Effects of non-thermal atmospheric plasma treatment on dentin wetting and surface free energy for application of universal adhesives

Objectives

The study aims to evaluate the effects of non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) treatments on dentin wetting and surface free energy (SFE) and compare the effects of NTAP treatment, etch-and-rinse, and self-etch protocols for application of universal adhesives.

Materials and methods

Mid-coronal dentin of intact third molars was used to measure contact angles of distilled water, ethylene-glycol, and diiodomethane and calculate SFE following different NTAP preset treatments (feeding gas consisting of pure He, He + 1% O₂, He + 1.5% O₂), power input (1 or 3 W), and tip-to-surface distance (2, 4, or 8 mm). Contact angles of reference liquids and SFE of dentin following He + 1.5% O₂ at 3-W and 4-mm treatment was compared to phosphoric acid etching. Contact angles of Single Bond Universal (SBU; 3M ESPE) and Clearfil Universal Bond (CUB; Kuraray Noritake) were measured following NTAP, etch-and-rinse, and self-etch protocols.

Results

NTAP significantly reduced contact angles of reference liquids and increased dentin SFE compared to untreated dentin (p < 0.05). O₂ intensified the effect of He NTAP (p < 0.05). NTAP and phosphoric acid increased dentin polarity and Lewis base surface characteristics. Phosphoric acid increased contact angles of adhesives compared to the self-etch protocol (p < 0.05). NTAP resulted in lower adhesive contact angles than phosphoric acid, the difference being statistically significant for CUB (p < 0.05). Compared to the self-etch protocol, NTAP slightly reduced CUB contact angle but not that of SBU (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

He NTAP with and without O₂ increased dentin wetting and SFE, surpassing the effect of phosphoric acid and lowering adhesive contact angles. NTAP produced no apparent micro-morphological changes on dentin surface comparable to acid etching.

Clinical significance

NTAP treatment of dentin prior to adhesive application increases dentin wetting and surface free energy facilitating better adhesive distribution on dentin surface compared to phosphoric acid etching and similar to the “self-etch” application protocol.

     

Effects of polishing techniques on the surface roughness of acrylic denture base resins

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Rough surfaces of denture bases promote adhesion of microorganisms and plaque formation. It is therefore important to know how different polishing systems affect surface roughness of denture base acrylic resins. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of 4 chairside polishing kits and 2 conventional laboratory techniques used for polishing 3 different acrylic denture base resins. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using contact profilometric measurement, the surface texture of 54 specimens (15x30x3 mm) per acrylic material (autopolymerized ProBase Cold, heat-polymerized ProBase Hot, and injection heat-polymerized SR Ivocap plus) was studied before and after cutting with a tungsten carbide bur, and during and after chairside polishing with 4 polishing kits (Exa Technique, Acrylic Polisher HP blue, AcryPoint, Becht Polishing Cream), and after conventional polishing with 2 polishing systems (Universal Polishing Paste for Resins and Metals, Lesk Polishing Liquid). There were 9 specimens for each acrylic resin material and polishing method combination. Conventional lathe polishing with polishing paste served as the control. Mean average surface roughness (Ra) values of each specimen group were analyzed using a 2-way analysis of variance, the Scheffé post-hoc test, and paired t test (alpha=.05) with the Bonferroni adjustment. After testing the polished acrylic resin surfaces were evaluated under a scanning electron microscope. RESULTS: The highest mean average surface roughness (Ra=2.86+/-0.8 microm to 3.99+/-1.31 microm) was measured for surfaces finished with a tungsten carbide bur. The lowest surface roughness values (Ra=0.02+/-0.01 microm) were determined for acrylic resin specimens polished with a lathe and polishing paste. The Ra values of resin specimens after polishing with chairside silicone polishing kits ranged from 0.05+/-0.0 microm to 0.35+/-0.05 microm. Mean average Ra values of specimens polished with a polishing cream alone (Ra=1.01+/-0.17 microm to 1.68+/-0.47 microm) were significantly higher (P<.05) than those obtained with other polishing systems tested, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscope images of acrylic resin surfaces. Significant differences in mean average surface roughness were found between autopolymerizing and injected heat-polymerizing resin specimens. In addition, scanning electron microscopy revealed increased porosity of autopolymerizing resin specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional laboratory polishing was found to produce the smoothest surface of denture base acrylic resin. Chairside silicone polishing kits produced a significantly smoother surface of acrylic resin than specimens polished with a tungsten carbide bur. The presence of large pores was characteristic for the autopolymerizing resin material.     

