Citric acid, but not tetracycline, improves the microscopic pattern of healing of particulate autogenous bone grafts in critical-size defects.

BACKGROUND: Bone demineralization has shown to be advantageous in autogenous onlay bone grafts and in pre-osteoblasts cultures, but such procedure has never been evaluated in particulate bone grafts. This study aimed to investigate the role of two demineralizing agents in the repair of the 8-mm critical-size defects in rats' calvaria. METHODS: Eighty adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to one of eight groups as follows: particulate autogenous bone demineralized with citric acid for 15 seconds (CA15), 30 seconds (CA30), or 60 seconds (CA60); particulate autogenous bone demineralized with tetracycline hydrochloride for 15 seconds (TCN15), 30 seconds (TCN30), or 60 seconds (TCN60); blood clot (NC), and non-demineralized autogenous bone (PC). The calvariae were harvested at 30 and 60 postoperative days (n = 5) for blinded histological and histometric analysis of the percentage area of newly formed bone within the defects. RESULTS: In the NC and TCN groups, bone formation was limited to the margins of the defects at 30 postoperative days, whereas complete closure was present in all the specimens from CA15 group. Both at 30 and 60 postoperative days, histomorphometry showed significant higher area of newly formed bone in specimens demineralized with CA than in those demineralized with TCN or non-demineralized (P < 0.05). TCN appeared to impair bone neoformation, as its use produced similar or inferior results compared to blood clot. CONCLUSIONS: Demineralization of particulate bone grafts with CA during 15s enhanced the regeneration of critical-size defects and may be a promising adjuvant in regenerative procedures. TCN seems to be improper for this purpose.

Bone demineralization improves onlay graft consolidation: A histological study in rat calvaria.

BACKGROUND: Previous data suggest that bone demineralization may promote bone graft consolidation as well as proliferation and differentiation of pre-osteoblasts, but the biological mechanisms involved in this process need to be clarified. This study investigated the effects of bone demineralization with citric acid (CA) and tetracycline (TCN) on the repair of onlay bone grafts. METHODS: Onlay bone grafts were performed on the calvaria of 126 Wistar rats. The contacting surfaces between bone graft and receptor bone bed were demineralized for 15, 30, and 60 seconds with TCN (50 mg/mL), or 10% CA, (pH 1), constituting the following test groups (n = 18): TCN15, TCN30, TCN60, CA15, CA30, and CA60. Control grafts (C) were performed without demineralization (n = 18). After 7, 30, and 60 days, biopsies were obtained for quantitative and qualitative histological analysis (a = 6). RESULTS: Demineralization accelerated the bone repair early from 7 days of healing. Higher percentage area of newly formed bone was observed in CA15 and TCN60 groups when compared to C in all evaluation periods (P = 0.02). At 30 days, C specimens had lower percentage of consolidated surfaces than TCN60, TCN30 and CA15 (P = 0.0015). At 60 days, CA15, CA60, and TCN60 presented bone surfaces almost completely filled by newly formed bone, against about 75% in C specimens (P = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Both CA and TCN were effective in accelerating osteogenesis at the interface between bone grafts and receptor bone beds, especially when applied for 15 seconds and 60 seconds, respectively.

The concentration of citric acid as dental root conditioner influences the behavior of fibroblasts from human periodontal ligament.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the behavior of fibroblasts from human periodontal ligament (hPLF) cultured on dental roots subjected to different protocols of citric acid conditioning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 32 human teeth extracted due to advanced periodontal disease provided 63 radicular fragments, which were randomly divided in groups according to the treatment given to the surface: rinsing with saline solution for 90 s (C), 10 % citric acid (CA10), or 50 % citric acid (CA50). The treatments were applied during 90 s, 120 s and 180 s (n = 9). hPLF were cultured for 24, 48 and 72 h (n = 3) on the treated samples and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface area covered by cells and dentinal tubules widening. RESULTS: Excepting group C, all the other groups showed almost complete coverage of root surface by hPLF with time. At 24 h of cell culture, the largest area of coverage was seen in the samples treated with CA10-90 (98 ± 0.89 %) at 24 h of cell culture and this difference was significant (p < 0.05) in comparison to CA10-180 (84.04 ± 5.01 %), CA50-90 (63.28 ± 12.46 %), CA50-180 (56.59 ± 8.76 %) and C (0.06 ± 0.11 %). In all the other comparisons, there was no statistically significant differences between CA10 and CA50 (p > 0.05). Cells grown on surfaces treated with CA10 were more spread and flatten than in the CA50 specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Periodontally compromised roots surfaces conditioned with 10 % citric acid for 90 s resulted in better substrate for hPLF proliferation, in initial periods of culture than 50 % citric acid. The enlargement of the dentinal tubules did not seem to be influenced by the acid concentration.

Photogrammetry as an alternative for acquiring digital dental models: A proof of concept.

Photogrammetry is a mathematical technique that generates three-dimensional coordinates of specific points identified from multiple images of the same object obtained at different angles. This technique may be a low-cost alternative for traditional scanning. The objective of this proof of concept was to evaluate the accuracy and precision in obtaining digital models (DM) from a plaster model (PM) using photogrammetry. Five DM were generated from 50 photographs taken surrounding the PM. The photographs were taken by a single operator on five consecutive days using natural light. The images obtained were processed on 3DF Zephyr Free software. The height and width of all teeth were recorded on both PM and DM, as well as the distance between the canine cusps (C-C) and between the mesiobuccal cusps of the first molars (1 M-1 M). For the PM the measurements were taken with a digital caliper, whereas the DM was measured using the software Blender. The DM and PM measurements presented a limit of agreement between -0.433 and 0.611 mm. The accuracy of DM measurements showed a SD of ±0.171 mm and a repeatability coefficient of 0.474. In the superimposition of all DM, it was possible to notice a greater discrepancy in the posterior region of the arch and palate, but this difference decreased when the region was segmented. It can be concluded that photogrammetry appears to be a viable technique for the digitization of dental models. Further studies need to be performed to evaluate its clinical application.