ABSTRACT Objectives: Currently, not much is known about the interactions between voice and growth hormone (GH). We have described large kindred with isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) due to a GHRH receptor mutation, resulting in severe short stature and high-pitched voice. These IGHD individuals have little interest in GH treatment, as they consider themselves “short long-lived people”, rather than patients. Interestingly, they report normal general quality of life, but they rate their Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) as low. Here, we assessed the social and auditory-perceptual impacts of artistic-intervention voice therapy with semioccluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) and choral singing, on their voices. Material and methods: Seventeen GH-naïve adult IGHD individuals were enrolled in a single-arm interventional pre-post study with 13 weekly sessions of choir singing over 90 days. Outcome measures were V-RQOL scores, self-assessment of voice, and auditory-perceptual analysis (GRBAS scale, G: grade of the severity of dysphonia; R: roughness; B: breathiness; A: asthenia; and S: strain). Results: Marked improvements in total (p = 0.0001), physical (p = 0.0002), and socioemotional (p = 0.0001) V-RQOL scores and in self-assessment of voice (p = 0.004) were found. The general grades of vocal deviation (p = 0.0001), roughness (p = 0.0001), breathiness (p = 0.0001) and strain (p = 0.0001) exhibited accentuated reductions. Conclusions: Voice therapy with semioccluded vocal tract exercises and choral training improved social impact and perceptual voice assessments in IGHD subjects and markedly improved their voice-related quality of life. This is particularly important in a setting where GH replacement therapy is not widely accepted.

ResumenEste estudio evaluó la resistencia de unión entre cerámica vítrea y cemento resinoso, utilizando diferentes tratamientos de silano, sin realizar condicionamiento previo de la cerámica con ácido fluorhídrico (HF), después de almacenamiento en corto y largo plazo. Ciento ochenta placas de cerámica (IPS e.max CAD®) fueron pulidas y divididas en 6 grupos (n=30) para ser tratadas como sigue: (1) RCPRelyX Ceramic Primer® (silano de 1 frasco), (2) RCP+SB-RelyX Ceramic Primer y Adper Singlebond2® (silano más adhesivo separado), (3) SBU-Scotchbond Universal® (adhesivo universal conteniendo silano), (4) CP-Clearfil Ceramic Primer® (primer cerámico conteniendo silano y MDP), (5) NC-ningún silano (control negativo) y (6) PC-Condicionamiento con HF previo (5%, 20s) y silano (RelyX Ceramic Primer®) (control positivo). Dos cilindros de cemento resinoso (Rely X Ultimate®) fueron construidos en cada placa. Cada grupo fue dividido en 2 sub-grupos para ser almacenados por 24 horas (24h) y 6 meses (6mo) en agua destilada a 37°C (n=15). Luego fue realizada la prueba de microcizallamiento (µSBS). El tipo de fractura fue analizado con microscopio electrónico de barrido (SEM) y los datos analizados con las pruebas estadísticas ANOVA de dos factores y Tukey (α=0.05). Ambos factores y su interacción resultaron estadísticamente significativos (p≤0.05). PC presentó los valores más altos de µSBS (MPa) para ambos tiempos de almacenamiento (24h: 28.11±2.44; 6mo: 19.10±3.85). Luego de 24h, los grupos RCP+SB (10.86±3.62), SBU (8.37±4.33) y CP (8.05±3.62) no fueron estadísticamente diferentes del grupo control negativo (NC: 8.00±2.51); sólo RCP (19.73±4.63) y PC obtuvieron resultados mayores. Después de 6 meses de almacenaje, sólo el grupo PC obtuvo valores estadísticamente mayores que NC (0.04±0.01). Fractura cohesiva en el cemento fue más prevalente para RCP-24h y PC, mientras que el tipo adhesivo fue el más frecuente para todos los demás grupos. Relevancia Clínica: Ninguno de los tratamientos de silano evaluados, mejoró significativamente la adhesión a largo plazo entre cerámica vítrea no condicionada y cemento resinoso. La combinación de HF y silano, continúa siendo el tratamiento de preferencia para cerámica vítrea durante el proceso de cementación.

AbstractThe present study evaluated the bond strength between glass-ceramic and resin cement, using different silane treatments, performing no previous hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching on ceramic surface, after short- and long- term storage. One hundred and eighty glass-ceramic plaques (IPS e.max CAD®) were polished and divided into six groups (n=30) to receive different silane treatments: (1) RCP-RelyX Ceramic Primer® (one-bottle silane), (2) RCP+SB-RelyX Ceramic Primer and Adper Singlebond2® (silane plus separated adhesive), (3) SBU-Scotchbond Universal® (silane-containing universal adhesive), (4) CP-Clearfil Ceramic Primer® (silane/MDP primer), (5) NC-no-silane (negative control) and (6) PC-Previous HF etching (5%, 20s) plus RelyX Ceramic Primer® (positive control). Two resin cement cylinders (Rely X Ultimate®) were built on each plaque. Each group was divided into two sub-groups to be stored for 24 hours (24h) or 6 months (6mo) in distilled water at 37°C (n=15). Then microshear (µSBS) testing was performed. Failure mode was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Data were statistically analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Tukey´s test (α=0.05). Both factors and their interaction resulted statistically significant (p≤0.05). PC obtained the highest µSBS values (in MPa) at both storage times (24h: 28.11±2.44; 6mo: 19.10±3.85). After 24h storage, groups RCP+SB (10.86±3.62), SBU (8.37±4.33) and CP (8.05±3.62) were not statistically different from NC (8.00±2.51); only RCP (19.73±4.63) and PC obtained higher values. After 6 months, only PC showed higher values than NC (0.04±0.01). Cohesive failure in resin cement was more prevalent for RCP-24h and PC, while adhesive failure was more frequent among all other groups. Clinical relevance: None of the commercially available silane primers tested, improve long- term ceramic/cement bonding without performing HF etching on ceramic surface. Combination of HF acid and silane, remain as a gold standard treatment for glass-ceramic materials.