Enhanced permeability of acid-etched or ground dental enamel

Statement of problem. Acid etching creates retentive microcraters on enamel surfaces. Designing of a partial denture often involves reshaping the supporting and retentive teeth by grinding the enamel. Unfortunately, both these procedures damage the enamel surface. In vivo such surface damage takes several months to recover.Purpose. This study evaluated the effect of 1-minute etching, prolonged etching, and grinding on the permeability of dental enamel for water-soluble molecules.Material and methods. With the electron paramagnetic resonance and a two-chamber diffusion cell, the influence of etching and grinding on the diffusion of spin label molecules through the enamel was studied quantitatively. The enamel permeability was measured in 30 sound enamel samples, of which 10 samples were exposed to 1-minute etching with 37% phosphoric acid, 10 samples were etched for 5 minutes, and 10 samples were ground with a diamond bur.Results and Conclusions. All procedures significantly increased the permeability of dental enamel. These results demonstrate that in vivo the acid-etched and ground dental enamel surfaces are less protected and consequently, unless the tooth is properly protected, are more susceptible to carious lesions. Therefore ground or accidentally etched enamel should be protected. (J Prosthet Dent 1997;77:578-82)     

Tensile strength and corrosion resistance of brazed and laser-welded cobalt-chromium alloy joints

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: The longevity of prosthodontic restorations is often limited due to the mechanical or corrosive failure occurring at the sites where segments of a metal framework are joined together. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine which joining method offers the best properties to cobalt-chromium alloy frameworks. Brazed and 2 types of laser-welded joints were compared for their mechanical and corrosion characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-eight cylindrical cobalt-chromium dental alloy specimens, 35 mm long and 2 mm in diameter, were cast. Sixteen specimens were selected for electrochemical measurements in an artificial saliva solution and divided into 4 groups (n=4). In the intact group, the specimens were left as cast. The specimens of the remaining 3 groups were sectioned at the center, perpendicular to the long-axis, and were subsequently rejoined by brazing (brazing group) or laser welding using an X- or I-shaped joint design (X laser and I laser groups, respectively). Another 16 specimens were selected for electrochemical measurements in a more acidic artificial saliva solution. These specimens were also divided into 4 groups (n=4) as described above. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization were used to assess corrosion potentials, breakdown potentials, corrosion current densities, total impedances at lowest frequency, and polarization charge-transfer resistances. The remaining 36 specimens were used for tensile testing. They were divided into 3 groups in which specimen pairs (n=6) were joined by brazing or laser welding to form 70-mm-long cylindrical rods. The tensile strength (MPa) was measured using a universal testing machine. Differences between groups were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance (alpha=.05). The fracture surfaces and corrosion defects were examined with a scanning electron microscope. RESULTS: The average tensile strength of brazed joints was 792 MPa and was significantly greater (P<.05) than the tensile strength of both types of laser-welded joints (404 MPa and 405 MPa). When laser welding was used, successful joining was limited to the peripheral aspects of the weld. The welding technique did not significantly affect the joint tensile strength. Electrochemical measurements indicated that the corrosion resistance of the laser-welded joints was better than of the brazed ones, primarily due to differences in passivation ability. CONCLUSION: Laser welding provides excellent corrosion resistance to cobalt-chromium alloy joints, but strength is limited due to the shallow weld penetration. Brazed joints are less resistant to corrosion but have higher tensile strength than laser welds.     

Accurate assignment of disease liability to genetic variants using only population data

PurposeThe growing size of public variant repositories prompted us to test the accuracy of pathogenicity prediction of DNA variants using population data alone.MethodsUnder the a priori assumption that the ratio of the prevalence of variants in healthy population vs that in affected populations form 2 distinct distributions (pathogenic and benign), we used a Bayesian method to assign probability to a variant belonging to either distribution.ResultsThe approach, termed Bayesian prevalence ratio (BayPR), accurately parsed 300 of 313 expertly curated CFTR variants: 284 of 296 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in 1 distribution and 16 of 17 benign/likely benign variants in another. BayPR produced an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.99 for 103 functionally confirmed missense CFTR variants, which is equal to or exceeds 10 commonly used algorithms (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve range = 0.54-0.99). Application of BayPR to expertly curated variants in 8 genes associated with 7 Mendelian conditions led to the assignment of a disease-causing probability of ≥80% to 1350 of 1374 (98.3%) pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants and of ≤20% to 22 of 23 (95.7%) benign/likely benign variants.ConclusionIrrespective of the variant type or functional effect, the BayPR approach provides probabilities of pathogenicity for DNA variants responsible for Mendelian disorders using only the variant counts in affected and unaffected population samples.     

Boat pressure washing wastewater treatment with calcium oxide and/or ferric chloride

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of (1) chemical precipitation by calcium oxide, (2) coagulation/flocculation by ferric chloride (FC), and (3) the combination these two methods in reducing the toxicity of wastewater generated by boat pressure washing. All three methods gave satisfactory results in the removal of colour, turbidity, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb. The concentrations of heavy metals were lowered below national limits with 1 g of CaO, 2.54 mg of Fe3+ in the form of FeCl3x6H2O, and the combination of 0.25 g of CaO and 5.08 mg of Fe3+ per 50 mL of wastewater. Both CaO (1.50 g per 50 mL of wastewater) and FC proved efficient, but their combination yielded a significantly better performance: 99.41 %, 100.00 %, 97.87 %, 99.09 %, 99.90 %, 99.46 % and 98.33 % for colour, turbidity, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb respectively. For colour, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb removal efficiencies increased in the following order: FC相似文献