Journal of Dental Research, Dental Clinics, Dental Prospects
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2009

Background and aims. Autogenous bone graft is commonly used for reconstruction of bone defects in routine surgical procedures. The complexity of producing bone grafts and their application has lead to the use of human bone matrix gelatin (HBMG). The present study was conducted to compare the efficacy of HBMG and autograft on the reconstruction of bone defects in rats.Materials and methods. In this cross-sectional, experimental study, two defects were put on left and right sides of parietal bone of rats. HBMG was placed randomly on defects of one side and autograft in the defects of the other side. All specimens were assessed and compared with each other according to histological and radiographic characteristics. Other assessments included amount and the rate of bone formation, inflammation signs, fibrosis tissue and cartilage formation and also radiographic characteristics of grafts, assessed by digital and film-based methods. Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis.Results. The results showed a reduction of inflammation and an increase in new bone formation in both groups in 7, 14, 28 and 60 days after surgery. Bone formation with HBMG on day 24 was more than autograft. However, there was no significant difference between the groups on day 60. Superiority of digital method to film-based method of imaging was also observed.Conclusion. Although HBMG has the same efficacy as autograft, the rate of bone reconstruction with HBMG is higher. HBMG also induces focal, rather than peripheral, bone construction in the defect.

Background and aims. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of calcified carotid artery in 50 year-old and older postmenopausal dental outpatients for early diagnosis of individuals at risk of stroke.Materials and methods. This is a descriptive study of 200 panoramic radiographs. These radiographs included postmenopausal women referring to the Department of Oral Medicine at Shahid Beheshti Faculty of Dentistry during 2006-2007. The x-ray machine, developer and film type were the same for all the radiographs. Statistical analysis included chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test.Results. We found 22 calcified carotid arteries. The left and right carotid arteries were involved in 7 and 9 cases, respectively. In 6 cases both carotid arteries were calcified. Four individuals had no vascular risk factor excluding age and others had at least one risk factor. We found significant statistical correlation between hypertension, past history of myocardial infarction, and hypercholesterolemia with calcified carotid artery on panoramic radiographs.Conclusion. Under the limitations of the present study, prevalence of calcified carotid arteries is 11.0 % in 50 year-old and older postmenopausal dental outpatients.

Background and aims. It is believed that adherence of Candida albicans to oral surfaces is a critical event in the colonization and development of oral diseases such as candida-associated denture stomatitis. Although there is considerable information about the adherence of Candida albicans to buccal epithelial cells and prosthetic materials, there is very little information available about the adherence of Candida albicans to glass ionomer materials. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of Candida albicans adherence to glass ionomer restorative material. Materials and methods. In this experimental study adherence of Candida albicans strains was studied with and without human whole saliva. First, glass ionomer fragments were prepared; then yeast cells were inoculated and incubated with different incubation times. After incubation, the fragments were removed from the wells and stained with 0.1% calcofluor white. Adhesion was quantified by counting the total number of cells at 40, 80 and 120 minutes. The analysis of variance and Student's test were used to assess the significance of differences between the means. Results. In the absence of saliva, the adherence of Candida albicans showed an increase, reaching a maximum at the end of the experiment (120 minutes). However, in the presence of saliva, the adherence of Candida albicans to glass ionomer significantly decreased. Conclusion. The presence of human whole saliva is an important factor in the adherence of Candida albicans to glass ionomer restorative material.

Background and aims. Recent progresses in preventive dentistry and their correct application in many developed countries have remarkably decreased the rate of oro-dental diseases in children and teenagers, while the rate of oro-dental diseases is on the rise among the children in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of educating school health care instructors by measuring their level of oral health knowledge and their opinions about the impact of oral health and preventive dentistry.Materials and methods. This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. Questionnaires were administered before and after an educational lecture to school health care instructors in Hamadan, Iran. Data were analyzed using paired t-test.Results. In this study, 31 school health care instructors took part. The percentage of instructors in poor knowledge level was 22.6% before the educational lecture (education), which decreased to 0 percent after the education (P < 0.05). The percentage of instructors with good knowledge level was 3.2%, which increased to 80.6% after the education (P < 0.05).Conclusion. Close cooperation between universities and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education will lead to improvements in the level of knowledge and awareness of school health care instructors.

