Bonding characteristics of self-etching adhesives to intact versus prepared enamel

Purpose: This study tested the null hypothesis that the preparation of the enamel surface would not affect the enamel microtensile bond strengths of self‐etching adhesive materials. Materials and Methods: Ten bovine incisors were trimmed with a diamond saw to obtain a squared enamel surface with an area of 8 × 8 mm. The specimens were randomly assigned to five adhesives: (1) ABF (Kuraray), an experimental two‐bottle self‐etching adhesive; (2) Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray), a two‐bottle self‐etching adhesive; (3) One‐Up Bond F (Tokuyama), an all‐in‐one adhesive; (4) Prompt L‐Pop (3M ESPE), an all‐in‐one adhesive; and (5) Single Bond (3M ESPE), a two‐bottle total‐etch adhesive used as positive control. For each specimen, one half was roughened with a diamond bur for 5 seconds under water spray, whereas the other half was left unprepared. The adhesives were applied as per manufacturers' directions. A universal hybrid composite resin (Filtek Z250, 3M ESPE) was inserted in three layers of 1.5 mm each and light‐cured. Specimens were sectioned in X and Y directions to obtain bonded sticks with a cross‐sectional area of 0.8 ± 0.2 mm². Sticks were tested in tension in an Instron at a cross‐speed of 1 mm per minute. Statistical analysis was carried out with two‐way analysis of variance and Duncan's test at p <. 05. Ten extra specimens were processed for observation under a field‐emission scanning electron microscope. Results: Single Bond, the total‐etch adhesive, resulted in statistically higher microtensile bond strength than any of the other adhesives regardless of the enamel preparation (unprepared = 31.5 MPa; prepared = 34.9 MPa, not statistically different at p < 05). All the self‐etching adhesives resulted in higher microtensile bond strength when enamel was roughened than when enamel was left unprepared. However, for ABF and for Clearfil SE Bond this difference was not statistically significant at p > 05. When applied to ground enamel, mean bond strengths of Prompt L‐Pop were not statistically different from those of Clearfil SE Bond and ABF. One‐Up Bond F did not bond to unprepared enamel. Commercial self‐etching adhesives performed better on prepared enamel than on unprepared enamel. The field‐emission scanning electron microscope revealed a deep interprismatic etching pattern for the total‐etch adhesive, whereas the self‐etching systems resulted in an etching pattern ranging from absent to moderate. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE For the recently introduced all‐in‐one self‐etching dental adhesives, instrumentation of enamel may be critical for their ability to optimally bond to enamel.     

Morphological study of root surfaces in teeth with adult periodontitis

BACKGROUND: Our study correlates the histological alterations in the cementum (especially resorption areas) of teeth with the different stages of adult periodontitis. METHODS: Sixty-seven teeth affected by adult periodontitis and 7 healthy teeth extracted from patients over 40 years old were used. The teeth were divided into 3 groups according to radiographic data: group 1: five teeth with bone loss less than one-third of the normal alveolar height; group 2: thirty-one teeth with bone loss between one and two thirds; and group 3: thirty-one teeth with bone loss greater than two thirds. The samples were prepared for light and scanning electron microscopy, considering the gingival, middle, and apical thirds in each root. RESULTS: Two control teeth, 4 teeth in group 1, and all teeth in groups 2 and 3 showed resorption areas. Regarding the gingival third, the control teeth did not show any resorption, while 25% of affected teeth in group 1, 38.7% of teeth in group 2, and 35.5% of teeth in group 3 exhibited resorption. Regarding the middle third, 50% of affected teeth belonging to the control group and group 1; 67.7% of teeth in group 2; and 87.1% of teeth in group 3 showed resorption. Regarding the apical third, all teeth belonging to the control group and group 1 showed resorption, while 93.5% and 87.1% of teeth in groups 2 and 3, respectively, exhibited resorption. Most of the resorptions did not extend beyond the cementum. However, in 29.0% of teeth in group 2 and 38.7% of teeth in group 3, resorption had spread as far as the dentin. All the lesions in the control group and group 1 were practically repaired, while only 71.0% of teeth in group 2 and 61.3% of teeth in group 3 showed some sign of reparation. However, in groups 2 and 3, practically all lesions affecting dentin were repaired. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the spread of root resorption is associated with inflammation. This study also suggests that the capacity for repair of root resorption is diminished with greater severity of periodontitis.     

