Caries experience of Egyptian adolescents: does the atraumatic restorative treatment approach offer a solution?

To assess the prevalence and severity of dental caries amongst Egyptian adolescents and the prevalence of carious lesions treatable through the atraumatic restorative treatment [ART] approach. Using a convenient sample procedure, two secondary schools with a dental clinic were selected [967 students, average age: 13.7 +/- 0.8 years, range: 12-15]. Dental caries was diagnosed using the ART caries criteria, and plaque and calculus were assessed using the Green and Vermillion criteria amongst students grades 1-3 in the dental clinic by 3 calibrated examiners. The effect of the independent variables gender, age, tooth surface, jaw side [left or right] and type of jaw [mandible/maxilla] on dependent caries experience variables and D2 and D3 variables were tested using ANOVA. The prevalence of dental caries including enamel lesion [D2MFT] amongst the 967 students was 51.4% and that of dental caries excluding enamel lesions [D3MFT] was 38.1%. The mean D2MFT and D3MFT scores were 1.5 and 0.8, respectively. The percentage of teeth filled and extracted was low. Female students had statistically significantly higher mean D3MFT/S and D2MFT/S scores than males [p < 0.0001]. The prevalence of cavitated carious lesions [D3] treatable through ART was 48% for score 2 and 28% for score 3. Most of the cavitated lesions were found untreated despite the presence of a dental clinic and a dentist on the school premises. The majority of cavitated lesions without pulp involvement could be treated using the preventive and restorative components of the ART approach

In vitro selection and molecular characterization of salt tolerant canola plantlets

In this study, a system for in vitro selection of salt tolerant canola clones [plantlets] was developed. The developed system relies on somaclonal variation and the high regenerative capacity of hypocotyl explants of the Egyptian canola cultivar Serw 4 via direct and indirect shoot organogenesis. The optimized regeneration system involves callus formation from hypocotyl explants of 4 day-old seedlings on MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/l 2,4-D and shoot proliferation from proliferated microcalli colonies on MS + 4.0 mg/l BA. Shoot organogenesis frequecny ranged from 35 to 40%. This system was used for in vitro selection of salt tolerant plantlets from hypocotyl explants of seedlings germinated on salt containing medium. Under selection pressure, shoot organogenesis frequencey dropped to 5% for selected cell lines and zero for non-selected cell lines onto 0.3% NaCl. The biochemical and molecular characterization of the selected and non-selected clones were performed using: proline accumulation, total protein content, SDS-PAGE and RAPD analysis. The salt-tolerant plantlets were characterized by improved growth on saline media, rapid accumulation of proline, high content of total protein, synthesis of new set of high molecular weight proteins [38 and 94 KD] and unique RAPD banding profiles. The criteria of the selected clones outlined above may be a part of biochemical make up performed by these canola clones to tolerate extreme salt stress