Comparison of Demirjian's comprehensive chart with the London atlas of tooth development in children and adolescents: a pilot study.

Dental age estimation has its application in various subdisciplines of medicine and dentistry. New methods of dental age (DA) estimation are emerging and it is important that we compare different methods to determine which one is more closely related to the chronological age. Demirjian's method is one of the most widely used techniques and has been tested in various ethnic populations globally. In 2016, another approach to DA estimation is the London atlas of human tooth development and eruption. No study has compared Demirjian's comprehensive chart and London atlas method in the Indian population. Hence, in the current study, we estimated DA using Demirjian's comprehensive chart and London atlas method for association with the known chronologic age in children and adolescent population. The study also attempted to determine if sexual dimorphism existed in DA estimated by the two methods. Estimation was performed for both methods on 100 orthopantomogram records (50 males and 50 females, aged 6-16 years) of orthodontic patients. The data were compared and analysed using paired t-tests. There was an overestimation of DA by Demirjian's comprehensive chart on an average of +1.3 years in males and +0.5 years in females, whereas using London atlas, it was +1.4 years in males and +0.5 years in females. The mean of underestimation was -0.6 years in males and -0.8 years in females using Demirjian's comprehensive chart, whereas it was -0.8 years in males and -0.5 years in females. A statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001) was found when mean chronological age (11.6 ± 2.6) years of the participants was compared with DA estimated using either Demirjian's comprehensive chart (12.3 ± 2.8) years or London atlas (11.8 ± 2.9) years. The trends in this pilot study point towards more accuracy of London atlas over Demirjian's method when done using comprehensive chart for estimating DA. In summary, the results of the current pilot study indicates greater accuracy of London atlas method over Demirjian's comprehensive chart method for estimating DA in Indian population. This finding should be validated by conducting similar studies using larger sample, on diverse Indian ethnic populations, for applicability in pedodontic, orthodontic, and forensic domains. Key points: No study has compared Demirjian's comprehensive chart and London atlas method in the Indian population.The dental age estimated by London method was closer to chronological age as compared to Demirjian's method in our study sample.Significant difference was found in chronological age and estimated age using London atlas method in both males and females.

Distal Femur Intraarticular Fracture in a Late Arthritic Knee Treated With Osteosynthesis and Computer Navigation Assisted Primary Total Knee Replacement: A Case Report.

The incidence of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis is on the rise. What further complicates the scenario is a stress fracture in a weight-bearing joint such as a knee in the presence of arthritis, making the treatment challenging. Prolonged immobilization associated with osteosynthesis increases morbidity and mortality in elderly patients. Primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been advocated as a treatment modality in patients with distal femoral fractures who already have painful arthritic knees. Most of these injuries get treated using a hinged prosthesis. However, there are concerns about the high rate of loosening and mechanical failure of this type of prosthesis. This report presents a distal femur intraarticular fracture nonunion in the late arthritic knee, which is a rare presentation as proximal tibia stress fractures are more common. This was treated with osteosynthesis, and computer navigation assisted primary total knee replacement using medial pivot knee in a 54-year-old male with a body mass index of 38. Based on clinical and radiographic evidence, primary total knee replacement and plate osteosynthesis are viable options for distal femur fractures with osteoarthritis using computer navigation. While limiting the number of procedures, it meets two prerequisites: early weight bearing, limiting decubitus-related complications, and early mobilization leading to patient autonomy.

Pooled prevalence estimates of malocclusion among Indian children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the pooled prevalence estimates of the malocclusion among child and adolescent population of India. CONTENTS: A comprehensive electronic search was carried to find studies related to assessing malocclusion in Indian children and adolescent population. Indices and classifications considered for pooled analysis were Dental Aesthetic Index, Index of Orthodontic Treatment Needs, Angles classification and terminal plane relationship of primary secondary molars. An eligibility criterion was prepared and quality assessment was done for all the eligible studies. Initial search produced 1090 titles. After removal of duplicates, 850 records were left for further screening. Eighty one articles were found eligible for full text reading. Finally 60 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled prevalence was used to estimate overall effect, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Statistical difference between the two genders was calculated using chi square test. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK: The high prevalence of malocclusion is a public health problem around the world. The current status of burden of malocclusion among Indian children and adolescents is not known. Results of this pooled analysis showed that prevalence of malocclusion among Indian children and adolescents has increased since the last national oral health survey. Prevalence of malocclusion ranged from 28.4% (CI 25.02, 31.9) to 66.7% (CI 50.7, 81.06) depending on the type of index or classification used for recording. Boys recorded higher cumulative prevalence than girls. These findings can be utilized by oral health policy makers to draft measures required for reducing this burden of malocclusion.

