at reducing the hydrological and erosion response at its main source, i.e. the hillslopes. Based on years and decades of experience and pain-staking field monitoring in both the USA and Galicia, mulching is typically preferred over barrier-based methods, especially for being more effective in the case of high-intensity rainfall storms. Even so, the LIFE-REFOREST consortium (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000248) has developed an innovative barrier-based technique that is designed to be implemented easier and faster than log and shrub barriers and, at the same time, to improve vegetation recovery, using seeds of plant species that establish vegetation strips against runoff and erosion and/or seeds of tree and shrub species for re- or afforestation. The REFOREST barriers consists of geotubes containing, besides seeds, a mycotechnosoil as well as straw. The effectiveness of the LIFE-REFOREST geotubes is current being tested under field conditions in summer-2019 burnt areas in north-central Portugal and Galicia, in contrasting forest types (eucalypt vs. pine) on contrasting parent materials (schist vs. granite). Both field trials involve, besides 3 control plots and 3 plots with geotubes, also 3 plots mulched with either eucalypt logging residues or pine needles. The present poster will show preliminary results of the field trial in north-central Portugal, in a second-rotation eucalypt stand where tree crowns were scorched by the fire and soil burn severity was classified as moderate. These results concern the initial monitoring period till early spring 2020. However, this monitoring period has been quite rainy so far, arguably providing rather ideal conditions for testing the effectiveness of barrier-based solutions such as that of LIFE-REFOREST.

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Continued increase in prevalence of r-type opacities among underground coal miners in the USA

Occupational and Environmental Medicine ◽

10.1136/oemed-2019-105691 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 76 (7) ◽

pp. 479-481 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Noemi B Hall ◽

David J Blackley ◽

Cara N Halldin ◽

A Scott Laney

Keyword(s):

Crystalline Silica ◽

Surveillance Program ◽

Lung Pathology ◽

Coal Miners ◽

Binomial Regression ◽

Central Appalachia ◽

The Usa ◽

Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis ◽

Coal Workers ◽

Prevalence Ratios

IntroductionRespirable crystalline silica exposure has been implicated in the resurgence of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) in the USA. A 2010 report found an increasing prevalence of r-type opacities, which are associated with silicosis lung pathology, on the radiographs of working underground coal miners in central Appalachia. This analysis updates that report by assessing the prevalence of r-type opacities during 2010–2018 compared with earlier decades.MethodsData from the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program were used to calculate the prevalence of r-type opacities on radiographs of working underground coal miners. The data were restricted to radiographs taken during 1 January 1980 to 15 September 2018. The presence of r-type opacities was defined as an r-type classification for either the primary or secondary shape/size of small opacities. Prevalence ratios for r-type opacities were calculated using log binomial regression.ResultsRadiograph classifications for 106 506 miners were included in analysis. For the USA overall, the prevalence of r-type opacities among miners with radiographs taken during 2010–2018 compared with 1980–1989 has increased (PR 2.4; 95% CI 1.9 to 3.0). For central Appalachia, the proportion of r-type opacities observed increased when comparing 1980–1989 to 2010–2018 (PR 6.0; 95% CI 4.6 to 7.9).ConclusionsThe prevalence of r-type opacities on the radiographs of Appalachian underground coal miners continues to increase, implicating exposure to crystalline silica in respirable coal mine dust. The current findings underscore the importance of monitoring and controlling exposure to silica in coal mines.

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Comparison of economics of winter production of horticultural products in greenhouses in the USA with outdoor production in areas distant from the market

Outlook on Agriculture ◽

10.1177/003072707400800207 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 89-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M E Cravens

Keyword(s):

Winter Season ◽

Fuel Price ◽

Greenhouse Production ◽

North Central ◽

Environmental Controls ◽

Relative Disadvantage ◽

North Eastern ◽

Eastern Usa ◽

The Usa ◽

Horticultural Products

Greenhouse production of fresh winter season tomatoes in North Central and North-eastern USA faces higher costs than outdoor production in Florida or Mexico, including freight charges for delivery to northern markets. The higher the fuel price, the greater will be the relative disadvantage of the producer relying on environmental controls. Success must therefore depend on effective exploitation of quality differences rather than competing on a price per pound basis.

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