Evaluation of the effects of diode [980 Nm] laser on gingival inflammation after nonsurgical periodontal therapy

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease, for which, scaling and root planning [SRP] is the common approach for non-surgical control of inflammation. Using lasers is another approach in the first phase of periodontal treatment for control of inflammation. Diode laser has some beneficial effects such as acceleration of wound healing, promotion of angiogenesis and augmentation of growth factor release. Thus the aim of this study is the evaluation of diode laser [980 nm] effect on gingival inflammation when it is used between the first and second phase of periodontal treatment, in comparison with common treatment [SRP] modality alone. In this study, 21 patients with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were selected and divided in to control group [SRP] and test group [SRP + laser]. Two months after the last scaling and laser radiation, indexes including gingival level [GL], bleeding on probing [BOP] and modified gingival index [MGI] were recorded and compared with baseline. Two months after the beginning of the study, all indices improved in both groups. The indices were not different between two groups except for BOP which was lower in laser group. Based on overall improvement in parameters such as superiority of laser application in some indices, lack of thermal damage and gingival recession with the specific settings used in this study, the application of laser as an adjunctive treatment together with common methods is preferable

A comparison of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic scaling devices: an in vitro study

PURPOSE: The effects of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric devices on tooth surfaces seem to differ with regard to the root surface roughness they produce. This study aimed to compare the results of scaling using magnetostrictive and piezoelectric devices on extracted teeth. METHODS: Forty-four human extracted teeth were assigned to four study groups (n=11). In two groups (C100 and C200), the teeth were scaled using a magnetostrictive device and two different lateral forces: 100 g and 200 g, respectively. In the other two groups (P100 and P200), the teeth were scaled with a piezoelectric device with 100 g and 200 g of lateral force, respectively. he teeth were scaled and the data on the duration of scaling and the amount of surface were collected and analyzed using the t-test. RESULTS: The mean time needed for instrumentation for the piezoelectric and magnetostrictive devices was 50:54 and 41:10, respectively, but their difference was not statistically significant (P=0.171). For root surface roughness, we only found a statistically significantly poorer result for the C200 group in comparison to the P200 group (P=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that applying a piezoelectric scaler with 200 g of lateral force leaves smoother surfaces than a magnetostrictive device with the same lateral force.

[Relation between helicobacter pylori infection with thyroid autoantibodies in dyspeptic patients]

Infections attributed to Helicobacter pylori [H. pylori] involve almost half of the world's population. One of the effects is auto-antibody induction and cross-reaction with numerous proteins in the body. As a result of its widespread prevalence and importance, this study evaluates the associations between H. pylori and thyroid auto-antibodies. This study enrolled 100 patients who were candidates for gastroesophageal endoscopy that referred to the Yazd Gastrointestinal Clinic. Patients underwent the following laboratory analyses: urease test, anti-H. pylori [IgG], TSH, T4, T3 and thyroid auto-antibodies [anti-thyroglobulin, anti-thyroid peroxides]. Patients were divided into two groups of H. pylori positive and negative according to the results of the anti-H. pylori IgG and urease tests. The level of thyroid auto-antibodies and thyroid function tests were compared between groups. Data were analyzed with chi-square and t-tests. SPSS software version 17 was used for data analysis. Overall, 61% of patients were H. pylori positive. The mean anti-Thyroid peroxidase level in the H. pylori positive group was significantly more than the negative group [p<0.01]. In addition, 19.7% of H. pylori positive patients and 5.1% of H. pylori negative patients had positive anti-TPO levels, which the difference between both groups was significant [p<0.04]. There was no significant difference in thyroid function between the two groups. Although no significant difference in thyroid function was seen in the two groups more patients tested positive for anti-TPO levels in the H. pylori positive group, which was suggestive of thyroid auto-antibody induction by H. pylori.

Effects of 810nm diode laser irradiation on flexural strength of dentin: an in vitro study

Thermal changes in laser assisted root canal therapy with the use of diode laser can predispose tooth structure to the fracture. This study evaluated the changes in flexural strength of dentin blocks after diode laser irradiations [810 nm]. A total of 60 dentinal blocks were prepared from freshly extracted teeth in three different thicknesses [300, 500 and 1000 micro m] and 20 sections in each of these thicknesses were divided randomly to the test and control groups. Samples in the test groups were irradiated at 2W power setting by scanning movement of 2mm/s of diode laser, and the controls were stored in normal saline. The flexural strength of samples was evaluated by UTM [Universal Testing Machine]. Data analysis was done with the SPSS Software 11.5. Samples of 300 micro had the lowest flexural strength [mean: 71/65 mpa] followed by 500 [116.64 mpa] and 1000 micro [217.56 mpa]. Statistical analyses showed that after laser irradiation, the flextural strength in the samples of 300 micro was significantly lower than that in the other groups [500 micro, 1000 micro] [P= 0.017]. Within the limits of this study, diode laser irradiation in laser assisted root canal therapy has no significant effect on flexural strength of root dentinal walls with the thickness of more than 500 micro. Although in areas with critical dentinal width [

[Evaluation of the Tokuhashi Score value for the life expectancy of patients with spinal metastases]

Life expectancy of patients with spinal metastasis is an important factor to manage these patients. Tokuhashi is a scoring system which was the sum of the points of six items: 1.general condition, 2. number of extraspinal bone metastasis, 3. number of metastasis in the vertebral body, 4. presence or absence of metastasis to major internal organs, 5. site of the primary lesion, 6. the severity of palsy. This score can predict survival time. Our study is going to evaluate predictive value of Tokuhashi score in order to select more useful treatment for patient with spinal metastases. This study is cohort. We had 109 patients with spinal metastasis that selected from February 2007 to March 2009.Tokuhashi score is determined for all patients. We compare the predicted survival from this score with actual survival. Analysis based on Kaplan_Meier, Cox regression and McNemar tests. The predicted survival, based on Tokuhashi score, in 38 patients was less than 6 months, in 39 patients, 6-12 months and 1 year or more in 32 patients and the actual survival was: 39 patients died at first 6 months of the follow up, 28 at the second six-month period and 42 patients were alive at the end of the year. No significant difference was seen between predicted and actual Survival time [p=0.116]. Present study showed that the Tokuhashi revised scoring system may be practicable and highly predictive preoperative scoring systems for patients with spinal metastases. Our study showed the Tokuhashi score system can highly predict the survival of patients with spinal metastasis and it is a trustful tool to use for management of these patients