Development, testing, and feasibility of a customized mobile application for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) risk assessment: A hospital-based pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), the most prevalent form of sleep-related breathing disorder has practical and financial limitations in diagnosis by polysomnography, hence OSA risk-assessment can identify OSA-related symptoms early. OBJECTIVES: To develop a mobile application for OSA-risk assessment and tests its validity, feasibility, and application in a hospital-based pilot sample. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The study comprised of two parts. PART I: Development of a mobile application "OSA-Risk Assessment Tool" using automated questionnaires. PART II: A pilot study to screen OSA-risk in 200 patients (100 adults,100 children) from the orthodontic OPD of a Govt. Dental Hospital, using the mobile application. Internal validation by manual and mobile-based methods was done on 30 random patients. Non-parametric tests assessed the statistical differences between OSA-risk and nonOSA-risk variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of OSA-risk was 21.4% in adults and 8% in children. In adults, OSA-risk showed significantly greater neck circumference (p = 0.0001), waist circumference(p = 0.001), body mass index(p = 0.008), daytime sleepiness, headache, and mouth breathing(p = 0.0001). In children, OSA-risk is associated with a dry mouth on awakening, daytime sleepiness, and mouth breathing, and nocturnal enuresis. The low OSA-risk patients were suggested standardized preventive management counseling and orthodontic interventions while medium to high-risk underwent sleep-specialist referrals. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the feasibility and usability of the mobile application "OSA-risk assessment tool" in a hospital setup. This cost-effective tool can be advocated for self-evaluation, early detection, and awareness in pandemic times. The future upgraded versions may include preventive modules and real-time coordination with the nearest sleep clinics and specialists.

Knowledge and practices of recording and maintaining patients 'dental records among private dental practitioners of Delhi, India

Proper recording and keeping dental records are an important part of any dental practice. It helps in improving patient care, has medico-legal importance and play significant role in human identification during mass disasters or criminal offences. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practices of recording and maintaining patients 'records among private dental practitioners of Delhi, India. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study was collected from 160 dentists of Delhi using a self-administered questionnaire. The face and content validity as well as reliability of questionnaire was tested before the final data collection. A single trained examiner collected all the necessary information via personal visits or google forms. Chi-square test was applied to check the statistically significant difference between the dichotomous independent variables with respect to study participants' responses to the questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 34.5 (SD 7.2) years.Digital method of recording patient's data and x-ray storage was more prevalent than manual method among the study participants. Slightly more than 40% of the dentists were keeping patient's records safe for a period of 6 to 10 years. Younger dentists with lesser years of practice were more explicit in recording and correcting patient records. Conclusion: Results of this study shows that private dental practitioners of Delhi are aware of medico-legal importance of dental records. Most of them were recording important findings and history of their patients. Dentists must be educated in two aspects namely correct method of recording and the ideal duration of storing their patients' dental records

Association between Smokeless Tobacco Use and Risk of Periodontitis in Asian Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Individual studies conducted in Asian countries have reported higher risk of periodontitis among smokeless tobacco (SLT) users in comparison to non-users. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to summarize the available evidence on this topic. METHODS: Prominent electronic databases were searched using pre-decided MeSH terms and keywords. Screening of titles and abstracts, full text reading, quality assessment and data extraction was done by two investigators independently. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used for risk of bias assessment of eligible studies. Meta-analysis was performed for four periodontal outcomes (periodontal pocket depth, loss of attachment, clinical attachment level and gingival recession). A sensitivity analysis was also performed. RESULTS: Of the 546 citations, 367 were screened for eligibility. Finally, 89 studies were shortlisted for full text reading, of which, 36 were found eligible for qualitative analysis. Most of the studies were conducted in India (n=22), were of cross-sectional design (n=33), utilized purposive sampling and 24 studies were included for meta-analysis (n=28) and done on hospital-based population (n=26). Only 13 (37.1%) studies achieved a score of more than 50% (5/10 stars) on quality assessment scale. SLT users had higher odds of greater periodontal pocket depth greater than 4 mm (OR=3.64), gingival recession (OR=1.71) and loss of attachment 4-5 mm (OR=2.83) and mean difference of 1.7 mm for Clinical Attachment Level compared to non-users. CONCLUSION: The studies included in this review suggests that SLT users have poorer periodontal health in comparison to non-users. But most of this evidence comes from cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies with rigorous methodology are required to support this elucidation. Registration: This systematic review protocol has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019122964).