Conservative treatment protocol of odontogenic keratocyst: a preliminary study.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to report our experience with the treatment of 30 odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) patients with a conservative treatment protocol based on decompression with reference to the recurrence rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight patients (19 females, 9 males) with 30 OKCs attended the OMS Department of the Piracicaba Dental School of Campinas State University between 1995 and 2003. Age range was 13 to 69 years (mean, 30 years of age). Initial biopsy was carried out in all patients and the OKCs were diagnosed after histological examination by the Oral Pathology Department. The cases were treated according to the treatment employed in this department, consisting mainly of decompression and curettage of the remaining lesion. The average follow-up for the 28 cases was 24.89 months (+/-9.74). RESULTS: The majority of the lesions (16 patients, 53.3%) occurred in the angle of the mandible and mandibular ramus. The most common histological pattern of OKC was parakeratinized (66.6%) and 13 of 28 patients presented impacted teeth associated with the lesion. The mean time for decompression was 9.27 months. Recurrence occurred in 4 patients (14.3%) with 4 OKCs. These patients were treated initially with decompression and curettage (2 cases), or with decompression only (2 cases). All the cases were monitored continuously with panoramic radiographies and clinical evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment protocol for OKC based on decompression offers a conservative and effective option with low morbidity and similar recurrence rates to those reported in the literature. The systematic and long-term post-surgical follow-up is considered to be a key element for successful results.     

Unwrapping of transient responses from high rate overlapping pattern electroretinograms by deconvolution

Objective

Due to overlapping, temporal information is mostly lost in high rate steady-state pattern electroretinograms (PERG_SS). This study develops a deconvolution method and a display/recording system to “unwrap” PERG_SS and obtain a transient, “per stimulus” response (PERG_tr) regardless of reversal rate.

Methods

Processing and instrumentation, including high temporal resolution display and acquisition were developed for deconvolving PERGs acquired at high rates by slight jittering of reversal onsets at a given mean rate.

Results

The system was successfully tested at eight rates from 2.2 to 78.1 rps. At medium rates (17.4–41.2 rps) recordings with conventional morphology (N35–P50–N95) but earlier peaks and higher amplitudes were extracted up to 40 rps. At higher rates, smaller triphasic responses were obtained, exhibiting similar peak latencies, but reversed polarity. Oscillating potentials (OPs) were also recorded at all rates after deconvolution.

Conclusions

Transient PERGs and OPs can be extracted from quasi steady-state PERG recordings obtained at high rates with a deconvolution algorithm using high temporal resolution display and acquisition systems.

Significance

The methodology to extract transient and oscillatory responses from steady-state PERGs could be useful in understanding high rate responses and diagnosis of various retinal diseases by revealing temporal information on waveform components which cannot be normally observed.     

MANIA—A Pattern Classification Toolbox for Neuroimaging Data

Conventional univariate statistics are common and widespread in neuroimaging research. However, functional and structural MRI data reveal a multivariate nature, since neighboring voxels are highly correlated and different localized brain regions activate interdependently. Multivariate pattern classification techniques are capable of overcoming shortcomings of univariate statistics. A rising interest in such approaches on neuroimaging data leads to an increasing demand of appropriate software and tools in this field. Here, we introduce and release MANIA—Machine learning Application for NeuroImaging Analyses. MANIA is a Matlab based software toolbox enabling easy pattern classification of neuroimaging data and offering a broad assortment of machine learning algorithms and feature selection methods. Between groups classifications are the main scope of this software, for instance the differentiation between patients and controls. A special emphasis was placed on an intuitive and easy to use graphical user interface allowing quick implementation and guidance also for clinically oriented researchers. MANIA is free and open source, published under GPL3 license. This work will give an overview regarding the functionality and the modular software architecture as well as a comparison between other software packages.     

Mapping the brain pathways of declarative verbal memory: Evidence from white matter lesions in the living human brain

Understanding the contribution of the brain white matter pathways to declarative verbal memory processes has been hindered by the lack of an adequate model in humans. An attractive and underexplored approach to study white matter region functionality in the living human brain is through the use of non-aprioristic models which specifically search disrupted white matter pathways. For this purpose, we employed voxel-based lesion–function mapping to correlate white matter lesions on the magnetic resonance images of 46 multiple sclerosis patients with their performance on declarative verbal memory storage and retrieval. White matter correlating with storage was in the temporal lobe–particularly lateral to the hippocampus and in the anterior temporal stem–, in the thalamic region and in the anterior limb of the internal capsule, all on the left hemisphere, and also in the right anterior temporal stem. The same volumes were relevant for retrieval, but to them were added temporo-parieto-frontal paramedian bundles, particularly the cingulum and the fronto-occipital fasciculus. These 3D maps indicate the white matter regions most critically involved in declarative verbal memory in humans.     

Percutaneous biliary drainage in acute suppurative cholangitis

One hundred and sixteen percutaneous drainage procedures of the biliary system were performed in a 2-year period. Eight of 9 acutely ill patients with the diagnosis of acute suppurative cholangitis were successfully treated nonoperatively. They represented 26% of all patients with benign or postsurgical obstruction referred for biliary decompression. Conversely, acute suppurative cholangitis only occurred in 2.3% of patients with underlying malignant disease. These observations are considered most relevant in predicting the purulent nature of the disease, with further implications for patient management. Early recognition and prompt decompression of the biliary system are mandatory, along with the appropriate antibiotic coverage. Our experience compares favorably with surgical results and the procedure is proposed as the method of choice for the initial treatment of acute suppurative cholangitis.