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This case control study measured early crestal bone changes around subcrestally placed platform-switched implants surrounded by thin soft tissue and compared them with regular, matching-platform implants placed in a supracrestal position and surrounded by thick soft tissue. Sixty-six patients received two-piece internal hex dental implants. Control group patients (n = 33) received implants that had a horizontally matching implant-abutment connection and were placed approximately 0.5 to 1 mm supracrestally. Test group patients (n = 33) received platform-switched implants that were placed about 1.5 mm subcrestally. Clinical examinations were conducted, intraoral radiographs were taken, and statistical analysis was performed. After 2 months, the mean bone loss was 0.2 mm (SD 0.22 mm; range 0.1 to 1.2 mm) in the control group and -0.69 mm (SD 0.65 mm; range 0 to 2.6 mm) in the test group; this difference was found to be statistically significant (P less then .05). After 1 year, mean bone loss was 0.28 mm (SD 0.36 mm; range 0.1 to 1.63 mm) in the control group and -0.6 mm (SD 0.55 mm; range 0.05 to 1.8 mm) in the test group. NEM inhibitor Platform-switched implants placed in a subcrestal position in vertically thin soft tissues showed statistically significantly more bone loss than non-platform-switched implants placed supracrestally with vertically thick tissues.This study evaluated a panel of clinical, dimensional, volumetric, implant-related, histomorphometric, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) following reconstruction of dehiscence defects in extraction sockets with a minimally invasive technique using particulate bone allograft and a nonresorbable dense polytetrafluoroethylene (dPTFE) membrane. Subjects (n = 17) presenting severe buccal dehiscence defects at the time of single-rooted tooth extraction participated in the study. The mean vertical dimension of the dehiscence defects at baseline was 5.76 ± 4.23 mm. Subjects were followed up at 1, 2, 5, and 20 weeks postoperatively. The dPTFE barrier was gently removed at 5 weeks. CBCT and intraoral scans were obtained at baseline and at 20 weeks. A bone core biopsy sample was harvested at 24 weeks (before implant placement). Linear radiographic measurements revealed a mean increase in buccal bone height from baseline to 20 weeks (5.66 ± 5.1 mm; P less then .0001). A total alveolar bone volume gain of 9.12% was observed. Although approximately half of the sites required some degree of additional bone augmentation at the time of implant placement, all implants were placed in a favorable restorative position with adequate primary stability. Histomorphometric analyses revealed a mean mineralized tissue area of 31.04% ± 15.22%, and the proportions of remaining allograft material and nonmineralized tissue were 16.23% ± 10.63% and 52.71% ± 9.53%, respectively. All implants survived up to 12 months after placement. PROMs were compatible with minimal discomfort at different postoperative stages and a high level of overall satisfaction upon study completion. This study demonstrated that the reconstructive procedure employed was successful and predictable in treating large, postextraction alveolar ridge deformities to optimize tooth replacement therapy with implant-supported prostheses.Treatment of gingival recessions affecting mandibular incisors is scarcely documented. Despite a shallow vestibule depth being considered a poor anatomical condition, it has never been measured nor deemed a clinical parameter affecting the outcome of root coverage procedures. This study describes a vertically and coronally advanced flap (V-CAF) + connective tissue graft (CTG) technique to obtain root coverage and increased vestibule depth in the treatment of gingival recessions affecting mandibular incisors. Twenty patients with single gingival recessions were treated. The results showed that V-CAF+CTG is effective in increasing residual vestibule depth and in reducing recession depth. Immediately after surgery, a vestibule-depth increase of 5.9 ± 1.2 mm was reported, which was statistically significant compared to baseline, and it remained stable after 12 months (4.8 ± 1.1 mm). The mean percentage of root coverage was 98.3% ± 5.2% for all treated recessions, and complete root coverage (CRC) was achieved in 90% of cases (18 of 20). V-CAF+CTG could be considered a successful technique in terms of vestibule depth increase and CRC for the treatment of single gingival recessions in the mandibular incisors.

It is unclear how people with hypertension are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic given their increased risk, and whether targeted public health strategies are needed.

This retrospective case-control study compared people with hypertension to matched healthy controls during the COVID-19 lockdown to determine whether they have higher risk perceptions, anxiety, and vaccination intentions.

Baseline data from a national survey were collected in April 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown in Australia. People who reported hypertension with no other chronic conditions were randomly matched to healthy controls of similar age, gender, education, and health literacy level. A subset including participants with hypertension was followed up at 2 months after restrictions were eased. Risk perceptions, anxiety, and vaccination intentions were measured in April and June.

Of the 4362 baseline participants, 466 (10.7%) reported hypertension with no other chronic conditions. A subset of 1369 people were followed up at 2 mxiety was above normal levels during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was higher in the hypertension group, which also had higher vaccination intentions. Groups that are more vulnerable to COVID-19 may require targeted mental health screening during periods of greater risk. Despite a decrease in perceived risk and anxiety after 2 months of lockdown restrictions, vaccination intentions remained high, which is encouraging for the future prevention of COVID-19.

Infectious disease is one of the main issues that threatens human health worldwide. The 2019 outbreak of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, has become a serious global pandemic. Many attempts have been made to forecast the spread of the disease using various methods, including time series models. Among the attempts to model the pandemic, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have used the singular spectrum analysis (SSA) technique to forecast confirmed cases.

The primary objective of this paper is to construct a reliable, robust, and interpretable model for describing, decomposing, and forecasting the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and predicting the peak of the pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

A modified singular spectrum analysis (SSA) approach was applied for the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. We proposed this approach and developed it in our previous studies regarding the separability and grouping steps in SSA, which play important roles in reconstruction and forecasting.