[Retromolar mandibular anesthesia. Radiological and topographical study of an additional method of lower teeth anesthesia].

The aim of the study was to estimate the clinical efficacy of mandibular third molars anesthesia with various combinations of local anesthesia methods. Anatomical, radiological and morphological methods were used in the study. The topographic features of retromolar triangle were thoroughly examined. The neurovascular bundle revealed its relationship with retromolar area structures. According to the results of the clinical study the most effective combinations of mandibular third molars analgesia were selected.

Hospitalisations for removal of impacted teeth in Australia: a national geographic modeling approach.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to project hospitalisation rates for the surgical removal of impacted teeth across Australia, based on Western Australian statistics. METHODS: Population data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and were divided across Australia by statistical local area and related to a validated socioeconomic index. Every episode of discharge from all hospitals in Western Australia for the financial years 1999/2000 to 2008/2009 indicating an impacted/embedded tooth removal as the principle oral condition, as classified by the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10AM), was included in the study. Hospitalisation data were obtained from the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System. Variables of age, place of residence and health insurance status were utilised for projecting the Western Australian rates across Australia. RESULTS: The results of the study showed a definite rural-urban divide and the estimated age-adjusted rates were almost three times greater in the higher socioeconomic areas when compared to their poorer counterparts. The costs of the procedure were estimated to be approximately $60 million per annum across Australia. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can be used to inform health policy to guide proper allocation of resources and target services for the benefit of the community especially those residing in rural and remote areas in a vast country like Australia.

Mechanical and micromorphological evaluation of chlorhexidine-mediated dentin remineralization.

Chlorhexidine (CHX) has been reported to reduce self-degradation of collagen fibrils by inhibiting host-derived protease activity in demineralized dentin. Theoretically, if the collagen fibril scaffold of demineralized dentin maintains its original crosslinkage pattern on treatment with CHX and appropriate supplementation with necessary mineral sources, dentin remineralization may occur in demineralized lesions. In this study, we provide direct mechanical and micromorphological evidence for the ability of CHX to promote remineralization of demineralized dentin. Specifically, with respect to demineralized dentin blocks treated with different concentrations of CHX (0.02-2%) and stored in simulated body fluid, we have observed a significant increase in the elastic modulus of dentin treated with relatively high concentrations of CHX (0.2 and 2%) as storage time increased, whereas the elastic modulus of the non-CHX treated control group decreased. We have also observed a dense mineral deposition along collagen fibrils in the dentin group treated with 0.2 and 2% CHX via field emission scanning electron microscopy.

Later Middle Pleistocene human remains from the Almonda Karstic system, Torres Novas, Portugal.

Later Middle Pleistocene archeological deposits of the Galeria Pesada (Gruta da Aroeira), Almonda Karstic System, Torres Novas, Portugal, yielded two archaic human teeth, a mandibular canine and a maxillary third molar. The C(1)presents moderate and asymmetrical shoveling with a stout root. The slightly worn M(3)exhibits at least four cusps with a large hypocone, three roots with large radicular plates, and an absence of taurodontism. They are moderately large for later Middle Pleistocene humans in their buccolingual crown diameters, although the M(3)mesiodistal diameter is modest. The C(1)exhibits labial calculus and multiple linear hypoplastic defects, but the M(3)is lesion free. Both teeth are morphologically similar to those of other Middle Pleistocene European humans and reinforce a pattern of dental hypertrophy among these archaic Homo.