ABSTRACT
AIM: This study compared enamel defects in children born prematurely and at term. METHOD: 96 children born at term (G1), and with 96 children born prematurely (G2) were studied. RESULTS: A higher prevalence of enamel defects was found in the premature group, with a predominance of hypoplasia. In G1, 64 teeth displayed enamel defects (51 opacities and 13 hypoplasias). In G2, 110 defective teeth were found, (29 opacities and 81 hypoplasias). A significant correlation was found between very low birth weight (VLBW) and the presence of these defects (p < or = 0.001). The teeth most affected were the incisors, canines and molars. CONCLUSION: Prematurity, in conjunction with other factors, can predispose children to enamel defects.
Subject(s)
Dental Enamel Hypoplasia , Dental Enamel/abnormalities , Infant, Low Birth Weight , Infant, Premature , Case-Control Studies , Dental Enamel Hypoplasia/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Risk Factors , Tooth, Deciduous/abnormalitiesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and genetic factors may have an important role in its severity. Polymorphisms in the promoter regions of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) genes have been reported to cause changes in the production of these cytokines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible role of IL-6 (G-174C) and tumour necrosis factor (G-308A) polymorphisms, in the severity of chronic periodontitis in an elderly population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a group of 65 elderly women, comprising 17 patients with moderate chronic periodontitis, 21 with severe chronic periodontitis and 27 healthy patients were selected. DNA was isolated from all subjects, and polymerase chain reaction was used to study the IL-6 and TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms. RESULTS: The results of this study showed a significant difference in the allele and genotype frequencies of IL-6 gene polymorphism between patients with periodontal disease and controls. Subjects carrying the G/G genotype of IL-6 were most severely affected by periodontitis. The TNF-alpha gene polymorphism showed no association with chronic periodontitis between patients and controls. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the IL-6 gene polymorphism may be associated with chronic periodontitis, and that TNF-alpha gene polymorphism may not be involved in the progression of chronic periodontitis in the population of elderly Brazilian women.
Subject(s)
Chronic Periodontitis/immunology , Interleukin-6/genetics , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics , Adenine , Aged , Alleles , Alveolar Bone Loss/genetics , Alveolar Bone Loss/immunology , Chronic Periodontitis/genetics , Cytosine , Disease Progression , Female , Gene Frequency/genetics , Genotype , Gingival Hemorrhage/genetics , Gingival Hemorrhage/immunology , Guanine , Humans , Periodontal Attachment Loss/genetics , Periodontal Attachment Loss/immunology , Promoter Regions, Genetic/geneticsABSTRACT
This study aimed to validate clinical analysis of 20 pediatric dentists on occlusal groove-fossa-system of molar depth comparing to Cone-beam tomography. The 48 sound third molars were visually classified from the shallowest to the deepest. Images were taken from the Accuitomo 3DX. There was a fair correlation between clinical analysis and the tomographic scorings (rs = 0.238; P = 0.103). It was concluded that pediatric dentists were not able to classify the fissures depth by visual analysis correctly.
Subject(s)
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography/methods , Dental Enamel/diagnostic imaging , Dental Fissures/diagnostic imaging , Molar, Third/diagnostic imaging , Age Factors , Clinical Competence , Cone-Beam Computed Tomography/instrumentation , Dental Enamel/pathology , Dental Fissures/pathology , Dentin/diagnostic imaging , Dentin/pathology , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/instrumentation , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods , Imaging, Three-Dimensional/instrumentation , Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods , Molar, Third/pathology , Observer Variation , Pediatric Dentistry/standards , Time Factors , Visual Perception/physiologyABSTRACT
AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate mutans streptococci (MS) in the saliva following use of the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) technique. METHODS: Sixteen 5-7-year-old children had restorations using the ART technique and employing FUJI IX glass-ionomer cement as the restorative material. Decayed tissue was manually excavated without local anaesthesia, being careful to avoid discomfort. Saliva was collected for microbiological assessment using Kit Caritest MS before treatment, one week, four weeks and one year after ART was used. The procedure for saliva collection, incubation, storage, and comparative reading of MS counts followed the manufacturer's instructions. The data were statistically analysed, using non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks and Sign Test) at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed a significant reduction of MS levels in saliva when comparing the results before treatment with those obtained one week (95.95%; P = 0.003), four weeks (93.27%; P = 0.000) and one year (95.56%; P = 0.002) after ART. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded from the results that the ART technique proved satisfactory and appeared to have produced a significant and sustained reduction in levels of MS. These results need to be confirmed in a larger study.
