In vitro antioxidant potential of medicinal plant extracts and their activities against oral bacteria based on Brazilian folk medicine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine antibacterial activities of Cocos nucifera (husk fiber), Ziziphus joazeiro (inner bark), Caesalpinia pyramidalis (leaves), aqueous extracts and Aristolochia cymbifera (rhizomes) alcoholic extract against Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus casei. The antioxidant activity and acute toxicity of these extracts were also evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The plant extracts antibacterial activity was evaluated in vitro and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by the broth micro-dilution assay. The bacterial killing kinetic was also evaluated for all extracts. In addition, the antibacterial effect of the extracts was tested in vitro on artificial oral biofilms. The acute toxicity of each extract was determined in according to Lorke [Lorke D. A new approach to practical acute toxicity testing. Arch Toxicol 1983;54:275-87] and the antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH photometric assay [Mensor LL, Menezes FS, Leitão GG, Reis AS, Santos TC, Coube CS, et al. Screening of Brazilian plants extract for antioxidant activity by the use of DPPH free radical method. Phytother Res 2001;15:127-30]. RESULTS: MIC and the bactericidal concentrations were identical, for each evaluated extract. However, microbes of artificial biofilms were less sensitive to the extracts than the planktonic strains. A. cymbifera extract induced the highest bactericidal effect against all tested bacteria, followed by C. nucifera, Z. joazeiro and C. pyramidalis extracts, respectively. All extracts showed good antioxidant potential, being C. nucifera and C. pyramidalis aqueous extracts the most active ones. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, all oral bacteria tested (planktonic or in artificial biofilms) were more susceptible to, and rapidly killed in presence of A. cymbifera, C. pyramidalis and C. nucifera than Z. joazeiro extracts, respectively. Thus, these extracts may be of great interest for future studies about treatment of oral diseases, considering their potent antioxidant activity and low toxicity.

Early vs late orthodontic treatment of tooth crowding by first premolar extraction: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the body of evidence in the literature about the most favorable time for initiating orthodontic treatment in patients with severe crowding caused by tooth size arch length deficiency (TSALD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic databases (PubMed, Ovid Medline, Scopus, Virtual Health Library, and The Cochrane Library) were searched for articles published between 1900 and April 2014. Studies were included that evaluated treatment of patients with severe crowding caused TSALD, who were treated with first premolar extraction. The association between the stage of development of occlusion at which treatment was started, and the primary and/or secondary outcomes of early and late treatment were investigated. RESULTS: After application of the eligibility criteria and reading of the full texts, six articles were included in the final review. Of these six articles, all of which were retrospective, four showed that the primary outcome (correction of severe crowding) of the early and late groups was improved, but without statistically significant differences after treatment. Therefore, the findings of secondary outcomes in the literature (postretention crowding relapse, duration of total and active treatment [treatment with appliances], external apical root resorption, and soft tissue profile) were the target of this study. These studies presented low or moderate methodological quality and control of bias. CONCLUSIONS: Both early and late extraction had a similar effect on correction of crowding. Early treatment had two favorable secondary outcomes (less relapse and reduced active treatment time) vs late treatment. However, the levels of evidence were not sufficient to assert which protocol was superior.

Análise das alterações miofuncionais na correção da mordida aberta anterior / Analysis of the myofunctionals disturb in the correction of the anterior open bite

A mordida aberta anterior é dita como o trespasse vertical dos dentes antagonistas, estejam eles localizados na região anterior, posterior ou em ambas, sendo nesse caso uma situação rara. A gravidade dessa má oclusão vai depender principalmente da presença, frequência e intensidade de hábitos deletérios e do padrão de crescimento facial de cada indivíduo. A musculatura facial e o equilíbrio muscular em função estão bastante ligados à deglutição e a pressão da língua em pacientes portadores de mordida aberta anterior com interposição lingual. O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar, através de 3 exames fonoaudiológicos, a musculatura perioral e a deglutição de um paciente com mordida aberta anterior antes e após o uso da grade palatina.

Estudo epidemiológico da síndrome do incisivo central maxilar mediano único / Epidemiologic study of the single median maxillary central incisor syndrome

O propósito desta investigação foi realizar estudo epidemiológico da síndrome do incisivo central maxilar mediano único (SMMCI) por meio da aplicação de questionários. Foram abordados ortodontistas pós-graduados pela Universidade do Brasil, atual UFRJ, e sete casos foram identificados. Os pacientes apresentaram características associadas ao SMMCI relatadas na literatura e outras não, como respiração bucal, absorção radicular externa, hérnia de disco na coluna vertebral, pressão arterial baixa e apnéias durante o sono. Apenas 2% dos entrevistados conheciam a síndrome SMMCI. Dentre os que possuíam casos, apenas um a conhecia, tendo realizado o diagnóstico e encaminhado seus pacientes para investigação das possíveis associações presentes. Os demais casos foram trartados como agenesia de um inciso central superior.