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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Predicting Dental Student's Performance On National Board Dental Examination (Nbde) Part I: Exploring Demographic Factors, Dental Admission Test (Dat) Factors, Pre-Program Academic Factors, And Dental Program Academic Performance., Wei-Shao Lin Dec 2020

Predicting Dental Student's Performance On National Board Dental Examination (Nbde) Part I: Exploring Demographic Factors, Dental Admission Test (Dat) Factors, Pre-Program Academic Factors, And Dental Program Academic Performance., Wei-Shao Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dental students need to successfully challenge a national licensure examination to be able to practice dentistry. Dental educators currently have difficulty in identifying candidates who are at risk of failing this examination. This non-experimental quantitative study examined existing dental student data from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 graduating classes, using a retrospective and correlational approach to identify possible markers for at risk students. Demographic factors, dental admission test (DAT) factors, pre-program academic factors, dental program academic performance, and National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) Part I performance. A series of independent t-tests and One-Way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were used to …


Epithelial Responses To Porphyromonas Gingivalis In The Community Context., Zackary Ray Fitzsimonds Aug 2020

Epithelial Responses To Porphyromonas Gingivalis In The Community Context., Zackary Ray Fitzsimonds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a keystone pathogen for periodontal disease, initiates a complex molecular dialogue with gingival epithelial cells, leading ultimately to disruption of host signaling pathways. Dysbiotic host responses are also thought to contribute to the initiation and progression of oral squamous cell carcinomas. Recently, the homeostatic commensal Streptococcus gordonii has been shown to antagonize P. gingivalis-induced epithelial cell signaling events in host cells, such as proliferation and migration. The aim of this study was to characterize pathways that P. gingivalis targets to disturb host signaling, with a specific focus on pathways that S. gordonii can restore to homeostatic …


Application Of Machine Learning Technologies For Detection Of Proximal Lesions In Intraoral Digital Images: In Vitro Study., Rohit Vadlamani Aug 2020

Application Of Machine Learning Technologies For Detection Of Proximal Lesions In Intraoral Digital Images: In Vitro Study., Rohit Vadlamani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Interpretation of bitewing radiographs is influenced by factors such as acquisition parameters (e.g. exposure, type of sensor), clinical technique, visualization (e.g. monitor type and calibration) and the observer (e.g. experience and fatigue bias). We hypothesized that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will reduce visualization and observer factor in bitewing interpretation and improve diagnostic accuracy. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the use of AI in the form of a machine-learning algorithm to detect and quantify proximal lesions compared with human trained observers. Methods: 16,000 anonymized, digital bitewings of patients were hand searched and non-bitewing, …


The Emerging Oral Pathogen, Filifactor Alocis, Disrupts Neutrophil Functions To Enhance Survival And Dysregulate Inflammation., Irina Miralda Molina May 2020

The Emerging Oral Pathogen, Filifactor Alocis, Disrupts Neutrophil Functions To Enhance Survival And Dysregulate Inflammation., Irina Miralda Molina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periodontitis is an irreversible, chronic inflammatory disease where pathogenic microbial communities accumulate in the gingival crevice. Advances in culture-independent techniques have facilitated the identification of new bacterial species in periodontal lesions, such as the Gram-positive anaerobe, Filifactor alocis. Neutrophils are a major component of the innate host response, and the outcome of their interaction with F. alocis may be a determinant of oral health status. While neutrophil functions typically protect the host against periodontal disease, oral pathogens have adapted to evade or disarm neutrophil microbicidal functions while promoting mechanisms that drive inflammation, which also provides a source of nutrients …


Functionalizing Nanoparticles With Cafa Protein To Target Bar Peptide For Oral Delivery Applications., Hetal Desai May 2020

Functionalizing Nanoparticles With Cafa Protein To Target Bar Peptide For Oral Delivery Applications., Hetal Desai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Porphyromonas gingivalis adherence to Streptococcus gordonii may be important for P. gingivalis colonization in the oral cavity. Nanoparticles encapsulating synthetic peptide BAR (BAR-NPs) inhibit P. gingivalis adherence more potently than free BAR. However, BAR-NPs would exhibit low retention in an open flow environment. Hypothesis: Targeting BAR-NPs to the streptococcal surface using CafA protein will enhance their efficacy. Methods: CafA-modified NPs encapsulating BAR were synthesized using double emulsion approach. Surface binding and retention, and release kinetics of BAR from CafA-modified NPs was assessed. Functional inhibition assays were performed using dual a species biofilm. Results: CafA-modified NPs demonstrated specificity of adhesion, …


Tobacco Enhances Bacterial-Induced Periodontal Bone Loss In Mice., Mina Iskander May 2020

Tobacco Enhances Bacterial-Induced Periodontal Bone Loss In Mice., Mina Iskander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Tobacco smoking is the leading environmental risk factor for periodontal diseases. Delineation of the mechanisms underlying tobacco-induced or exacerbated periodontitis is hampered by the lack of an appropriate and reliable animal model. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that Porphyromonas-gingivalis-infected, cigarette smoke-exposed mice would represent reproducible models of acute (ligature model) and chronic (oral gavage model) tobacco-enhanced periodontitis that reflect multiple aspects of the disease noted in human smokers. Methods: In a chronic oral gavage disease model, Balb/c mice (6-8 weeks, 4 groups of n = 6 per group) were exposed to smoke produced by a Teague-10 smoking machine from 1R6F research …


Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life In Us Adults With Type 2 Diabetes., Giang Truong Vu May 2020

Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life In Us Adults With Type 2 Diabetes., Giang Truong Vu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and the factors associated with this relationship in the US. The objectives of the dissertation research were a three-part process: (1) to understand the relationships of T2DM with poor OHRQoL, clarify risk and preventive factors that affect this association, and identify research gaps in the literature, (2) to analyze risk factors associated with poor OHRQoL in US adults with T2DM using a nationally representative random probability cluster sample, and (3) to apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to a simplified Andersen’s Behavioral Model …