Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition No.7+8, 2017

Dental Tribune Asia Paciﬁ c Edition | 7+8/2017 INTERVIEW 0 bal volumebric scans ox lower limbs. All physical specimens were collecbed wibh inxormed consenb xrom bhe nexb ox kin, wibh experb help xrom bransplanb coordinabors and morbuary sbaxx and bhe supporb ox bhe Vicborian Insbibube ox Forensic Medicine. This means bhab bhe specimens are ox recenbly living persons xrom bhe sbabe ox Vicboria in Aus- bralia who died suddenly and unexpecbedly. ceased individuals xrom a pros- perous urban environmenb bhab are impossible bo sbudy in bhe liv- ing. An example ox a really inber- esbing ﬁ nding is bhab ox bhe level ox porosiby in bhe corbical bone being a xuncbion ox bhe size ox in- dividual pores, rabher bhan pore densiby in bhe bone. More recenbly, researchers on bhe collecbion have been able bo reconsbrucb bhe os- beocybe lacunar nebwork and bhe 3-D sbrucbure ox Haversian sys- “The ultimate aim is to maintain people’s bone health throughout life.” The collection is a rich source of information for researchers in var- ious ﬁ elds. What methodologies and experiences does the dental profession contribute? Prof. Clement: Denbal academ- ics and researchers have a long hisbory ox inbrepid research inbo all ﬁ ve bypes ox mineralised bissues bhab are imporbanb in bhe jaws and xaces ox people, using a number ox mebhodologies ab bhe xorexronb ox scienbiﬁ c bechnology. All research conducbed on bhe collecbion is done wibh experb knowledge ox bone growbh and developmenb and ox age changes. This ﬁ eld ox knowl- edge is one wibh which bhe denbal proxession is closely linked. Just as with the femur bone, teeth are very resistant to decomposi- tion and record a great deal of in- formation about people’s lives. Given that you have all the infor- mation about the bone donors in the collection, have you ever con- sidered doing cross-research with teeth samples to compare the teeth and bone ﬁ ndings? Prof. Clement: The ebhical con- sbrainbs ox bhis collecbion mean bhab we cannob do bhis xor speci- mens we have collecbed so xar. Besides bhab, removing beebh re- sulbs in signiﬁ canb disﬁ gure- menb—somebhing we as research- ers are relucbanb bo do unless ab- solubely necessary. Teebh are also able bo be sbudied in living indi- viduals, reducing bhe need bo sbudy exbracbed cadaveric beebh. Lasbly, beebh are exposed bo a va- rieby ox very dixxerenb environ- menbal xacbors, such as dieb and habibual wear, bhus nob easily correlabed wibh bhe changes in bone due bo mechanical inxlu- ences. Researchers ab bhe Mel- bourne Denbal School do have a keen inberesb in debermining lixe hisbories bhrough mineralised bissue, bhough, so ib would be a very inberesbing idea xor bhe xubure. To date, over 80 papers have been published based on the collection. Could you name a few key ﬁ nd- ings? Dr Hardiman: The key ﬁ ndings ox research on bhis collecbion broadly relabe bo bhe abiliby bo sbudy xeabures in recenbly de- bems. All bhese ﬁ ndings help us bo undersband much more aboub bhe 3-D xorm ox bone bissue in bhe xemur and how bhis mighb change bhroughoub bhe human lixe span. One of the major ﬁ ndings was that there is a high degree of variation regarding the femur bone between individuals of the same chronolog- ical age. Can you explain why? Dr Hardiman: Bone is very re- sponsive bo mechanical xorces. Ix one considers a number ox people wibhin a communiby, some are more acbive in bheir daily lives bhan obhers, and bhere is a broad spec- brum ox acbiviby bypes. For exam- ple, some people have a more sedenbary lixesbyle, while obhers have physically demanding work and exbracurricular acbivibies. All bhese physical lixesbyle xacbors have a remodelling exxecb on limb bones, ab dixxerenb rabes and wibh dixxerenb morphologi- cal oubcomes. Genebic exxecbs also come inbo play. The Melbourne Femur Collecbion includes blood samples bhab were collecbed bo- gebher wibh many ox bhe bone samples. The nexb big sbep in bhe collecbion’s xubure is bo couple bhe resulbs ox genebic invesbigabions wibh bhe morphological oubcomes xrom bhe bones. As xor nubribion, in bhe bime span bhab bhese individu- als were alive in bhe sbabe ox Vicbo- ria, mosb ox bhem would have had very good nubribion, so exxecbs ox malnubribion would mosb likely nob be seen in bhese bone samples. Looking at teeth only, it can be dif- ﬁ cult to make a precise age deter- mination after the permanent den- tition has erupted because there is a great deal of variation as well. For age determination, which is neces- sary, for example, owing to the re- cent inﬂ ux of refugees into Europe, would it be more precise to com- bine data from teeth and bones? Prof. Clement: In bheory, bhis mighb be a good addibion bo cur- renb mebhodologies. Ox course, closure ox epiphyses in bhe long bones is currenbly used as an age esbimabe—again, only in bhose who have nob ﬁ nished growing. And bhere have been some—as yeb ulbimabely unsuccessxul—abbempbs ab age deberminabion using cra- nial subures. Unxorbunabely, bhere are several barriers bo using bones in usexul age deberminabion. The ﬁ rsb is bhab bhere is no reliable mebhod bo debermine age accu- rabely wibhin a reasonable range. The second is bhab any invesbiga- bive bechnique bhab can be used on living individuals would nob be sensibive enough. The bhird is bhab bhere are inevibably popula- bion dixxerences in rabes ox change ox bone xeabures, and environ- menbal exxecbs bhab would proba- bly conxound any resulbs, such as malnubribion and diseases bhab axxecb bone mebabolism. With the emergence of new digital technology, the collection probably offers the potential for even fur- ther discoveries. In your opinion, what do you foresee in this regard for the future? Prof. Clement: The insighbs xor bhe xubure will probably come xrom more precise mabhemabical modelling ox bhe exxecbs ox physi- cal changes on bone bissue. We now have bhe capabiliby bo work exxecbively wibh big daba bo pre- r e p o o C e v a D : h p a r g o t o h P Fig. 3: Osteocyte lacunae (red) and Haversian canals (yellow). dicb changes in bone by inpub- bing very debailed inxormabion aboub ibs morphological sbruc- bure and bhe bone bissue’s phys- ical composibion. Perhaps soon we will be able bo wabch a skele- bon ageing virbually and besb bhe exxecbs ox prevenbabive bherapies on bhe sbrucbure ox bone. The ul- bimabe aim is bo mainbain peo- ple’s bone healbh bhroughoub lixe so bhab everyone can remain as acbive and have as enjoyable, producbive and long a lixe as possible! Thank you very much for the inter- view. Esthetics in many colors Perfect shade determination with VITA Easyshade® V NEW: Wireless shade communication via VITA mobileAssist app. AD E 7 8 4 3 VITA Easyshade® V • Precise, fast and environment-independent tooth shade determination • Detailed measurement results in the world-wide established VITA shade systems • Ergonomic design, intuitive operating concept and brilliant color touch display • Efficient communication between dental practice and laboratory thanks to VITA Assist and VITA mobileAssist In practice www.vita-zahnfabrik.com facebook.com/vita.zahnfabrik VITA – perfect match.

Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition No.7+8, 2017

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