Impact of Educational Intervention on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Laboratory Technicians regarding Universal Work Precautions at a Tertiary Health Care Center in Central India.

Introduction: Laboratory technicians are routinely exposed to occupational health hazards that can be a serious threat to their health. To safeguard themselves against laboratory-acquired infections, they must be aware of universal work precautions. A targeted educational intervention to increase awareness about universal precautions was designed to result in behavioral changes in attitudes and practices to help reduce the incidence of laboratory-acquired infections. This study was planned to assess the preexisting levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of laboratory technicians regarding universal work precautions at a tertiary care hospital in central India and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions on the same. Method: The 40 lab technicians participating in the study were subjected to educational interventions in the form of training on universal precautions. Pretest and posttest evaluations using questionnaires were conducted to evaluate the learning gain. Pretest and posttest responses to each question were compared using the Pearson chi-square test. The subjects' mean pretest and posttest scores were compared using paired t tests, and the significance level was set at .05. Results: There was remarkably significant improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of laboratory technicians regarding universal work precautions after the educational intervention/training sessions. Conclusion: On the basis of the findings, it was suggested that such training sessions should be conducted regularly for laboratory technicians to help in better retention of knowledge and to instill a positive attitude toward universal precautions.

Prevalence of periodontal disease among adults in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We designed this systematic review of the available literature to measure the pooled prevalence of periodontal disease among Indian adults. METHODS: An electronic search was conducted for studies assessing the prevalence of periodontal disease (gingivitis and periodontitis) in India. The search yielded forty studies, of which thirty eligible cross-sectional studies assessing the prevalence among those 18 years and above were included. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. Meta-analyses were conducted for periodontitis outcomes, stratified for different covariates like age groups, gender, geographic region, population group, type of index and study quality. Pooled prevalence was used to estimate overall effect, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: A total of 92,219 adults participated in 30 studies included for qualitative analysis. Studies utilizing convenience sampling were excluded from quantitative analysis. Pooled prevalence estimates of periodontitis and gingivitis were assessed on from 24 to 21 studies respectively. We found that overall prevalence of periodontal disease was 51% (CI: 41.9-60.1) and gingivitis was 46.6% (CI: 37.8-55.5). Prevalence of mild to moderate periodontitis was 26.2% (CI: 21.1-31.6), while for severe periodontitis it was 19% (CI: 14.3-24.2). Participants 65 years or above had highest proportion of severe periodontitis (32.7%, CI: 23.7-42.5). Urban population showed the highest prevalence of mild to moderate periodontitis 22.7% (CI: 17.3-28.5). Females had lower prevalence (34.4%) of the periodontitis than males (42.2%). The methodological heterogeneity of included studies was low. CONCLUSION: Half of Indian adults suffer from some form of periodontal disease. There is need to adopt uniform and accurate measurement tools for recording periodontal condition.

High Entropy and Sluggish Diffusion "Core" Effects in Senary FCC Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn Alloys.

Relative role of enthalpy and entropy in the stabilization of senary FCC Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn high entropy alloys was investigated via a high throughput combinatorial solid-to-solid diffusion couple approach. Many off-equiatomic compositions of FCC AlpCoqCrrFesNitMnu were generated by the diffusing Al and Ni in equiatomic Co20Cr20Fe20Ni20Mn20 alloy, i.e., the Al48Ni52 vs Co20Cr20Fe20Ni20Mn20 diffusion couple, annealed at 900°, 1000°, 1100°, and 1200 °C. Above 1000 °C, the solubility limit of Al in off-equiatomic AlpCoqCrrFesNitMnu alloy was determined to be higher than the solubility limit of Al in equiatomic AlxCoCrFeNiMn alloy. Compositions corresponding to the highest solubility limit of Al in off-equiatomic AlpCoqCrrFesNitMnu alloy exhibited a lower free energy of mixing, i.e., higher thermodynamic stability, than equiatomic AlxCoCrFeNiMn compositions, at 1100 °C and above. Therefore, the role of enthalpy was estimated to be significant in achieving higher thermodynamic stability in off-equiatomic alloys, since they always have lower entropy of mixing than their equiatomic counterparts. The magnitude of interdiffusion coefficients of individual elements in Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn alloys were compared to the interdiffusion coefficients in relevant quinary, quaternary, and ternary solvent-based alloys. Interdiffusion coefficients were not necessarily lower in FCC Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn alloys; therefore no sluggish diffusion was observed in FCC HEA, but diffusion of individual elements in BCC Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn alloy followed the sluggish diffusion hypothesis except for Ni. All compositions in the FCC Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni-Mn alloy were observed to comply with existing empirical single phase formation rules in high entropy alloys.

