Control of White Spot Lesions with Use of Fluoride Varnish or Chlorhexidine Gel During Orthodontic Treatment A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of fluoride varnish and 2% chlorhexidine gel for controlling active white spot lesions (WSLs) adjacent to orthodontic brackets. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty-five orthodontic patients (17.2 ± 2.3 years old) presenting 60 WSLs adjacent to orthodontic brackets were enrolled in this randomized, blind, 3-armed and controlled clinical trial. The patients were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 arms: (1) two applications of 5% NaF varnish- F, with one-week interval, (2) two applications of 2% chlorhexidine gel-CHX, with one-week interval and (3) usual home care-control (CO). The WSLs were scored by using a DIAGNOdent pen. An independent examiner scored the surfaces using Nyvad criteria for caries assessment. RESULTS: A total of thirty patients presenting 51 lesions completed the study. All treatments reduced the fluorescence values during the experimental period; however, F induced faster remineralization than CHX. After 3 months, 70.58 % were inactive considering all groups. DIAGNOdent pen and Nyvad presented a significant correlation. CONCLUSION: After 3 months of treatment, F, CHX and CO were capable of controlling the WSLs adjacent to the orthodontic brackets. However, the treatment with F was capable of controlling the progression of the WSLs in a shorter period of time.

A comparison of nasopharyngeal endoscopy and lateral cephalometric radiography in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal airway obstruction.

Two auxiliary methods of diagnosing nasopharyngeal airway obstruction were compared. Cephalometric radiography and nasopharyngeal videoendoscopy were evaluated for efficacy in terms of reproducibility and validity. Thirty orthodontic patients (7 to 12 years of age) seeking otorhinolaryngologic treatment for mouth breathing, or mouth and nose breathing, had nasopharyngeal endoscopy and radiographic examinations performed on the same day. Two otorhinolaryngologists analyzed the results. Nasopharyngeal endoscopy was more reliable in identifying all the obstructive nasopharyngeal processes. Endoscopy obtained kappa index scores of almost perfect agreement for diagnosis of posterior nasal septum deviation, of substantial agreement for anterior nasal septum deviation and lower turbinate hypertrophy, and of moderate agreement for middle turbinate hypertrophy. Lateral cephalometric radiography obtained scores of perfect agreement for imaging hypertrophy of the middle turbinate, of almost perfect agreement for imaging hypertrophy of the posterior portion of the inferior turbinate, and of substantial agreement for imaging hypertrophy of the inferior turbinate. Radiographic diagnoses of hypertrophy of the middle and lower turbinates exhibited high sensitivity and low specificity when compared with diagnoses by nasopharyngeal endoscopy.

[The effect of radiation on the chronology of extraction wound healing. Histomorphologic study in rats]. / Influência da radiação X na cronologia do processo de reparo em feridas de extração dental. Estudo histomorfologico em ratos.

The purpose of this study was to analyse histomorfologically the X-radiation influence on the chronology of wound healing of tooth extraction. Sixth young albino rats were used. After extracting the maxillary right incisors all the rats, three experimental groups were formed: the control (I) and the groups that received 1.25 Sv (II) and 1.75 Sv (III). The rats were killer at 3, 7, 14 and 28 post-operative days following the teeth extraction. The pieces obtained were submitted to routine laboratorial procedures until getting pieces stained with hematoxylin and eosin. It was concluted that: 1) there was a delay in the epithelial proliferation of the gengival mucosa o the animals submitted to X-rays, in a similar way in the two irradiated groups: 2) there was a considerable delay in the alveolar repair process in dental extraction wound; 3) this delay was more proeminent when the X-ray action was more intense.