Sublingual drug dispensing prosthesis.

Sublingual mode of drug administration is one of the fastest and predictable methods of drug delivery to the patient. Some patients, due to the pathological or psychological reasons, experience considerable difficulty in retaining the sub-lingual tablets. Therefore, often they either swallow or chew the sublingual tablets, thus reducing the efficacy of the medicines. Sublingual drug dispensing prosthesis is a special type of appliance that helps such patients to house the sublingual tablets in special slots in an intra-oral appliance, and thus enhances proposed drug delivery and improves the patient's health.

A finite element thermal analysis of various dowel and core materials.

Aim: Thermal analysis of the temperature and stress distribution of parallel sided, threaded and non-threaded dowels and core materials under thermal loading within a maxillary central incisor using a three dimensional finite element study. Materials and Methods: 3D models of endodontically treated maxillary central incisor with parallel sided, threaded and non- threaded post and core materials were simulated using the ANSYS software. Materials simulated were parallel sided cast gold post and core, parallel sided fibre reinforced composite (FRC) post and core, and parallel sided, threaded, prefabricated stainless steel post and amalgam core. Thermal loads simulating hot (60 degree C/ 333K) and cold (15 degree C/288K) liquid were applied for 15 seconds at the incisal edge. The temperature changes at the selected nodes were obtained on the various post and core materials, interface between post and dentin, interface between core and dentin, within the dentin and within the cement layer. Results: Temperature and stress distribution pattern were represented in numerical and color coding and results interpreted. Thermal stresses arises as a result of temperature changes. A decreased temperature gradient of the metallic dowels and core (T1 hot - 0.002K, T3 hot - 1.071K, T1 cold -0.99K, T3 cold - 0K) were obtained than that of the FRC dowel and core of 1.982K(hot) and1.55K(cold) respectively due to the higher thermal conductivity of the metals. Higher thermal stress values of 3.567 Mpa(hot) and 3.092 Mpa(cold) respectively were obtained for the FRC dowels and higher stress values of 39.679 Mpa(hot) and 57.855 Mpa(cold) respectively were also obtained for the FRC cores. These values indicated that thermal stresses of the FRC dowel and core were greater than that of cast gold dowel and core and prefabricated stainless steel dowel and amalgam core due to its high coefficient of thermal expansion. Maximum stress values of the FRC dowel and core of 1.87 Mpa(hot) and 2.57 Mpa(cold) respectively were also generated in the cement layer, core and metal ceramic crown. The junction of the metal ceramic crown and dentin demonstrated the maximum stress. Higher thermal stress values of 59.162 ± 10 Mpa were obtained in the restoration and the coronal portion of the dentin than the stress levels of .0039 ± 10Mpa in the supporting bone due to an increased thermal expansion. Conclusion: Non-metallic dowel and core materials such as fibre reinforced composite dowels (FRC) generate greater stress than metallic dowel and core materials. This emphasized the preferable use of the metallic dowel and core materials in the oral environment.

Evaluation and comparison of castability between an indigenous and imported Ni-Cr alloy.

Context: Since 1907 casting restorations have been in use in dentistry. Numerous companies have been manufacturing and marketing base metal alloys. Gold was a major component of casting alloys. But alloys with less than 65% gold tarnished easily and the increase in cost of gold post-1970s lead to the revival of base metal alloys such as nickel-chromium and cobalt-chromium alloys which were in use since 1930s. Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the castability between an indigenous alloy and an imported alloy, as imported base metal alloys are considered to be expensive for fabrication of crowns and bridges. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the castability (for the accurate fabrication of crowns and bridges) between an indigenous base metal alloy-Non-ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre (NFTDC), Hyderabad (Alloy A) -and an imported base metal alloys (Alloy B). Castability measurement was obtained by counting the number of completely formed line segments surrounding the 81 squares in the pattern and later calculating the percentage values. The percentage obtained was taken as the castability value for a particular base metal alloy. The percentage of castability was determined by counting only the number of completely cast segments in a perfect casting (81 × 2 = 162), and then multiplying the resulting fraction by 100 to give the percentage completeness. Statistical Analysis Used: The Student t-test was used. Results: When the castability of alloys A and B was compared, the calculated value was less than the tabular value (1.171 < 2.048) leading to the conclusion that castability between alloys A and B is insignificant. Therefore we conclude that both the alloys have the same castability. Conclusions: Using the above-mentioned materials and following the method to test castability, we were able to derive favorable results. As the results were satisfactory, we can conclude that the castability of the indigenous alloy is on par with the imported alloy.