Dysphagia is a disorder of the swallowing mechanism and presents a major problem in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. In-the present study, computerized laryngeal analyzer (CLA) was used for noninvasive assessment of the pharyngeal phase of the swallowing mechanism. Laryngeal elevation was measured with pressor sensor placed on the skin over the thyroid cartilage. In the study. CLA was applied at each posture of neck flexion, neutral, and extension in stroke group and control group. Significant differences were found in each of the these parameters measured in control group and stroke group. The quantitative measurements may aid the physician in choosing the appropriate therapy during the course of recovery. The onset latency of swallowing was delayed in stroke group than control group at all posture of neck(p<0.05). The pharyngeal transit time (PTT) was longer at extension than flexion and neutral posture of neck in stroke group(p<0.05). The PTT was longer in stroke group than control group at all posture of neck, but not significant(p>0.05). The amplitude of swallowing was decreased in stroke group at extension and neutral posture of neck compared to those of control group (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference between stroke group and control group in neck flexion (p>0.05).
Deglutition Disorders ; Deglutition* ; Humans ; Neck* ; Posture* ; Rehabilitation ; Skin ; Stroke* ; Thyroid Cartilage

The purposes of this study are to investigate the effect of the cold air application in the skin and intraarticular temperature changes and to observe the rebound temperature changes after cooling. We recorded the changes of the skin surface and intraarticular temperatures of knees during and after the cold air application. The intraarticular temperature was measured by a temperature probe inserted into the knee joint cavity and the skin temperature by the infrared system. Eighteen healthy subjects were examined. The knee was cooled by a 5-minutes application of CRAis (Kyung-won Century, Korea) machine and the intraarticular and skin temperatures of knees were measured at every 0.5-minute during and after the cold therpy, then at every minute for 5 minutes, and every 5-minute for the next 110 minutes. We also evaluated the variables that might affect the skin and intraarticular temperature changes. Results showed that the mean skin temperature dropped from 31.8oC to 10.5oC immediately after the cold air application for 5-minutes. The mean intraarticular temperature dropped from 33.9oC to 30.0oC after the cold air application for 5-minutes. Two hours after the initiation of treatment with cold air, the mean intraarticular temperatures did not recover to the baseline values(p<0.01). No significant correlations were found between the body mass index with the intraarticular and surface temperatures of knees. A highly significant correlation was noted between the baseline skin surface and intraarticular temperatures(p<0.01). In conclusion, the reduction of the joint temperature by the cold air application using CRAis machine can be a useful treatment method for the synovitis of knees.
Body Mass Index ; Cryotherapy ; Joints ; Knee Joint ; Knee* ; Skin Temperature* ; Skin* ; Synovitis

The present study was performed to investigate the effect on the skin and the intra-articular structures of 5-minutes of cold air application. During and after 5 minutes of cold air application on 20 healthy subjects, the skin and intra-articular temperatures were measured by means of an infrared thermogram and a digital k-wire probe, respectively. The results showed that 1) Skin temperature dropped very rapidly by a total of 22.1 degrees C after 5 minutes of cold air application. 2) Intra-articular temperature dropped by 3.9 degrees C after 5 minutes of cold air application. 3) Two hours after the start of treatment with cold air, intra-articular temperatures had still not returned to their baseline values (p < 0.01). 4) The baseline skin temperature and the baseline intra-articular temperature were significantly correlated r=0.51 (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between the skin temperature change and the intra-articular temperature change after 5 minutes and after two hours of cold air application. Finally, 5) a significant correlation r=-0.72 (p < 0.01) between the body mass index and the baseline skin temperatures was found. There was no significant correlation between the body mass index and the temperature changes, at the skin or in the knee joint, either during or after cryotherapy (p > 0.05).
Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; *Body Temperature ; *Cryotherapy ; Female ; Human ; Knee Joint/*physiology ; Male ; Middle Age ; *Skin Temperature

