Lobodontia: Genetic entity with specific pattern of dental dysmorphology.

A characteristic pattern of dental anomalies including cone-shaped premolars, multitubercular molar crowns, pyramidal molar roots with single root canals, shovel-shaped incisors with palatal invaginations and hypodontia usually described as lobodontia was recognised as a separate entity. Only a few family reports on this condition have been published until now. The prevalence of the condition is estimated to be less than 1:1000,000. In the present paper we tried to delineate and clarify some additional aspects of this rare genetic entity in three families with 17 affected members. This represents the largest number of cases recorded since now. The analyses of dental morphology, crown-size profile patterns, pedigree analyses, and analyses of digitopalmar dermatoglyphics were performed in 7 examined patients. Crown-size profile pattern was calculated for seven patients and compared with standards for the Croatian population. The most striking features of the condition are conical premolars, tritubercular canines, single pyramidal molar roots, multitubercular molar crowns and invaginated upper incisors. A considerable reduction of crown-size was observed for all premolars, particularly in mandible. The alveolar process in the premolar region was hypoplastic and thin in all patients studied. Gender ratio of affected individuals was approximately M1:F1. Our data suggest that the prevalence of this condition is less than 1:300,000 in the Croatian population, which is considerably higher than previously reported in the literature. The analysis of the anomaly in all the families showed a slight variability in the clinical picture and autosomal dominant (AD) mode of inheritance. It could be concluded that this rare condition described as lobodontia represents a true genetic entity which follows AD mode of inheritance and displays variability in its expression.

Effect of LGG yoghurt on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus spp. salivary counts in children.

The aim of this study was to establish effect of 14 day consumption of commercially available yoghurt containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC53103 - LGG (Bioaktiv LGG, Dukat, Croatia) on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus spp. salivary counts in children. Twenty five patients, 6-10 yr old participated in the study. At the inclusion in the study caries risk for every patient was evaluated. The saliva samples were tested with chair side kits for saliva buffer capacity (CRT buffer, Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein), S. Mutans and Lactobacillus counts (CRT bacteria test, Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein). Seven, 14 and 30d after yoghurt consumption saliva samples were tested again with CRT buffer and CRT bacteria tests. Obtained data were analyzed using chi2 and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results showed significant increase in saliva buffer capacity 30d after yoghurt consumption. S. Mutans salivary counts were significantly decreased after 30d. Significant differences in Lactobacillus counts were not observed. It could be concluded that daily consumption of yoghurt containing LGG have an inhibitory effect on oral pathogenic bacteria and may be beneficial in caries prevention.

Dental trauma in children and young adults visiting a University Dental Clinic.

The aim of the study was to present the distribution of traumatic dental injuries in the permanent anterior teeth in 447 consecutively selected patients in the age interval of 6 to 25 years treated at the Department of Paediatric Dentistry at the University Dental Clinic in Rijeka, Croatia, in the period from 2001 to 2006. Data on age, gender, number of injured teeth and type of injury were taken from the dental records. Of all 447 consecutively selected patients with traumatic dental injury 56.2% were boys and 43.8% were girls with a male/female ratio 1.28:1 (P < 0.01). The highest frequency of tooth injuries occurred among 10- to 13-years-old children. Among 30.6% of the cases, two or more teeth were injured (38.6% in boys and 21.4% in girls). Traumatic injuries affecting teeth in the upper jaw were more frequent (P < 0.001). The most commonly affected teeth were the maxillary central incisors (42.4% of right central incisors and 38% of left central incisors). The most frequent injury was enamel and dentin fracture without pulpal involvement (38.7%). In conclusion, more attention should be paid to preventive measures.

Heat-treated glass ionomer cement fissure sealants: retention after 1 year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the retention rate of glass ionomer cement (GIC) fissure sealants heated during setting time. METHODS: One hundred and twelve teeth with well-delineated fissure morphology were sealed with composite resin and GIC. Composite resin (Helioseal F, Vivadent) was used in control group A (56 teeth). GIC (Fuji VII, GC) was applied using split-mouth design with conditioning in group B (26 teeth) and without surface conditioning in group C (30 teeth). GIC was heated with external heat source (Elipar Trilight, Espe) for 40 s during the setting time according to the manufacturer's instructions. Fissure sealants were evaluated 1 year after clinical service. RESULTS: Retention rate in group A was 80.4% after 1 year of clinical service. Group B showed retention rate of 30.8%, and group C of 26.7%. Two new caries lesions were detected in groups B and C. Significant differences in retention between the composite group and GIC groups were obtained by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that retention rate of GIC sealing treated with heat during setting time was significantly lower than retention of conventional composite resin. The heating procedure during setting of GIC sealants cannot be recommended as routine treatment in clinical practice.

Soft-start polymerization of fissure sealant: retention after three years.