Background and aims. Hemophilic patients are faced with poor oral hygiene due to concerns about their dental care. The present study assessed the knowledge of hemophilic patients about oral hygiene and the effect of oral hygiene instruction in patients referred to Iranian Hemophilia Society.Materials and methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 30 hemophilic patients randomly selected from volunteer patients referred to Iran Hemophilia Center. The study was performed by means of a questionnaire submitted to subjects before and after the instructional brochure submission. The questionnaire included demographic data and items regarding hemophilia and oral hygiene. Data was analyzed with McNemar test and paired t-test.Results. The mean age of the patients was 21 years; 27 (90%) were males and 3 ones (10%) were females. They were mostly A hemophilia infected. Most patients enjoyed fair knowledge of oral hygiene. Changes in knowledge after reading the brochure were significant regarding the appropriate time to replace the toothbrush (P < 0.01), necessary visits for tooth examinations (P < 0.04), adjunctive methods of caries prevention (P < 0.001) and factors related to bleeding (P < 0.01); other factors improved slightly without significant changes.Conclusion. The knowledge of hemophilic patients was fair regarding oral hygiene while some relevant factors improved after instructions. However, more instruction is needed in order to attain more improvement in some behaviors.

Background and aims. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative frequency of developmental odontogenic cysts in an Iranian population.Materials and methods. In this study 245 cysts from both jaws, treated in the Faculty of Dentistry at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences during a 10-year period from 1998 to 2008, were analyzed in order to evaluate the incidence of such cysts. We had permission from all the patients. Case histories of 65% of male and 35% of female patients were analyzed. The age of the patients varied from 14 to 64 years, with an average of 33.21 ± 10.89.Results. In this 10-year study of odontogenic cysts, 97 cases were developmental odontogenic cysts with the following incidence: dentigerous cyst, 44%; odontogenic keratocyst, 36%; primordial cyst, 9%; Gorlin cyst, 2%; lateral periodontal cyst, 3%; eruption cyst, 3%; and gingival cyst, 3% (adults 2%, infants 1%).A total of 60% of the cysts were found in the mandible and 40% in the maxilla. Regarding the mandible, the molar region was involved in 47% of the cases, premolar region in 33% and anterior region in 20% (total = 100%). Regarding the maxilla, the canine-to-canine region was involved in 52% of the cases, premolar region in 20% and molar region in 28% (total = 100%).Conclusion. An important finding in this study was the fact that 39% of the jaw cysts were developmental odontogenic cysts and the most common developmental odontogenic cysts were dentigerous cyst and OKC (odontogenic keratocyst).

Osteomyelitis of the jaws following dental treatment is a rare condition which usually occurs in immuno-compromised patients both locally and generally. A case is presented with the alveolar bone necrosis resulting from leakage of an arsenical devitalizing paste into the periodontium. The treatment procedures and the outcomes are discussed in this article.

White sponge nevus (WSN) is a rare hereditary dyskeratotic hyperplasia of mucous membranes. It is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable penetrance. We report a case of WSN in a healthy 21-year-old male with no history of familial involvement. A white smooth plaque with no erythema or other structural abnormalities was observed, which confirmed the diagnosis of WSN histopathologically.

The article entitled “Accuracy of digital subtraction radiography in combination with a contrast media in assessment of proximal caries depth” which appeared in J Dent Res Dent Clin Dent Prospect 2008; 2(3):77-81 incorrectly listed the second author’s affiliation as Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The correct affiliation of Sara Ehsani is Dental Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.