Marco Migliorati, Sara Drago, Tommaso Castroflorio, Paolo Pesce, Giovanni Battista, Alessandra Campobasso, Giorgio Gastaldi, Filippo Forin Valvecchi, Anna De Mari. Korean J Orthod 2024;54:160-70. https://doi.org/10.4041/kjod23.268

Lesch–Nyhan syndrome (LNS) is a rare genetic condition resulting from an inherited disorder of purine metabolism. It is characterized by the lack of one enzyme, hypoxanthine-guanine phos-phoribosyltransferase (HGPRT), which is responsible for purine salvage. The main manifestations of this syndrome are hyperuricaemia, reduction in cognitive abilities, self-aggressive behavior, choreoathetosis, spasticity, and retarded development. The aim of the study was to investigate the means of treatment and efficacy of prevention of oral self-injury behavior (SIB) in patients with LNS. Information regarding the type and treatment of oral SIB in 19 LSN Italian patients (mean age 23.3 years) was gathered via a structured telephone interview of their parents. A total of 84% of the patients showed some form of self-injury behavior; the first form to manifest itself was finger biting (37%), followed by lip biting (25%), and then tongue biting (18%). Furthermore, 74% of cases featured oral SIB, and tooth extraction was found to be the most frequent form of treatment practiced (71%). This study has revealed the great difficulty parents and carers face in managing forms of oral SIB; dental extraction was the most common choice, despite its invasive nature and far-reaching consequences in regard to the psychosocial status of the patients.

Article: Pulp chamber temperature changes and enamel surface analysis during orthodontic composite removal using 3 different burs in a repeatable approach: an experimental study - Minerva Dental and Oral Science 2022 Aug 01 - Minerva Medica - Journals

Tip control in lingual orthodontics may be challenging because of the presence of a vertical slot and the particular configuration of the customized appliances. The aim of this in vitro experimental study was to investigate the role of the ligature–wire–slot system in achieving better tip control. A set of customized lingual brackets was obtained for a dedicated typodont made of extracted human teeth. A compression/traction machine tested two types of ligatures in combination with seven different wires, and the tipping angle of each configuration was derived. A statistically significant difference was found between ligatures when the complete set of data was tested. In addition, differences between ligatures were found when testing each wire separately. A statistically significant difference was found among all wires. Full‐size wires showed the smallest angles, which correspond to the greatest efficiency of the slot–archwire–ligation system in terms of tip control, and this efficiency appeared to be ligature‐related. The role played by the type of ligature was more relevant for undersized wires.