RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Frequent consumption of acidic beverages and dietary preservatives in younger generation, diet-conscious (celebrities), and obese individuals have a rapid impact on demineralization of the teeth. An attempt was made to analyze the erosive potential of various acidic beverages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and ninety extracted human permanent teeth were sectioned longitudinally, pre-weighed, randomly grouped, and placed in nine acidic beverages (200 mL) with predetermined pH, i.e., three commercially available fruit juices, three carbonated drinks, and three dietary preservatives. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The sectioned specimens (n = 10) were analyzed at time intervals of 12, 24, 48, and 96 days. Mean weight loss was calculated, and surface changes were assessed under a stereomicroscope. The demineralization pattern and microscopic changes were observed under a compound and polarizing microscope. One-way analysis of variance test followed by Tukey's post-hoc analysis was employed. RESULTS: Overall the maximum demineralizing effect was caused by vinegar and apple cider. In the fruit juices category, lemon juice induced significant changes, while in the carbonated drinks category Coca-Cola induced the maximum changes and in the category of food preservatives vinegar induced the maximum changes. Severe discoloration was seen with respect to Coca-Cola followed by Mountain Dew (carbonated drink). CONCLUSION: The present study is unique as three different types of microscopes have been employed and both dentin and enamel of permanent teeth have been analyzed. In addition, the effect of dietary preservatives on hard tissues was evaluated. Oral health educators can reinforce important practices such as decreasing the frequency of consumption and time duration of beverage contact with the teeth. Also, the use of mouth rinses and buffering agents after the consumption of dietary beverages can be advocated along with regular fluoride application for those who are regular consumers.
RESUMO
Reticulocyte count is a basic test in hematology. This study was done to compare manual and automated methods and to study the effect of sample storage on reticulocyte count. Analyses of samples (n = 86) were done at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h after blood collection. Manual counting was done from both freshly prepared slide and stored slide by microscopy on new methylene blue stained smears. Automated enumeration was on Sysmex XT-2000i analyser (Ret search II). The values of immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF) and low fluorescence reticulocytes (LFR) were also recorded. Comparison between two methods was done by Spearman's correlation and Mann-Whitney test. Effect of storage was analysed by repeated measures ANOVA. There was strong positive correlation between both manual and automated methods at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h. The differences between the manual and automated methods were not significant at 2, 6 and 24 h (p 0.975, 0.967 and 0.227). The difference between the freshly prepared slide and stored slide were significant at 6, 24 and 48 h (p 0.015, 0.004 and 0.001). The change in reticulocyte count with time, decrease in IRF and increase in LFR were not significant up to 6 h but were significant at 24 and 48 h after blood collection. Both the methods were accurate and correlated well with each other. Freshly prepared smears for manual counting were better than counting on stored slide. Up to 6 h after blood collection results obtained by both methods are acceptable.