Theoretical method for a radiopacifier proportion calculation in MTA type cements.

This article deals with the problem of determining the proportion by weight of radiopacifying material needed to add to a cement clinker of mineral trioxide aggregated (CE) to comply with ISO 6876/2001 and ANSI-ADA 57 regulations for radiopacity. With this aim, CE was synthesized and mixed experimentally with 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt% of ZrO2 as radiopacifying material. Radiographic images were taken so that radiographic density was obtained and related to the mmAl scale by using an aluminum step wedge. From a theoretical point of view, absorbed intensity given by the Lambert-Beer law was calculated using mass attenuation coefficients (NIST database) for each chemical element included in each component of the cement samples. In this way, we predicted that by adding above 10 wt% of ZrO2 to the CE, the requirements stipulated by ISO 6876 for radiopacity were satisfied with discrepancies around 1 mmAl. This theoretical method gives an excellent approximation to determine the amount of radiopacifying material needed to meet the requirements stipulated by ISO.

Photoelasticity for Stress Concentration Analysis in Dentistry and Medicine.

Complex stresses are created or applied as part of medical and dental treatments, which are linked to the achievement of treatment goals and favorable prognosis. Photoelasticity is an optical technique that can help observe and understand biomechanics, which is essential for planning, evaluation and treatment in health professions. The objective of this project was to review the existing information on the use of photoelasticity in medicine and dentistry and determine their purpose, the areas or treatments for which it was used, models used as well as to identify areas of opportunity for the application of the technique and the generation of new models. A literature review was carried out to identify publications in dentistry and medicine in which photoelasticity was used as an experimental method. The databases used were: Sciencedirect, PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, Springer, EBSCO, Wiley, Lilacs, Medigraphic Artemisa and SciELO. Duplicate and incomplete articles were eliminated, obtaining 84 articles published between 2000 and 2019 for analysis. In dentistry, ten subdisciplines were found in which photoelasticity was used; those related to implants for fixed prostheses were the most abundant. In medicine, orthopedic research predominates; and its application is not limited to hard tissues. No reports were found on the use of photoelastic models as a teaching aid in either medicine or dentistry. Photoelasticity has been widely used in the context of research where it has limitations due to the characteristics of the results provided by the technique, there is no evidence of use in the health area to exploit its application in learning biomechanics; on the other hand there is little development in models that faithfully represent the anatomy and characteristics of the different tissues of the human body, which opens the opportunity to take up the qualitative results offered by the technique to transpolate it to an application and clinical learning.

Correlation between dental enamel chemical composition and bracket debonding, comparing adhesive systems through a scanning electron microscope.

Literature reports indicate that during bracket removal there can be enamel damage. We compare the shear bond strength (SBS) and tooth enamel loss of four adhesive systems and identify the Ca/P ratio. Then a total of 20 premolars were divided into four groups of five each. After prophylaxis, photographs were taken at 35× with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and analyzed with X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at 250×. Brackets were bonded with Transbond™ MIP(G1), Transbond™ PLUS SEP(G2), Enlight(G3) and Stylus®(G4) adhesives, 24 h after were debonded with a Instron universal testing machine at 1 mm/min. All the brackets were photographed with the SEM. The amount of lost enamel was measured with AutoCad. All the results were measured with a significance level p < .05. The SBS general average at debonding was 7.94 ± 2.26 MPa, meanwhile the SBS for G1, G2, G3 and G4 was 9.38 ± 1.46, 6.28 ± 0.69, 9.08 ± 2.45 and 7.04 ± 2.64 MPa respectively. 90% of the samples had no enamel loss, 10% had enamel loss. Only two samples in G1 presented an enamel loss area of 0.34mm2 and 0.80mm2 respectively. From EDS analysis, the Ca/P ratio was 1.6 ± 0.05, 1.61 ± 0.03, 1.64 ± 0.83 and 1.59 ± 0.07 for G1, G2, G3 and G4 respectively; no statistically significant differences were found. We conclude that no association was found between the Ca/P ratio and enamel damage when brackets are removed. HIGHLIGHTS: Where enamel is lost, we observe fractures, steps, horizontal and vertical enamel loss. There is a loss of tooth enamel from 0.34 to 0.80 mm2 with Transbond PLUS SEP. Structural loss of enamel is almost inevitable during the separation of the bracket.