Surgical-orthodontic treatment is an increasingly more common dental procedure whose unique psycho-social or psychological feature has not been fairly quantified objectively. Since the treatment of a surgical-orthodontic (or orthodontic) patient is part science and part art, a subjective recognition of a patient about his or her own treatment may be more important than technical success during and after treatment. Therefore, the knowledge of the patient's underlying psychological status could be useful in the prediction of patient's response to surgical-orthodontic (or orthodontic) treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate and evaluate the psychological difference between conventional orthodontic patient and surgical-orthodontic patient by using locus of control (LOC) examination. Locus of control scale has been proven to be extremely useful in the prediction of a variety of human behaviors. Two types of locus of control data (I-score, Internal locus of control score; E-score, External locus of control score) were obtained for 42 surgical-orthodontic patients and randomly selected 42 conventional orthodontic patients (as a control group) matched for age and gender. No statistically significant difference was observed in the scale of internal and external locus of control between the groups of surgical-orthodontic patients and conventional orthodontic patients. However, in the group of surgical-orthodontic patients, males showed lower E-score (external locus of control score, higher internal locus of control tendency) than females. The results of this study suggested that the psychological background of surgical-orthodontic patients, in contrast with that of cosmetic surgery patients, has a similar disposition with that of orthodontic patients.
Female ; Humans ; Internal-External Control* ; Male ; Surgery, Plastic

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect a chewable tablet containing sodium fluoride and xylitol (DenPo, Hamizzle, Bucheon, Kyungki) on the oral hygiene state in the orthodontic patients. The subjects consisted of 30 adult orthodontic patients, who have worn the fixed orthodontic appliance at least 6 months. They were instructed to use the tablet forth a day. Gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and sulcus bleeding index (SBI) of upper and lower anterior and posterior regions were measured before using the tablet (T0), 2 weeks after using the tablet (T1), and 4 weeks after using the tablet (T2). The data were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed ranks tests. The results were as follows ; 1. PI was decreased significantly in the T1 and T2 stage compared with T0 stage in the both anterior and posterior regions (p < 0.05). Although PI was decreased in the T2 stage compared with T1, there was not statistical significance (p > 0.05). 2. GI and SBI showed similar results compared with PI. In the T1 and T2 stage, there was statistically significant decrease in the GI and SBI (p < 0.05). This study showed that the DenPo tablet could be used as an adjunct to improve oral hygiene in the orthodontic patients. The decrease of the indices may suggest that DenPo tablet could be effective in the plaque removal and prevention of gingival inflammation in the orthodontic patients.
Adult ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Oral Hygiene* ; Orthodontic Appliances ; Periodontal Index ; Sodium Fluoride* ; Sodium* ; Xylitol*

Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are major etiological agents in enamel demineralization around orthodontic appliances. This study was designed to examine the prevalence of these streptococci on orthodontic brackets in vivo using polymerase chain reaction. Four incisor brackets in the upper and lower arches were removed and collected from 80 patients at the time of debonding. The genomic DNA of adhered bacteria was extracted and each dextranase gene of S. mutans and S. sobrinus was amplified using the specific oligonucleotide primers. The results showed that the maxillary incisor brackets were colonized by both cariogenic streptococci to a somewhat higher degree than that taken from the mandible. The prevalence of S. mutans was 50.0% on the maxillary incisor brackets and 33.8% on the mandibular incisor brackets, and that of S. sobrinus was 17.5% and 15.0%, respectively. Both species were detected on the maxillary incisor brackets of 7 patients (8.8%) and the mandibular incisor brackets of 5 patients (6.3%). These results suggest that cariogenic streptococci can adhere to the incisor brackets and may be resident species on the incisor brackets.
Bacteria ; Colon ; Dental Enamel ; Dextranase ; DNA ; DNA Primers ; Humans ; Incisor ; Mandible ; Orthodontic Appliances ; Orthodontic Brackets ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Prevalence ; Streptococcus mutans ; Streptococcus sobrinus