Showing papers by "Thomas R. Sexton published in 1991"

The effect of head posture on muscle contact position using the T-Scan system of occlusal analysis.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of sagittal plane head-neck posture on initial tooth contacts (muscle contact position) using the T-Scan system of occlusal analysis. Thirty-five subjects from 14 to 72 years old were selected. Computerized T-Scan occlusal printouts were obtained on each subject with the head-neck in 45 degrees dorsiflexion and 30 degrees ventroflexion. To quantify the location of the contacts on the upper arch, the dotted lines appearing on the printout were assigned numerical values. Low numbers represent distal contacts and the higher the number, the more mesial the contact. Wilcoxon's Rank Sum Test was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that below the age of 30 years no significant relationship was demonstrated between head posture and muscle contact position. However, over the age of 30 there was an increasingly significant relationship between sagittal plane head-neck posture and initial occlusal contacts. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that management of occlusally related problems, i.e., temporomandibular disorders include an assessment of the craniovertebral region especially in patients over the age of 30 years.

Long-Term Projections of the AIDS Epidemic

Abstract: A mathematical model for predicting the future course of the AIDS epidemic permits the evaluation of a number of possible scenarios for male homosexuals in the US and finds that, while the epidemic can be mitigated, a combination of strategies will probably be needed. Steps to lower the transmissibility of the virus and to encourage more widespread testing and abstinence from risky sex practices are the most promising; merely reducing the rate of acquisition of new sexual partners without decreasing total sexual activity will have only a minor impact. A drug that increases the time from initial infection to the development of AIDS and the time from development of AIDS to death improves the short-term situation at the expense of the long-term if no cure is found. The presence of such a drug in conjunction with the other interventions is, in certain ways, worse than its absence. The model is used to estimate that between 24 and 52 new large urban hospitals will be needed to accommodate male homosexual AIDS patients, perhaps as soon as 1997.