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Biomedical subjects

D Finucane

Publications and source records attributed to D Finucane.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Paediatric dentistry experience of the first cohort of students to graduate from Dublin Dental School and Hospital under the new curriculum.

AIM: To assess undergraduate clinical experience in Paediatric Dentistry in students graduating under a new curriculum. METHODS: An audit using logbooks completed by 34 students for all patients for whom they had provided treatment in the university paediatric dentistry clinic. RESULTS: A total of 177 child patients had received treatment from the students, age range 2-8 years. Students had performed an average of 13 restorative techniques. Sixty-eight percent had provided stainless steel crowns and 71% at least one pulpotomy for a primary tooth. All students had provided fissure sealants. Eighteen had carried out extractions and 8 had provided treatment for fractured incisors on this clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The cohort of students included had a wide range of experience of paediatric dentistry which compared favourably with accepted guidelines. A relative lack of experience of dental extractions currently remains a problem.

Child↗

A study in two centres of variations in the time of apical barrier detection and barrier position in nonvital immature permanent incisors.

OBJECTIVES: To study barrier formation in nonvital, immature permanent incisors being treated using the apexification technique in two centres, and to establish the effect of the frequency of change of calcium hydroxide (CaOH) on barrier detection times. DESIGN: A retrospective study of the time of detection and the position of barriers. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two centres in terms of the average frequency of change of each CaOH dressing, the distribution of barrier detection times or the position of barriers (P > 0.05). There was a total of 107 teeth and the time of barrier detection was significantly earlier in more frequently dressed teeth (P = 0.013). Of the teeth with a barrier detection time of less than 9 months, 60.7% were dressed more frequently than every 3 months, as opposed to 39.1% of teeth with longer barrier times (P = 0.027). The mean time of barrier detection for all cases was 43.3 weeks. The majority of barriers were located at or near the apex. CONCLUSION: The frequency of change of CaOH can increase the speed of barrier detection but does not appear to affect the position.

Analysis of Variance↗

Non-vital immature permanent incisors: factors that may influence treatment outcome.

This study examines the treatment of non-vital immature permanent incisors using the calcium hydroxide apexification technique. The objectives of the present study were to determine the speed and location of barrier formation and those factors discernible at presentation and during treatment which may be related to it. Forty-four non-vital immature incisors undergoing calcium hydroxide apexification were reviewed in detail. All cases were reviewed every 8-12 weeks for up to 18 months, or until apexification occurred. Details of the time and nature of the injuries and treatment were recorded. The degree of apical development prior to treatment was assessed, and barrier formation, location and time were noted. Mean time to barrier formation was 34.2 weeks (range 13-67 weeks). The strongest predictor of rapid barrier formation was the rate of change of calcium hydroxide and a barrier also formed more rapidly in cases with narrower initial apical width. There was evidence of displacement and a higher mean time for barrier formation in half of the cases. The presence of an abscess was the weakest predictor of rapid barrier formation and the effect was not significant (P = 0.280). The barrier was located at the apex in 28 cases (63.6%) and the distance from the barrier to the apex for the remaining 16 (36.4%) varied from 1 mm to 5 mm. The number of placements of calcium hydroxide varied from 1 to 4 with a mean of 1.9, and there was a higher mean number of calcium hydroxide placements in the cases where the barrier was located at the apex.

Analysis of Variance↗

The legal strategies used in operating syringe exchange programs in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to identify the strategies used by syringe exchange programs to establish their legality. METHODS: Statutes, court decisions, published studies of exchange programs, and news stories were reviewed, and telephone interviews were conducted with syringe exchange personnel. RESULTS: Twenty-seven exchanges have been authorized by amendments to or judicial interpretations of state drug laws or by administrative action under such laws, or operate in a state that has no laws regulating needles. At least 13 programs operate under claims of legality based on local interpretations of state law, principally public health law. The remaining syringe exchanges operate without a claim of legality. CONCLUSIONS: The deployment of syringe exchanges has been hindered by concerns about their legal status. This study shows that the applicability of drug laws to syringe exchange is open to dispute, and that local public health authorities may under some circumstances rely on their own legal authority to fund or operate syringe exchange programs.

Drug Prescriptions↗

Non-cardiac surgery in patients with prior myocardial revascularization.

Patients who had undergone aorto-coronary bypass grafts (ACBG) were assessed for the incidence of cardiac complications in the postoperative period following subsequent non-cardiac surgery. One hundred and twenty-one patients had 13 complications (11 per cent). A significantly higher risk of cardiac complications (27 per cent) was found in patients undergoing non-cardiac procedures in the first month after ACBG. This remained higher (17 per cent) until the sixth month following ACBG. Significant factors which increased the risk of cardiac complications in the postoperative period included preoperative congestive heart failure (33 per cent), cardiac risk index score classification of III or IV (37 per cent), surgery on major vessels, and surgery necessitated because of a complication of the ACBG itself (17 per cent). No correlation was found between cardiac complication rates and recurrent angina, hypertension, the use of beta-blockers or digoxin, or anaesthetic technique. It is suggested that all but emergency surgery should be postponed in the first month following ACBG, and elective surgery be delayed for up to six months.

Adult↗