The aim of this study was to investigate retention of composite fissure sealant polymerized with standard and soft-start technique after a three year clinical trial. One hundred teeth were divided into two groups (A&B) of teeth and sealed with composite material (Visioseal, 3M Espe) using split mouth design. Sealants were polymerized using standard (Group A) and soft-start (Group B) techniques with commercial polymerization unit (Elipar Highlight, 3M Espe). Retention rate in Group A was 72%. In 14 teeth sealant was partially or completely missing. Group B showed retention rate of 80%. Sealant was partially or completely missing in 10 teeth. Six new caries lesions in Group A (3) and B (3) were detected. Mann-Whitney test did not reveal significant differences between the polymerization techniques. After three years complete retention of sealants, regardless of the group, was 76% (76 teeth) with six new caries lesions. Soft-start polymerization showed a comparable retention rate as the standard polymerization technique.

[Minor physical anomalies in children with hearing impairment]. / Zastupljenost tjelesnih minor anomalija u djece ostecena sluha.

The prevalence of minor physical anomalies was studied on a sample of 116 children with idiopathic hearing impairment (66 boys and 50 girls). The control group consisted of 246 children with normal hearing (123 boys and 123 girls) aged from 8 to 12 years. The number of minor anomalies found per child (W1) was compared and the sum of the weighted scores according to Waldrop (W2) in children with normal hearing (CNH) and children with impaired hearing (CIH). A higher minor physical anomalies score was determined per child in the CIH group. In the CNH group there were 4 or more (33.6%) with multiple anomalies, while in the CNH group there were only 7.7% with four or more anomalies. A high score (W2) of five or more anomalies was determined in 18.9% of children in the CIH group and not one subject in the control group. Differences between the CIH and CNH groups for the mean score W1 and W2 were highly significant. The mean score W1 for CIH was 2.90 and for CNH 1.70. The mean score W2 for CIH was 2.93 and for CNH 1.46. According to the obtained results etiological factors probably had a parallel effect in CIH during early development, which lead to physical and hearing impairment. The high incidence found of multiple minor anomalies in CIH suggests a significant role of genetic factors in the aetiology of the basic disorder in the group of analysed children.

Craniofacial anthropometric pattern profile in hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia--application in detection of gene carriers.

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is characterized by clinical manifestations of severe hypodontia or anodontia, hypotrichosis, hypohidrosis, and specific facial appearance. Affected males show complete expression of clinical features of this condition. Their mothers, who are gene carriers, express only some signs, which are usually very mild. Currently available clinical methods are not sufficient for routine identification of the HED heterozygous gene carriers. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the facial characteristics of HED patients and their mothers and to evaluate the usefulness of craniofacial pattern profile analysis (CFPP) in the diagnosis of this syndrome and the detection of gene carriers. In this study six affected males and their mothers were evaluated. Z-scores for each variable were calculated and compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Anthropometric analysis showed a specific dysmorphic pattern in CST patients that includes decreased skull base width (t-t: -1.67 Z); decreased forehead width (ft-ft: -1.8 Z), decreased midface depth (sn-t: -2.02 Z), markedly decreased total facial height (n-gn: -3.4 Z), and markedly decreased maxillary arc (t-sn-t: -2.5 Z). Gene carriers showed a similar tendency in their pattern profiles. They showed the same tendency towards lower Z-values for forehead width, facial height, and mouth width. The values for these measurements were between those of the affected and healthy controls. The most pronounced findings were increased head width (eu-eu: +2.83 Z), increased lower face width (go-go: +2.06 Z), and reduction of total facial height (n-gn: -0.95 Z). They also displayed increased nose width (al-al: +2.41 Z) and increased biocular distance (ex-ex: +2.01 Z). When used in conjunction with other methods the anthropometrics pattern profile analysis can considerably enhance detection of gene carriers for HED and increase objective assessment of the craniofacial region in HED patients.

Dental and minor physical anomalies in children with developmental disorders--a discriminant analysis.

A discriminant analysis was performed in a sample of 303 children with developmental disorders (DD) and 303 healthy controls (C) in order to test whether some oro-dental and physical minor anomalies could discriminate these groups of children. DD sample comprised 176 mentally retarded (MR) children. 70 children with impaired hearing (IH) and 57 children with impaired vision (IV). The control group included 303 healthy subjects, matched for sex and age. The analysis comprised seven common oral and dental anomalies: median diastema, hypodontia, impacted teeth, microdontia, dens invaginatus, upper lip frenulum and frenulum of the tongue. Minor physical anomalies were assessed by the method proposed by Waldrop et al., as the average number of minor anomalies per individual (W1) and as the weighted score of minor anomalies (W2). Three discriminant functions were obtained by analysis of nine initial variables. Distinct discrimination and considerable distances were found between the centroids of the controls and all groups of DD children. The first two discriminant functions were significant for discrimination between the groups and they explained 98.6% of the total variance. The first function contained 90.2% of information and was defined by the number and weighted scores of minor anomalies. The second variable explained 8.4% of the total variability and was defined by three dental anomalies. The results obtained by the discriminant analysis show that application of dental and minor physical anomalies enables discrimination between the group of healthy children and the groups of children with different developmental disorders.