Current Issue : October-December Volume : 2025 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Articial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in everyday dental practice and diagnosis, especially in the area of analysing digital pantomographic images. Through the use of innovative and modern algorithms, clinicians can more quickly and accurately identify pathological changes contained in digital pantomographic images, such as caries, periapical lesions, cysts, and tumours. It should be noted that pantomographic images are one of the most commonly used imaging modalities in dentistry, and their digital analysis enables the construction of AI models to support diagnosis. Objectives: This paper presents a systematic narrative review of studies included in scientic articles from 2020 to 2025, focusing on three main diagnostic areas: detection of caries, periapical lesions, and cysts and tumours. The results show that neural network models, such as U-Net, Swin Transformer, and CNN, are most commonly used in caries diagnosis and have achieved high performance in lesion identication. In the case of periapical lesions, AI models such as U-Net and Decision Tree also showed high performance, surpassing the performance of young dentists in assessing radiographs in some cases. Results: The studies cited in this review show that the diagnosis of cysts and tumours, on the other hand, relies on more advanced models such as YOLO v8, DCNN, and EcientDet, which in many cases achieved more than 95% accuracy in the detection of this pathology. The cited studies were conducted at various universities and institutions around the world, and the databases (case databases) analysed in this work ranged from tens to thousands of images. Conclusions: The main conclusion of the literature analysis is that, thanks to its accessibility, speed, and accuracy, AI can signicantly assist the work of physicians by reducing the time needed to analyse images. However, despite the promising results, AI should only be considered as an enabling tool and not as a replacement for the knowledge of doctors and their long experience. There is still a need for further improvement of algorithms and further training of the network, especially in identifying more complex clinical cases....
Background/Objectives: This pilot study aimed to evaluate stress levels in pediatric patients classified as definitely negative according to the Frankl scale by measuring salivary cortisol concentrations. Additionally, the study assessed the impact of Midazolam premedication on stress reduction during dental procedures. Methods. Children and adolescents attending the Pediatric Dentistry Master’s program at the Catholic University of Valencia participated in the study. Salivary cortisol levels were measured before and after dental treatments, differentiating between invasive and non-invasive procedures. Patients were divided into two groups: those receiving Midazolam premedication and those who did not. Results. Findings showed a significant increase in cortisol levels following invasive dental treatments (0.991), whereas non-invasive treatments (0.992) did not lead to notable changes (p < 0.001). Patients premedicated with Midazolam exhibited significantly lower posttreatment cortisol levels compared to those who did not receive the medication (p < 0.05). Conclusions. These preliminary findings suggest that Midazolam-based management in children with definitely negative behavior may be associated with reduced physiological stress responses. As a pilot study with a limited sample and inherent group-allocation bias, the results should be interpreted with caution. The methodology proved feasible and supports the use of salivary cortisol in future, larger-scale studies designed to disentangle behavioral and pharmacological effects....
Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the condition of retained primary molars in case of mandibular second premolar agenesis. Materials and Methods: In total, 2692 panoramic radiographs of adolescent patients were analyzed to determine the prevalence of tooth agenesis. Patients (N = 156) with at least one mandibular second premolar agenesis were further explored to determine the presence and condition of retained primary teeth. Teeth were classified as good or poor based on root resorption, infraocclusion, caries, and restorations. Results: The prevalence of mandibular second premolar agenesis was 5.8% (N = 156). For the set period for this study, 138 (58.5%) primary molars were present. Out of these retained teeth, N = 83 were in good condition. There was a statistically significant positive weak correlation between age and the level of root resorption (rs = 0.348, n = 138, p < 0.001). There was no association between infraocclusion and the level of root resorption (p = 0.747). Signs of infraocclusion were noted in 32 out of 138 teeth. There was no association between gender and the presence of infraocclusion (p = 0.067) and the presence or lack of infraocclusion and the therapeutic status of a tooth (p = 0.450). Only 28 out of 138 (20.3%) were intact. There was a significant difference in the level of root resorption between restored and/or carious (median = 3, IQR 2–4) and intact teeth (median = 2, IQR 1.75–3), U = 1168, p = 0.044, r = 0.242. Conclusions: Overall, 35.2% of corresponding primary molars were present in oral cavity, and were in good condition, and could potentially be preserved in the long term....
Objectives: This study evaluated the dental and alveolar bone stress distribution of a mandibular Kennedy Class I restored with a bilateral implant-assisted removable partial denture (IARPD) compared with a conventional removable partial denture (CRPD) through the application of finite element analysis (FEA). Methods: Kennedy Class I plaster models were made, including teeth from the lower left first premolar and lower right canine. The models were scanned, resin-based replicated and digitized. Using Solidworks software, internal hexagonal implants (10 mm × 4 mm) were virtually placed at the level of the first molars. Each model was grouped into a unit, and a load of 200 N was applied, simulating masticatory forces. Von Mises stress distributions were calculated via FEA for the vertical, diagonal and combined forces. Results: In the IARPD, the stress generated in the alveolar bone by the vertical (4.2 Mpa), diagonal (12.2 MPa) and combined forces (12.3 MPa) was lower than that of the CRPD (7 MPa, 26.3 MPa and 32 MPa, respectively). Similarly, at the lower central incisor, the IARPD generated less stress than the CRPD due to the action of the vertical, diagonal and combined forces. Conclusions: Our preliminary data suggest that bilateral implant placement may result in less stress on bone and teeth during rehabilitation with a Kennedy Class I IARPD, with different orientations of the forces applied....
Background/Objectives: The rehabilitation of severely resorbed anterior alveolar ridges presents significant clinical challenges due to esthetic demands and the limited bone volume in this region. Basal cortical implants, which are designed to engage dense basal bone, could offer an alternative by providing stable anchorage in compromised sites. Methods: This report evaluates the ARi® Implant System, which features cortical anchorage and a calcium-incorporated nanostructured surface (XPEED®) in two anterior ridge defect cases. Soft tissue augmentation using a vascularized interpositional periosteal (VIP) flap was applied in one case, and biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) grafting and collagen membranes were employed for ridge contouring in both cases. Results: At a two-year follow-up, both cases showed stable peri-implant tissues and satisfactory esthetic results. Conclusions: Although basal cortical implants provide good primary stability, their use does not eliminate the need for bone augmentation, especially in the anterior esthetic region. Future clinical studies are required to substantiate long-term outcomes and broader applicability....
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