Knowledge and awareness of oral cancer patients regarding its etiology, prevention, and treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Assumption on part of healthcare workers that individuals suffering from oral cancer are usually aware of the reasons why they got the disease can lead to creation of a knowledge deficit group and may increase chances of relapse and complications in future. METHODOLOGY: An interview-based questionnaire study was conducted on 218 patients with oral cancer admitted for treatment at a Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in north India. Questions were designed to assess their knowledge and awareness regarding etiology, treatment, and prevention of oral cancer. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were from lower and lower middle socioeconomic class. Most of them were not aware about early signs of oral cancer. Some of them were still continuing with the habit of tobacco consumption. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to improve the knowledge level of oral cancer patients for its primary and secondary prevention.

Stabilization of Sn Anode through Structural Reconstruction of a Cu-Sn Intermetallic Coating Layer.

The metallic tin (Sn) anode is a promising candidate for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity and electrical conductivity. However, Sn suffers from severe mechanical degradation caused by large volume changes during lithiation/delithiation, which leads to a rapid capacity decay for LIBs application. Herein, a Cu-Sn (e.g., Cu3 Sn) intermetallic coating layer (ICL) is rationally designed to stabilize Sn through a structural reconstruction mechanism. The low activity of the Cu-Sn ICL against lithiation/delithiation enables the gradual separation of the metallic Cu phase from the Cu-Sn ICL, which provides a regulatable and appropriate distribution of Cu to buffer volume change of Sn anode. Concurrently, the homogeneous distribution of the separated Sn together with Cu promotes uniform lithiation/delithiation, mitigating the internal stress. In addition, the residual rigid Cu-Sn intermetallic shows terrific mechanical integrity that resists the plastic deformation during the lithiation/delithiation. As a result, the Sn anode enhanced by the Cu-Sn ICL shows a significant improvement in cycling stability with a dramatically reduced capacity decay rate of 0.03% per cycle for 1000 cycles. The structural reconstruction mechanism in this work shines a light on new materials and structural design that can stabilize high-performance and high-volume-change electrodes for rechargeable batteries and beyond.

Clinical Characteristics, Comorbidities,and Outcome among 365 Patients of Coronavirus Disease 2019 at a Tertiary Care Centre in Central India.

RATIONALE: The knowledge about the presenting characteristics, comorbidity, and outcomes of Indian patients for COVID-19 is limited. OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Central India and to evaluate risk factors leading to requirement of oxygen, mechanical ventilation and mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this retrospective, we included 365 RT-PCR confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in Sri Aurobindo Medical College and PG Institute, Indore, Madhya Pradesh from March 25, 2020 to May 15, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 365 patients - 329 adults (Median age 49 years, 58.66% males) and 36 pediatric patients (Median age 10.5 years) were included. There was presence of comorbidity in 47.11% adults with most common being hypertension (24.92%), and diabetes (25.18%). 45.28% of adult patients were asymptomatic at presentation, with fever as the most common symptom (38.29%) and epidemiological contact history present in 69.90%. During hospitalization, 14.52% adults (median age, 50 years; 49.05% male) were on oxygen support, and 13% received mechanical ventilation (median age, 54 years; 63.26% male). As of May 15 2020, 8.4% adult patients died(median age, 57 years; 67.74% male). Presence of Lymphopenia, and Comorbid condition were identified as risk factors for requirement of oxygen, mechanical Ventilation and death. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This case series provides characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Indore region.

