Dentistry Commons^™

A Survey Of Treatment Characteristics In A University-Based Graduate Orthodontic Program, A. Brian Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

While there are a few national surveys on malocclusion in the U.S., few reports characterize actual orthodontic patients and their treatments. The purpose of this study was to describe the patients and their treatment at a university based orthodontic department, namely the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. The goals of this study are: (1) to research patient demographics, dental and skeletal relationships and treatment variables; (2) to test for temporal trends in these patients and their treatment across a 26 year interval from 1980 to 2005; and (3) to assess the correlations among patient demographics, dental and skeletal …

Long-Term Changes In The Dental Occlusion Of Subjects Treated Orthodontically, Kenneth Cooper Dyer Iv

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

A major challenge in orthodontics is to provide a treatment result that remains stable after appliances are removed. Orthodontic treatment can move teeth from their neutral positions, which increases potential for future relapse. The literature from the University of Washington, Seattle, shows that relapse is pervasive and of considerable magnitude (Little RM. Stability and relapse of mandibular anterior alignment: University of Washington studies. Semin Orthod 1999;5:191-204). The intent of this study was to quantify the posttreatment dental changes that occurred over approximately a quarter-century in a cohort of women who had received comprehensive orthodontic treatment as teenagers. Dental casts of …

Modulation Of Rankl And Osteoprotegerin In Adolescents Using Orthodontic Forces, Nathan Reed Hamman

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Orthodontic tooth movement is mediated by interactions between PDL cells and those of the alveolus. One protein--the receptor activator nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL)--is critical for osteoclastogenesis, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a decoy ligand that competitively inhibits RANKL. A higher RANKL/OPG ratio is associated with areas of bone resorption, while a lower ratio occurs in areas of bone deposition and homeostasis. There has been almost no clinical study of RANKL and OPG expression in patients undergoing orthodontic tooth movement.

The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in the levels of RANKL and of OPG in response to …

Neural Crest Contributions To Dental Pulp Stem/Progenitor Cells And Craniofacial Structures: Alveolar Processes, Tongue And Temporomandibular Joint, Vinay Jain

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Background: The cranial neural crest, a transient embryonic structure in vertebrates, is crucial to craniofacial and dental development. Populations of multipotent stem cells have been identified in various dental tissues including dental pulp. Hence, identification of multipotent cells of neural crest lineage within dental pulp and delineation of neural crest contributions to various craniofacial tissues may be a step towards utilizing the potential of neural crest progenitor cells for therapeutic applications.

Objective: The overall purpose of the study was to identify a population of dental pulp stem/progenitor cells of neural crest lineage and demonstrate their neural differential potential and to …

Statins Regulate Il-1Β - Induced Rankl And Opg Production By Human Gingival Fibroblasts, Ivelina Jurkowski

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Three-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase competitive inhibitors, also known as statins, are widely used agents for lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk for a heart attack. Recent data suggest that statins influence bone metabolic activity by stimulating new bone formation both in vivo and in vitro. Bone resorption in periodontitis, an inflammatory disease, is orchestrated by the interaction of various cytokines in the inflamed tissue, produced by immune cells and also by resident cells such as human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and periodontal ligament (PDL) cells. Three molecules, members of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand and receptor superfamilies, regulate the process of …

Longitudinal Cephalometric Changes Of Orthodontic Patients Evaluated Long-Term, Lisa Ku

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Posttreatment changes are further complicated by the slow continued growth that occurs after treatment into adulthood. The purpose of this study was to examine long term posttreatment changes. The lateral cephalograms of 51 Caucasian females treated in the standard Edgewise practice of one private practitioner in Cookeville, TN were examined to investigate changes in the cranial base, nasomaxillary complex, mandible, interach relationships, dental relationships, and the soft tissue integumental profile that occured an average of 23 years posttreatment. Two tailed t-tests (α = 0.05) were run to see whether the posttreatment changes was statistically significantly different from zero. Craniofacial growth …

Cephalometric Evaluation Of Mara Therapy In The Treatment Of Class Ii Malocclusions, Tiffany Rachelle Mcclaran

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The effectiveness of functional appliances is a debatable topic in the orthodontic literature, primarily because the benefits have not been consistently reproduced among clinical studies. The present study was a retrospective cephalometric analysis of patients with Class II, division 1 malocclusions at the start of treatment. There were 51 children treated by a single clinician with a MARA in combination with Edgewise appliances. The comparison group consisted of subjects treated with fixed Edgewise appliances only from the University of Tennessee, Department of Orthodontics. Subjects in the two treatment groups were matched on a one-to-one basis for sex and for five …

Peripheral Taste System In Inbred Mouse Strains, William Wes Shelton

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Taster and non-taster mice strains have been used extensively in animal taste research. Inbred mouse strains C57 and FVB have been proposed to be tasters, where as strains 129 and Balb/C are classified as non-tasters. Therefore, evaluating the peripheral taste system in these mice is of great importance to determine if there are morphological differences that might explain the physiological classification. The purpose of the present study was to determine if inbred mice that have been shown to be tasters have a larger number of fungiform papillae, have larger fungiform papillae and have larger taste buds. My work in this …