Objective:This study was based on digital orthodontic diagnosis work flow for indirect bonding transfer tray model design and three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the aim of this paper was to inspect the dimensional accuracyof 3D printed brackets, which is the foundation of the follow up work and hoped that will illuminate the clinical application of the digital orthodontics work flow.Methods: The samples which consisted of 14 cases of patients with malocclusion from Department of Orthodontics Peking University were selected, including 8 cases with tooth extraction and 6 cases without tooth extraction.All the 14 patients were taken intra-oral scan (Trios 3Shape,Denmark)and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT, NewTom 3G volumetric scanner, Aperio Service,Italy)shooting after periodontal treatment.STL data and DICOM data were obtained from intraoral scans and CBCT images.Data segmentation, registration, fusion, automatic tooth arrangement, virtual positioning of orthodontic appliance and conversion the coordinates of malocclusion model were all done with self-programming software.The data of 3D printing model with brackets on it were output finally and printed out with EDEN260V (Objet Geometries, Israel) to make indirect bonding transfer tray.Digital vernier caliper was used to measure the length and width of upper and lower left brackets and buccal tubes on those 3D models after removal of surrounding supporting material by ultrasonic vibration and water-spray.Intra-examiner reliability was assessed by using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), and one-sample T test was used to compare the measurements with the standard dimensional data of the brackets.Results: There were significant differences which range in 0.04-0.17 mm between the 13 items out of the 19 measurement items.Except for the length of the lower left premolars''brackets, mean values of the other items were greater than the test value.Conclusion: Although the measurement results in the width of brackets and the width and length of the buccal tubes obtained experimentally were slightly larger than the test value,this may not reduce the accuracy of indirect bonding procedure in clinic necessarily.Whether the differences which range in 0.04-0.17 mm would actually affect the retention and positioning of brackets needs to be confirmed by further studies.

Objective: To understand the medical expenditure and related household economic burden of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients receiving full course treatment in designated TB hospitals in China and identify the related factors. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 535 consecutive TB patients receiving TB treatment from April 2017 to June 2017 in 5 designated TB hospitals in eastern and western China selected through stratified cluster sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect the information about patients’ social economic characteristics and TB diagnosis and treatment expenditure. Results: The average total medical expenditure for TB treatment was 12 635.5 yuan (RMB), in which the direct medical expenditure accounted for 65.3% of the total. Nearly half of the total medical expenditure occurred in pre-treatment period. The expenditure in pre- treatment period was higher in the patients with low education level, newly treated patients, and initial sputum negative patients. The median (quartile) for the ratio of total medical expenditure to annual household income was 22%(10%-57%). Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that low-level education background, lower household income, hospitalization and suffering from other chronic disease might increase the ratio of medical expenditure to annual household income. Conclusions Medical expenditure for full course TB treatment is still high in patients in designated TB hospitals. It is suggested to strengthen the capability building of timely found and referral of TB patients in non- designated hospitals and improve fee reduction and exemption policy for some patients.

Malocclusion is an oral disease with a high prevalence. The goal of orthodontic treatment is health, aesthetics, function and stability. The transmission straight wire appliance and technique is an innovative orthodontic system with independent intellectual property rights invented by Professor Jiuxiang Lin′s team based on decades of clinical experience, which provides a new solution for the non-surgical correction of skeletal malocclusions, especially class Ⅲ malocclusion, and it is also a good carrier for the implementation of the concept of healthy orthodontics. Due to the lack of guidelines, how to implement standardized application of transmission straight wire technique remains a problem to be solved. This technical specification was formed by combining the guidance from Professor Jiuxiang Lin and joint revision by a number of authoritative experts from the Orthodontic Special Committee, Chinese Stomatological Association, with reference to relevant literatures, and combined with abundant clinical experience of many experts. This specification aims to provide reference to standardize the clinical application of transmission straight wire technique, so as to reduce the risk and complications, and finally to improve the clinical application level of this technique.