Abstract :

Herbals have been used for centuries to prevent and control disease. Herbal extracts are effective because they interact with specific chemical receptors within the body and are in a pharmacodynamic sense than drugs themselves so usage of herbal extract averte many patients from many side effects that generally come with traditional medicines. Propolis gained a popularity in the field of Dentistry because of its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, healing, anesthetic and cariostatic properties. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the histological response of a healthy rabbit pulp to direct pulp capping with propolis compared to calcium hydroxide. Twelve male rabbits were selected, their dental pulps were intentionally exposed by using low speed round bur on labial surfaces of permanent central incisors. Split mouth technique was used for applying the capping material to control and experimental groups. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups, four rabbits for each, where rabbits were sacrificed after 1, 2 and 4 weeks from capping time respectively. Teeth were dissected after animal scarification and prepared for histopathologic and histochemical evaluation using Hematoxylin_ Eosin (HE) and Trichrome stains. The results showed that 25%, 50% and 25% of dental pulps capped with calcium hydroxide showed mild, moderate and severe inflammatory response respectively, while in propolis group 75% and 25% showed slight to moderate inflammatory response respectively. As regard hard tissue formation in response to capping materials, in calcium hydroxide group half of the cases showed moderate deposition and other half showed marked hard tissue deposited at fourth week of follow up period. While in propolis group there was a marked deposition in 75% of cases and moderate deposition in 25% in the other. Conclusion propolis proved to have less intense inflammatory response and better quality dentin bridge formation.

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to review the effect of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expanders used in the treatment of maxillary skeletal transverse deficiency. Material and methods: A search was conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library till May 2020. The gray literature was also explored via google scholar and Open Gray. Selection criteria included randomized and prospective clinical trials comparing the outcomes of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. Eligibility criteria were applied, and the authors planned to extract relevant data, and assess the risk of bias using the RoB 2 tool for randomized controlled trials and ROBINS-I tool for non-randomized studies, followed by the assessment of the quality of evidence. Results: As no studies met the inclusion criteria for this review, we discussed the results of prospective clinical trials studying the clinical outcomes of using miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. Conclusion: To date, there are no high-quality clinical trials comparing the clinical outcomes of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. There is no clear agreement in the literature on the most efficient activation protocol used with the miniscrew-assisted palatal expanders.

The aim of this review was to evaluate the current evidence regarding post-treatment effects of tooth-bone-borne vs. bone-borne expanders. A search was conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and Open Gray; in addition to a hand search in reference lists of selected articles and creating a search alert in electronic databases. Selection criteria included randomized and prospective clinical trials comparing post-expansion skeletal and/or dento-alveolar effects of tooth-bone-borne expanders to those of bone-borne expanders. Following study retrieval and selection, relevant data was extracted, and risk of bias was assessed using the revised RoB 2 tool for randomized clinical trials. After examining 10 full text articles, one randomized clinical trial was finally included. The study compared the dento-alveolar effects of tooth-bone-borne and bone-borne expanders, following expansion and after 6 months, using digital dental casts. Using the RoB 2 tool, the study was judged overall to show some concerns. A definitive conclusion could not be drawn from this systematic review due to the scarcity of clinical trials tackling the research question. A need for future well-conducted research was highlighted in this review.

Immature permanent teeth with apical pathosis and pulp necrosis represents a therapeutic challenge. Necrotic pulps occur in instances of untreated carious lesions or trauma to the anterior teeth. The latter situations represent challenge in root canal debridement and filling and due to thin dentinal walls leading to increased risk of fracture (Cvek.,1992). Insufficient data exists concerning the use of PRF as a scaffold in regenerative endodontic. Knowledge about the nature of regenerated cells remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted this study to compare between 2 different scaffolds; blood clot and Leukocyte-platelet-rich fibrin (L-PRF) concentrates. In addition, we performed histological evaluation in dogs in terms of presence of absences or inflammation, presence or absence of vital pulp tissue, presence or absence of new hard tissue and however the new cells are reparative or regenerated cells.

Abstract

Recent advances in developmental, molecular and cellular biology as well as biomedical technologies show a promising future for crossing the gap between biomedical basic sciences and clinical orthodontics. Orthodontic research shall utilise the advances and technologies in biomedical fields including genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics and developmental biology. This review provides an update on the novel and promising evolutions in biomedicine and highlights their current and likely future implementation to orthodontic practice. Biotechnological opportunities in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopaedics are presented with regards to CRISPR technology, multi-omics sequencing, gene therapy, stem cells and regenerative medicine. Future orthodontic advances in terms of translational research are also discussed. Given the breadth of applications and the great number of questions that the presently available novel biomedical tools and techniques raise, their use may provide orthodontic research in the future with a great potential in understanding the aetiology of dentofacial deformities and malocclusions as well as in improving the practice of this clinical specialty.

