Retrospective evaluation of traction time for impacted dilacerated maxillary central incisors in mixed dentition.

PURPOSES: This study aimed to contribute to understanding the factors affecting the time of traction treatment of impacted dilacerated maxillary central incisors. METHODS: This retrospective study included children aged 8 - 11 years with a history of trauma, who applied to the pediatric dentistry clinics of Marmara University, School of Dentistry, between December 2013 and December 2019, and were treated for unilateral impacted dilacerated maxillary upper central incisors. Children's age, sex, digital panoramic radiographs, cone-beam computed tomography, and intraoral photographs were retrieved from electronic dental health records. The effects of children's age, sex, the direction of impacted teeth, distance of the teeth to the top of the alveolar crest, and root dilaceration level on traction time were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test. RESULTS: The inverse position of the incisors significantly increased the traction time (P = 0.012). However, the traction time did not differ according to the sex of the children (P = 0.707) or the level of root dilaceration (P = 0.429). No correlation was observed between the traction time and the age of children (P = 0.644) or the distance of the incisors from the top of the alveolar crest (P = 0.397). CONCLUSIONS: In cases of the forced eruption of for the impacted dilacerated maxillary central incisors, the direction of the teeth should be evaluated when deciding on the treatment plan, as it may affect the treatment time.

How prenatal environmental factors affect rat molar enamel formation?

Amelogenin (AMELX) and ameloblastin (AMBN) are crucial for enamel formation, and interruptions in the production of these proteins may cause enamel defects. We investigated how prenatal environmental factors (chronic stress, bisphenol A (BPA), amoxicillin, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) affect AMELX and AMBN production of ameloblasts. Fifteen pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four experimental groups and a control group. Chronic-stress group rats were exposed to a 12:12 light/light cycle (LL) from day E18 until delivery. BPA group rats were orally administered 5 µg/kg BPA daily from day E1 until delivery. Amoxicillin group rats were injected 100 mg/kg amoxicillin daily from day E18 until delivery. LPS-infection group rats were injected 125 µg/kg bacterial LPS once on day E18. Seven pups from the control group and ten pups from the experimental groups were euthanized on P10. Sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Gomori's one-step trichrome staining (GT) and incubated with rabbit polyclonal antibodies to AMELX and AMBN, to evaluate staining intensity at ameloblast stages. The surface morphology was evaluated with a stereomicroscope. AMELX (p = 0.008, p = 0.0001, p = 0.009) and AMBN (p = 0.002, p = 0.001, p = 0.0001) staining of all groups were significantly lower than that of the control group in the secretory, transitional, and maturation stages. Abnormal enamel matrix formation was observed in the H&E and GT staining sections of all experimental groups. Yellowish coloration of the amoxicillin group was observed in morphologic evaluation.

Outcome of Mandibular Dentigerous Cysts 1 to 10 Years After Decompression Using a Custom-Made Appliance.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the long-term results of mandibular dentigerous cysts treated with decompression using a custom-made appliance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 34 patients with dentigerous cysts who were treated as outpatients at the Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University. Medical history, complaints, intraoral and extraoral clinical findings, treatment time, and complications of these patients were collected. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 7.94 years. Three tooth buds (canine, first permanent premolar [P1], and second permanent premolar) in 2 cases, two tooth buds in 7 cases (P1 and second permanent premolar in 6 cases and P1 and canine in 1 case), and one tooth bud in 25 cases were related to the cyst. The mean decompression time was 5.97 months (range, 3 to 9 months). No major complications occurred during or after decompression. No evidence of infection, breakdown and/or dehiscence of the soft tissue, or inferior alveolar nerve paresthesia was observed. The complications and complaints were minor and straightforward to resolve. CONCLUSIONS: Decompression is a very effective and successful method for the treatment of mandibular dentigerous cysts.

Two-fold excess of fluoride in the drinking water has no obvious health effects other than dental fluorosis.

