Invisalign® vs. Spark™ Template: Which Is the Most Effective in the Attachment Bonding Procedure? A Randomized Controlled Trial

Aim: The primary aim of this randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the percentage of attachments’ debonding at the template’s removal both in Invisalign® and Spark™ systems. The secondary aim was to define the percentage of patients who did not show attachments’ debonding at the template’s removal. Materials and methods: Eighty patients who needed an orthodontic treatment were included in the study and randomly assigned to a treatment to be performed with Spark™ or Invisalign® clear aligners system. The patients were equally divided into two groups: Spark group (n = 40) and Invisalign group (n = 40). At the template removal by the teeth surface after the attachment bonding procedure, in each patient of both groups, it was assessed if some attachment debonding occurred and the number of attachments detached. Results: The Spark group showed, in general, a lower frequency in debonding in comparison with the Invisalign group, as 87.5% of patients in the Spark group did not show any bonding failure versus 27.5% in those of the Invisalign group. Conclusions: At template removal, the Spark™ template showed less attachment debonding compared to the Invisalign® template. The Spark™ template can be considered more effective in attachments’ transferring to the tooth surface than the Invisalign® one.

BONDING AND ATTACHMENT EXPERIENCE AMONG POSTNATAL MOTHERS WITH SPONTANEOUS CHILDBIRTH

Background: Bonding is an emotional bond between a mother and a baby that develops gradually and immediately after birth until it is formed into an attachment. Bonding is considered important to ensure the baby’s protection. However, bonding remains challenging for mothers with spontaneous childbirth because they are most likely to focus on themselves.Objective: To explore the bonding and attachment experience among postpartum mothers with spontaneous childbirth.Methods: This was a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. Data were collected from nine participants using semi-structured interviews and observations. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s analysis method.Results: Five themes emerged, namely 1) feeling relieved and happy with the birth of the baby, 2) bonding and attachments are important, 3) stimulating the baby’s sense, 4) the need of social supports in bonding and attachment, and 5) internal and external factors of bonding and attachment.Conclusion: Bonding and attachment are very important that should be done by the mothers to the baby. However, it takes time and needs the supports from the husbands, parents, relatives, and health workers. Therefore, nurses or midwives should pay attention to this process to create the better bonding and attachment between the mothers and the babies.

First-Time Grandparents’ Role Satisfaction and Its Determinants

This article focuses on satisfaction with the grandparent role at 1 and 2 years after the transition to grandparenthood. Three hundred and eighteen grandparents (male and female) were initially recruited and required to complete a well-validated self-report measure of grandparent satisfaction, together with self-report questionnaires assessing a range of characteristics which might predict role satisfaction. The main finding was that grandparent–grandchild attachment (bonding) was the most powerful predictor. Some predictors (e.g., generativity) appeared to have a direct effect on satisfaction, whereas the effect of others (e.g., grandchild temperament) appeared to be mediated via the grandparent–grandchild attachment relationship. Role satisfaction, aside from its probable relevance to grandparent wellbeing, is also likely to be of relevance to grandparents’ willingness to provide childcare. The latter, besides impacting on well-being of both grandparents and parents, also powerfully influences workforce economics.

Influence of clinical experience on accuracy of virtual orthodontic attachment bonding in comparison with the direct procedure

ABSTRACT Objectives: To compare the accuracy of bonding orthodontic attachments in a digital environment with the direct bonding procedure depending on the level of the orthodontist's clinical experience. Materials and Methods: A total of 1120 artificial teeth of 40 identical models (20 solid sets + 20 digital sets) were divided into four groups: (1) direct bonding (experienced clinicians). (2) direct bonding (postgraduate students), (3) virtual bonding (experienced clinicians), and (4) virtual bonding (postgraduate students). The differences in individual position of the placed attachments were measured after three-dimensional superimposition of the models using customized software. Results: In the interoperator comparison, experienced clinicians were more exact than postgraduate students in virtual bonding in the angular dimension. Between the bonding techniques, virtual bonding was more accurate than the direct technique. The prevalence of errors was higher in the direct procedure than virtual bonding, and the errors were more significant in the premolar and molar teeth. Conclusions: Clinical experience had a positive influence in achieving a higher rate of correctness/accuracy in the angular dimension only during virtual bonding. Virtual bonding was more accurate than direct bonding in the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Early diagnosis of errors in the bonding positions of attachments could be of benefit to both clinicians and patients by predicting discrepancies that may lead to undesirable orthodontic movements.

Fueled by desire: Sexual activation facilitates the enactment of relationship-initiating behaviors

Sexual desire has long been theorized to serve a relationship-initiation function by bringing partners together. Four studies addressed this possibility, examining whether activation of the sexual system encouraged the enactment of nonsexual behaviors that signal warmth and contact readiness. In Study 1, participants mimed together with an opposite-sex confederate to prerecorded music. Participant’s desire for the confederate was associated with coded immediacy behaviors toward the confederate (e.g., proximity seeking, synchronization). Study 2 extended these findings, showing that participants, who slow danced with a confederate perceived to be more desirable, were more synchronized with the confederate. Synchronization, in turn, was associated with greater interest in future interactions with the confederate. Studies 3 and 4 established a causal connection between sexual activation and engagement in relationship-promoting behaviors (provision of responsiveness and help, respectively). These findings suggest that intense desire, which attracts new partners to each other, elicits behaviors that support the attachment-bonding process.

The Cognitive Organization of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender Identities

The first chapter explores the complexities and varieties of love. Though often separated from sex, sexuality, and gender, love is crucial to sexuality and significant even for gender. To explore these topics, the chapter first examines Marlowe’s Edward II. Marlowe’s play is widely recognized as an important early treatment of same-sex desire and homophobia, but less widely recognized as a work that examines homoerotic attachment bonding and that shows the limits and complexities of homophobia. In connection with homophobia, the chapter also begins to consider ethical issues. The chapter then takes up a Chinese story about a young girl who dresses as a boy in order to receive an education. This is a very popular and enduring tale, with many versions, ancient and modern. This particular version links its in some ways radical gender politics with Confucian teachings, thus connecting gender skepticism with orthodoxy, a socially important and counterintuitive association.