Moving within the second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, dental education delivery has been profoundly affected by this crisis, so has the structure, evaluation, and future of dental education. Both pre-clinical and clinical dental education have experienced challenges ranging from fully online educational content to limited dental training for senior dental students. This crisis appears to be a tipping point that produced confusion in dental teaching especially clinical sciences. Although medical institutions immediately started to adapt to the unexpected COVID-19 crisis, dental and oral health educational services are profoundly impaired due to the dental team’s propinquity to the patient and the aerosols generated during routine dental therapeutic procedures. Dental students unlike other medical students are considered to be at the highest risk due to the nature of their clinical training that includes working in the oral cavity of patients using aerosol-generating equipment. Some dental schools have taken the leadership and documented their modifications during this pandemic; however, there is a serious need for further investigation and wide range screening of the situation in the dental schools during the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of this mini-review is to present these challenges and how academic dental institutions have implemented strategies to overcome them. Keywords: dental school

1 Main text

Coronavirus pandemic has affected all medical institutions, and dental schools are no exception [1]. Dentists including dental students have been considered as a very high-risk group by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) due to the potential for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through aerosolgenerating clinical procedures [2]. The transmission mode of SARS-CoV-2 (the causative agent of COVID19) via respiratory droplets exposes dental healthcare providers to a high risk of infection. For this reason, many of the dental academic institutions have either closed temporarily or applied localized closures during the early wave of the pandemic. The reaction toward the COVID-19 crisis varied observing the available resources, institutional settings, and national (local) safety guidelines. Dental education has been affected given the application of various response strategies, including but not limited to transitioning from in-person classes into distant learning, changing the policies toward the in-patient care, canceling and modifying clinical rotations, professional meetings, and finally rescheduling of licensure examinations [3].

      Academic dental schools are known to be demanding and highly competitive learning environments. COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the differences between medical and dental institutions in the practical and clinical educational activities. Academic dental institutions are known as competitive and demanding learning communities, where students study preclinical and clinical dental courses designed to equip them with the essential knowledge and skills for licensure and clinical practice [4]. Clinical dental interventions require the integration of students’ technical and intellectual skills which require clinically oriented education in both basic medical and dental sciences, in addition to refined practice-based education in clinical dental care.

       As we are starting the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, dental academic institutions in Egypt must learn from previous experiences and take the professional responsibility to share information. We hope that dental schools will be able to maintain adequate training in a safe clinical setting. Regarding clinical training, it is important to answer many questions that may help in understanding our future actions like are dental schools considered among high-risk workplaces or they should be treated like other educational in-campus settings? What will be the basic infection control standards? Are there any plans regarding the COVID-19 vaccination? Are there expected modifications on the future designs and infrastructure of educational dental settings including waiting areas, and spacing of dental units, and the central air ventilation? Although hybrid learning will probably be a keystone of future dental education, it is crucial to study extensively the possible pedagogical effects of the sudden change in dental educational strategies caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, as an educator, I wish to go back soon to normal interactive dental education, but I believe that dental education might change significantly in the near future.

ABSTRACT

Background: There is little number of studies that address the inter-relationship of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and periodontitis during pregnancy. Hence, this study was conducted to provide further evidence in the possible association between chronic periodontitis and GDM by evaluating the level of Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) of chronic periodontitis patients with GDM after phase I periodontal therapy.

Subjects and methods: This study was conducted on 40 subjects divided into 2 groups: 20 pregnant females suffering from gestational diabetes mellitus associated with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis and 20 systemically free pregnant females suffering from moderate to severe chronic periodontitis. The periodontal status of the subjects was assessed at baseline before phase I periodontal therapy and 2 months after completion of the treatment: All subjects have been screened by comprehensive periodontal examination and full periodontal charts were obtained. The following clinical parameters were assessed to determine the clinical periodontal status of patients: Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), and Clinical Attachment Level (CAL). Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and serum samples were collected from both study groups to detect TNF-α levels. Regarding the assessment of TNF-α, Real-time reverse-transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT) PCR technique was used.

Results: Results of the present study observed statistically significant reduction in TNF-α levels after 2 months from phase I periodontal therapy. The current study showed that, there was a statistically significant positive (direct) correlation between TNF-α level, PI, GI, PPD and CAL measurement at baseline and after 2 months from phase I periodontal therapy.

Conclusion: It is shown that the levels of TNF-α in GCF and serum before treatment were higher in GDM group (group 1) than in the control group. Thus, the examination of TNF-α may enhance the understanding of pathogenesis of periodontitis and GDM and its assessment in the treatment process may result in better control of the disease.

This in vitro study was conducted to evaluate effect of surface treatment of zirconia and two resin cements on retentive force of zirconia crowns. Materials and Methods: Forty zirconia crowns (Amann Girrbach AG, Austria) were fabricated and divided into 2 groups according to type of resin cement, group (1) 1 Rely x ultimate clicker (3M Deutschland, Germany) and group (2) Rely x unicem (3M ESPE, USA), each group was then subdivided into 4 groups according to type of surface treatment, no surface treatment, sandblasting, sandblasting with silane and sand blasting with MDP. After cementation retention was measured by Materials Testing Machine (Instron Industrial Products, Norwood, USA) with a load cell of 5 kN. Data were recorded using computer software (Bluehill Lite; Instron Instruments). Results: Group (2) showed higher significant mean of retentive force than group (1). Self-adhesive resin cement showed higher mean of retention (82.72 ± 1 6.91) and (128.21 ± 19.88), compared to conventional (43.86 ± 5.89) and (92.95 ± 5.70), the difference was statistically significant. Sandblasting with MDP showed higher mean of retention (153.88 ± 12.07) and (166.19 ± 12.66), compared to group with no surface treatment (43.86 ± 5.89) and (82.72 ± 6.91) and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusions: Group (1) Rely x ultimate clicker resin cement (conventional resin cement) showed less mean of retentive force than group (2) Rely x unicem resin cement (self-adhesive).