BACKGROUND: There is concern that fluorides in the drinking water is hazardous to health. METHODS: We conducted an observational study in the village of Hanliyenice (population 280), Turkey, which has 2.5 times higher than optimal levels of fluoride in the drinking water and evaluated all children 7-13 years of age (N = 30). We collected information on dental decay, fluorosis, daily water consumption and diet, child history and her family history of cancer, cardiovascular risks/diseases, and asthma, and obtained a blood sample for extraction of genomic DNA. We genotyped ten single nucleotide polymorphisms in aquaporins. RESULTS: As expected, a high number of children were dental caries free (19 out of 30) and had fluorosis (25 out of 30). Family history of cancer, cardiovascular events, and asthma was not different from the expected figures based on Turkey. One variant just upstream of AQP5 was associated with being fluorosis free. (G allele of AQP5 rs296763, p = 6.0E-6). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to levels of fluoride twice as high than the optimum in the drinking water increases the prevalence of fluorosis, dramatically decreases dental caries, and does not increase the risk of cancer, cardiovascular events, and asthma.

REST Final-Exon-Truncating Mutations Cause Hereditary Gingival Fibromatosis.

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is the most common genetic form of gingival fibromatosis that develops as a slowly progressive, benign, localized or generalized enlargement of keratinized gingiva. HGF is a genetically heterogeneous disorder and can be transmitted either as an autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive trait or appear sporadically. To date, four loci (2p22.1, 2p23.3-p22.3, 5q13-q22, and 11p15) have been mapped to autosomes and one gene (SOS1) has been associated with the HGF trait observed to segregate in a dominant inheritance pattern. Here we report 11 individuals with HGF from three unrelated families. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) revealed three different truncating mutations including two frameshifts and one nonsense variant in RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST) in the probands from all families and further genetic and genomic analyses confirmed the WES-identified findings. REST is a transcriptional repressor that is expressed throughout the body; it has different roles in different cellular contexts, such as oncogenic and tumor-suppressor functions and hematopoietic and cardiac differentiation. Here we show the consequences of germline final-exon-truncating mutations in REST for organismal development and the association with the HGF phenotype.

The Internet versus pediatricians as a source of infant teething information for parents in Turkey

OBJECTIVES: Parents are increasingly searching the Internet to gather information about their children’s health care. This study compared infant teething information obtained from publically employed pediatricians in Istanbul with that obtained from different Turkish websites (parenting, health, professional, news and commercial). METHODS: This study had two parts. The first part used a descriptive design, with two checklists to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of the teething-specific content on 62 parenting or health websites. The second part was a cross-sectional study of 75 pediatricians at public hospitals who completed a structured self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: In total, 54 websites (87.1%) described infant teething as a normal developmental process. The lists that were found on the websites identified the most frequent signs of infant teething as fever and drooling/perioral rash. The most frequent management strategies were chewing non-chilled and chilled objects. For teething problems, some pediatricians recommended teething rings and oral benzocaine, while 23 pediatricians recommended nothing. CONCLUSIONS: Parents should be informed by health professionals, especially regarding specific treatment strategies.

Canal length evaluation of curved canals by direct digital or conventional radiography.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of a digital radiograph imaging system (DDR) with conventional radiography for the purpose of estimating endodontic file lengths in curved canals of mandibular molars. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty extracted human mandibular molars with root curvatures ranging from 5 degrees to 52 degrees were mounted in plastic blocks. Canal length was estimated by using on-screen DDR with both 2- and 3-click measurement and from conventional E-speed radiographs by using a millimeter ruler and x2 magnification. Two operators familiar with both radiographic methods performed the estimates. RESULTS: One-way analysis of variance and Newman-Keuls tests revealed no significant differences between the groups. Although both conventional and DDR methods of analysis overestimated the true canal length, the DDR accuracy improved as the curvature severity increased. CONCLUSIONS: The image quality of DDR systems has improved to the point that they can now be used for estimating canal lengths, even for curved canals, with accuracy comparable to that of conventional radiographs. However, further work remains to be done to optimize image quality.