Omega-3 fatty acids as an adjunct for periodontal therapy-a review.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to present an overview of omega-3 fatty acids, their anti-inflammatory properties and potential use as an adjunct for periodontal therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A general literature search was conducted to provide an overview of omega-3 fatty acids, their metabolism and anti-inflammatory properties. A more specific literature search of PubMed and EMBASE was conducted to identify articles dealing studies investigating the effects of omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of periodontitis in animals and humans and included cross-sectional, longitudinal and intervention designs. RESULTS: To date, there is good emerging evidence that dietary supplementation with fish oil may be of some benefit and this is enhanced if combined with aspirin. All clinical intervention studies to date have been on small sample sizes, and this indicates there is need for larger and more robust clinical trials to verify these initial findings. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary supplementation with fish oil could be a cost-effective adjunctive therapy to the management of periodontal disease. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The host modulatory properties of omega-3 fatty acids warrant further assessment of their use as an adjunct in the management of periodontitis.

Clinical applications of preheated hybrid resin composite.

This clinical article describes and discusses the use of preheated nanohybrid resin composite for the placement of direct restorations and luting of porcelain laminate veneers. Two clinical cases are presented. Preheating hybrid composite decreases its viscosity and film thickness offering the clinician improved handling. Preheating also facilitates the use of nanohybrid composite as a veneer luting material with relatively low polymerisation shrinkage and coefficient of thermal expansion compared to currently available resin luting cements.

Utilisation of plasma exchange in the treatment of digital infarcts in Wegener's granulomatosis.

Digital ischemia is a rare manifestation of Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) with previous management approaches based on the hypotheses of thromboembolic phenomenon and vasospasm. WG is an autoimmune, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-predominant small-to-medium-vessel necrotising vasculitis which mainly affects the pulmonary-renal system. We report on a patient with WG presenting with digital infarction. We successfully treated this patient who had digital infarcts refractory to cyclophosphamide, steroids and vasodilator agents, with plasma exchange.

Osmotic compressibility of soft colloidal systems.

A turbidimetric analysis of particle interaction of model pH-responsive microgel systems consisting of methacrylic acid-ethyl acrylate cross-linked with diallyl phthalate in colloidal suspensions is described. The structure factor at zero scattering angle, S(0), can be determined with good precision for wavelengths greater than 500 nm, and it measures the dispersion's resistance to particle compression. The structure factor of microgels at various cross-linked densities and ionic strengths falls onto a master curve when plotted against the effective volume fraction, phi(eff) = kc, which clearly suggests that particle interaction potential and osmotic compressibility is a function of effective volume fraction. In addition, the deviation of the structure factor, S(0), of our microgel systems with the structure factor of hard spheres, S(PY)(0), exhibits a maximum at phi(eff) approximately 0.2. Beyond this point the osmotic de-swelling force exceeds the osmotic pressure inside the soft particles resulting in particle shrinkage. Good agreement was obtained when the structural properties of our microgel systems obtained from turbidimetric analysis and rheology measurements were compared. Therefore, a simple turbidimetric analysis of these model pH-responsive microgel systems permits a quantitative evaluation of factors governing particle osmotic compressibility.

Microstructure and rheology of stimuli-responsive microgel systems--effect of cross-linked density.

The effect of cross-linked density on the rheological behavior of model pH-responsive microgel systems consisting of methacrylic acid-ethyl acrylate (MAA-EA) cross-linked with di-allyl phthalate (DAP) was examined. Neutralization of acid groups increases the osmotic pressure exerted by counter-ions trapped in the polymeric network against the ions in bulk solution, which is responsible for the swelling and increase in viscosity. The viscosity exhibits a maximum at approximately 1 wt.% DAP and it decreases to a steady value at 4 wt.% DAP, which is independent of pH and particle concentrations. Static light scattering results confirmed this optimum density as the critical point where sufficient cross-link points are present to produce permanent junctions that permit optimal swelling of the microgel particles. In addition, the variation of relative swelling with cross-linked densities of our model microgel systems agrees with the theoretical scaling law, Q alpha (yalphaN(x))(3/2) for cross-linked densities beyond this optimum point (Q is the swelling ratio, y is the acidic MAA content, N(x) is the average number of monomer units between two cross-linked points, and alpha is the degree of neutralization). By combining the results from light scattering and rheological measurements, we are able to correlate the microstructural evolution of the colloidal systems with their bulk rheological behavior.

Microstructure and rheology of stimuli-responsive nanocolloidal systems-effect of ionic strength.

The effect of ionic strength on the rheological behavior of model pH-responsive nanocolloidal systems consisting of methacrylic acid-ethyl acrylate (MAA-EA) cross-linked with diallyl phthalate (DAP) was examined. Neutralization of acid groups increases the osmotic pressure exerted by counterions trapped in the polymeric network against ions in bulk solution, which is responsible for the swelling and increase in viscosity. Swelling decreases with increasing salt concentration as a result of reduced osmotic pressure inside the microgels, which is attributed to the charge shielding effect of counterions (salt) on the negatively charged carboxylate groups. Electromotive measurements using ion-selective electrodes confirmed that not all the counterions, that is, K+, remain mobile, but a fraction of these ions can penetrate the porous microgel particles to shield the negatively charged carboxylate groups. A consequence of this is that some of the Na+ counterions inside the particles are expelled, thus regaining their translational entropy, and become mobile sodium ions in the bulk solution. We successfully developed a new scaling law that relates the swelling ratio, Q, of microgels as a function of neutralization degree, alpha, cross-linked density, Nx, molar fraction of acidic units, y, and concentration of mobile counterions, CK+ and CNa+, represented as (Nx/c0)(CK+ + CNa+Q + Q2/3 proportional, variant yNxalpha. The new scaling law no longer assumes that all the counterions are trapped inside the microgels. The proportionality reduces to the form Q proportional, variant (yalphaNx)3/2 in the absence of salt, that is, CK+ + CNa+ approximately 0. By combining the results from light scattering and rheological measurements, we are able to correlate the microstructural evolution of the colloidal systems with their bulk rheological behavior.

Soft tissue chondroma in the finger: a case report and review of the literature.

Soft tissue chondromas are rare. A fairly benign condition, it is an uncommon occurrence in the hand. It usually presents as an enlarging mass and local surgery is the treatment of choice. We report a case of a patient in our local population presenting with a soft tissue chondroma in a digit.