Aspects of the design of modern dental air turbine handpieces*

Air turbine handpieces are manufactured with a wide range of alternative design features which may influence their suitability for particular clinical procedures. In this article a general account of these features is presented and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Some deficiencies in current methods of stating equipment specifications are reported and suggested improvements are given. Where appropriate, general recommendations are made regarding handpiece selection for clinical practice.     

Absence of sustained effects of acute fluoride exposure on cyclic AMP levels in the adult rat.

Previously published results from studies of the in vivo effects of fluoride on cyclic AMP are contradictory. Because of the important physiological role of cyclic AMP as a "second messenger" in numerous metabolic processes, it was important to clarify the effect of fluoride on cyclic AMP. This study was designed to monitor cyclic AMP levels in the plasma, liver and kidney of rats at intervals of 0.5, 4 and 24 hours following acute intraperitoneal or intubated treatment with a single dose of 15 mg fluoride/kg and to relate cyclic AMP levels to plasma and tissue fluoride concentrations determined at the same time.     

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome: a close association with systemic joint laxity (the hypermobile joint syndrome)

Sixty-two patients admitted for elective reconstructive surgery of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and eight seen as outpatients with a chief complaint of TMJ dysfunction during the same time interval were evaluated for possible etiologic factors contributing to the disease. All hospitalized patients had severe, end-stage degenerative changes within the TMJ, whereas outpatients had less severe disease and did not require surgery. TMJ dysfunction in some patients was said to be a result of established causes including bruxism, malocclusion, and trauma. No patient in this series had evidence of a systemic inflammatory polyarthritis. Of the 70 patients, 38 (54%) met criteria, based on those of Carter and Wilkinson, as modified by Beighton et al., sufficient to warrant a diagnosis of the hypermobile joint syndrome. Five patients had classic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and therefore were not patients with "benign hypermobility," and an additional two cases were described as "marfanoid" and as possible Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, respectively. Radiographs showed TMJ hyperextensibility in four hypermobile patients. Long-term surgical outcome was identical in the hypermobile and nonhypermobile groups. The incidence of hypermobility in this series is strikingly higher than the expected incidence in an otherwise population. Magnetic resonance images of the TMJs on separate groups of asymptomatic normal and hypermobile women identified excessive anterior movement in the hypermobile group, together with abnormal anterior disk position in some. We hypothesize that hypermobility within the TMJ may cause accelerated disk destruction and degenerative disease.     

Endosseous cylinder implants in severely atrophic mandibles.

A retrospective study was completed to assess the success rate of endosseous cylinder implants placed in mandibles that were 10 mm or less in maximum anterior height as measured from lateral cephalometric radiographs. Only implants that were located anteriorly between the mental foramina and loaded prosthetically for a minimum of 1 year were studied. Twenty-eight patients with a total of 130 Nobelpharma implants (forty-six 7 mm and eighty-four 10 mm) were included. The fixtures were evaluated following standard clinical criteria for success established for implants of this type. A total of 8 (two 7 mm and six 10 mm) of 130 implants failed, yielding an overall success rate of 94%. Major complications encountered included a complete mandibular fracture, a partial mandibular fracture, and a temporary bilateral mental nerve hypoesthesia.     

A comparative investigation on autologous mandibular and iliac crest bone grafts. An experimental study in sheep

Nine Friesian sheep (age 1.5-2 years) were used to evaluate the quality of bone repair in artificial cleft-like maxillary defects repaired with autologous bone grafts of embryologically different origin. After bilateral extraction of the upper first deciduous molar the tooth socket was enlarged resulting in an open connection between the oral and nasal cavities. In the same session a graft, obtained from the iliac crest, was implanted in one of the two bilateral maxillary defects and on the opposite side a graft, obtained from the mandible, was inserted. During the experiment, serial radiographs were taken. After six months the sheep were sacrificed and the bone of the grafted areas was submitted to histological and histomorphometric investigation. Comparing both areas, it appeared that the quality of bone remodelling and alveolar reconstruction was independent of the origin of the grafts.     

The Validity of Self-reported Oral Health Status in the Elderly

The validity of self-reported number of teeth was assessed in a random sample of 50 individuals aged 70+ by comparing self-reports in a telephone interview with results of a subsequent in-home examination by a dentist. There were no significant differences between self-report and examination data, nor was there any systematic under- or over-counting of teeth as the actual number of teeth increased. These data support the validity of self-reported dentition.     

Differential scanning calorimetric studies of nickel titanium rotary endodontic instruments

Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analyses were performed between -130 degrees and 100 degrees C on specimens prepared from nickel-titanium (NiTi) rotary endodontic instruments: ProFile (n = 5), Lightspeed (n = 4), and Quantec (n = 3). The ProFile and Lightspeed instruments were in the as-received condition, whereas the Quantec instruments were randomly selected from a dental clinic and had unknown history. The DSC plots showed that the ProFile and Lightspeed instruments analyzed had the superelastic NiTi property, with an austenite-finish (Af) temperature of approximately 25 degrees C. Differences in DSC plots for the ProFile instruments and the starting wire blanks (n = 2) were attributed to the manufacturing process. The phase transformation behavior when the specimens were heated and cooled between -130 degrees and 100 degrees C, the temperature ranges for the phase transformations, and the resulting enthalpy changes were similar to those previously reported for nickel-titanium orthodontic wires having superelastic characteristics or shape memory behavior in the oral environment. The experiments demonstrated that DSC is a powerful tool for materials characterization of these rotary instruments, providing direct information not readily available from other analytical techniques about the NiTi phases present, which are fundamentally responsible for their clinical behavior.