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As dental health improves, with the concurrent drop in the provision of basic restorative care, patients are now asking their dentists to provide aesthetic treatments rather than the treatment of disease. Tooth bleaching is one such... more
As dental health improves, with the concurrent drop in the provision of basic restorative care, patients are now asking their dentists to provide aesthetic treatments rather than the treatment of disease. Tooth bleaching is one such treatment that is frequently described in consumer magazines and television shows, driving consumer interest in this, apparently, benign therapy. This three-part series demonstrates the techniques that can be employed, within the dental practice or under the supervision of a clinician, those systems that can be bought by patients over the counter and, finally, a discussion of the biological effects of peroxide-containing solutions and the legal position on such products in the UK. In this section, we will describe the common methods by which teeth can be bleached, either by the clinician directly, or under his/her supervision by the use of'at home' kits. Efficacy and safety issues will be described. Clinicians should be able to discuss the merits...
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Research Interests:
The human dentition can be used as a weapon of attack or defence. Bite mark injuries are common in cases of sexual assault, child abuse and homicide. Many bite injuries are first seen in casualty departments where quick and proper... more
The human dentition can be used as a weapon of attack or defence. Bite mark injuries are common in cases of sexual assault, child abuse and homicide. Many bite injuries are first seen in casualty departments where quick and proper recovery of evidence can assist in analysing these injuries. This article describes different bite injuries, collection of evidence and comparative analysis methods.
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Research Interests:
This study compared the reliability of two methods used to produce computer-generated bitemark overlays with Adobe Photoshop (Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, CA). Scanned images of twelve dental casts were sent to 30 examiners with... more
This study compared the reliability of two methods used to produce computer-generated bitemark overlays with Adobe Photoshop (Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, CA). Scanned images of twelve dental casts were sent to 30 examiners with different experience levels. Examiners were instructed to produce an overlay for each cast image based on the instructions provided for the two techniques. Measurements of the area and the x-y coordinate position of the biting edges of the anterior teeth were obtained using Scion Image software program (Scion Corporation, Frederick, MD) for each overlay. The inter- and intra-reliability assessment of the measurements was performed using an analysis of variance and calculation of reliability coefficients. The assessment of the area measurements showed significant variances seen in the examiner variable for both techniques resulting in low reliability coefficients. Conversely, the results for the positional measurements showed no significant differences in the variances between examiners with exceptionally high reliability coefficients. It was concluded that both techniques were reliable methods to produce bitemark overlays in assessing tooth position.
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The aim of the study was to develop a new whiteness index which correlates to perception of tooth whiteness. Psychophysical experiments were conducted by a panel of observers under a standard viewing condition as well as under typical... more
The aim of the study was to develop a new whiteness index which correlates to perception of tooth whiteness. Psychophysical experiments were conducted by a panel of observers under a standard viewing condition as well as under typical clinical viewing conditions. Various existing whiteness and yellowness indices were compared with regard to their ability to measure the perceived whiteness of human teeth. The Pearson coefficient of determination and '% wrong decision' method were used to determine the best index for tooth whiteness measurement. A new whiteness formula (WIO) was developed by optimising the original CIE whiteness formula (WIC) and it was found that WIO gave the best performance for predicting tooth whiteness based on the laboratory results. A total of 88 NHS patients repeated the same visual experiments under typical clinical viewing conditions. The results confirmed the finding that the new whiteness formula is appropriate for the prediction of tooth whiteness.
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Research Interests:
In circumstances where a known DNA reference sample from the deceased’s belongings or biological parents is not available, more complex kinship analyses are possible. The purpose of the work reported here is to determine the sensitivity... more
In circumstances where a known DNA reference sample from the deceased’s belongings or biological parents is not available, more complex kinship analyses are possible. The purpose of the work reported here is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the sibship analysis utilising multiple STR loci. Using all nine Profiler Plus loci, likelihood ratios for biologically-related siblings ranged from slightly