Evaluation of cessation services provided at a tobacco cessation clinic in a teaching dental hospital.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco cessation interventions provided in a dental office or hospital settings are beneficial in helping patients to quit tobacco. Regular monitoring of these interventions is required to assess their success rate and factors hindering its improvement. This study evaluated cessation services provided through a Tobacco Cessation Clinic (TCC) established in a government teaching dental hospital in Delhi, India. . MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients visiting the TCC from April 2016 to March 2018 were contacted to participate in this study. All the willing participants were administered a structured questionnaire telephonically or in person. The questionnaire focused on gathering information on patients' current tobacco use status, feedback on intervention provided at TCC and reasons for missing TCC appointments. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed to assess the effect of socio-demographic factors, nicotine dependence and interventions at TCC on current tobacco use status of participants. RESULTS: Of the 309 participants, 60 (19.4%) reported complete tobacco abstinence and 78 (22.3%) reduced consumption by more than half from their first visit to TCC. Most of the participants (81.5%) were satisfied with the tobacco cessation interventions provided at the TCC. Multivariate analysis shows that odds of quitting were higher in participants with low tobacco dependence (OR 3.03, CI 0.98,9.35) and those who were satisfied with counselling method at TCC (OR 8.8, CI 2.05, 38.35). CONCLUSION: Interventions provided at our TCC were found beneficial by the study participants to reduce tobacco consumption or achieve total tobacco abstinence. A timely reminder can be provided to increase patients' compliance.

Factors associated with Oral Health Related Quality of Life of children with severe -Early Childhood Caries.

BACKGROUND: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a chronic childhood disease affecting children worldwide. Severe cases of ECC can significantly affect child's Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) owing to its consequences. The purpose of present study was to find out association between severe early childhood caries (s-ECC) and OHRQoL of children and their parents/care-givers visiting a Government dental hospital in Delhi, India. METHODS: Data was collected from a hospital - based sample of 454 child-parent pair. OHRQoL of the child and parent was assessed using the Hindi version of Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (Hi-ECOHIS). Children with s-ECC were identified as per definition given by American Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. Chi square test and Binary regression analysis were used to evaluate the effect of s-ECC on OHRQoL and to study role of various socio demographic factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of s-ECC was 77.1% (n = 350).The mean dmft index score was 5.67 ( ±3.72) and dmfs was 11.21 ( ±11.03). The mean overall ECOHIS score was 7.02 ( ±5.47). Child impact items such as Pain, fever, caries associated swelling along with difficulty in eating food, halitosis, disturbed sleep, frequent absenteeism from school were found to be more significantly more frequent in children with s-ECC than ECC. Children with bottle-feeding habit of more than one year, having fewer siblings, and whose parents belong to upper socio economic class were at higher odds of suffering from s-ECC.Conclusion: s-ECC has significantly more detrimental impact on the OHRQoL of children and their parents in comparison to ECC.

Direct-Contact Cytotoxicity Evaluation of CoCrFeNi-Based Multi-Principal Element Alloys.

Transition metal multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) are novel alloys that may offer enhanced surface and mechanical properties compared with commercial metallic alloys. However, their biocompatibility has not been investigated. In this study, three CoCrFeNi-based MPEAs were fabricated, and the in vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated in direct contact with fibroblasts for 168 h. The cell viability and cell number were assessed at 24, 96, and 168 h using LIVE/DEAD assay and alamarBlue assay, respectively. All MPEA sample wells had a high percentage of viable cells at each time point. The two quaternary MPEAs demonstrated a similar cell response to stainless steel control with the alamarBlue assay, while the quinary MPEA with Mn had a lower cell number after 168 h. Fibroblasts cultured with the MPEA samples demonstrated a consistent elongated morphology, while those cultured with the Ni control samples demonstrated changes in cell morphology after 24 h. No significant surface corrosion was observed on the MPEAs or stainless steel samples following the cell culture, while the Ni control samples had extensive corrosion. The cell growth and viability results demonstrate the cytocompatibility of the MPEAs. The biocompatibility of MPEAs should be investigated further to determine if MPEAs may be utilized in orthopedic implants and other biomedical applications.

Trends in dental caries in Indian children for the past 25 years.

BACKGROUND: The economic liberalization which was started 25 years back in India has led to a rising gross domestic product and per capita income and a decline in poverty. There has been an improvement in various health status indicators in the Indian population. As oral health is an integral part of general health, a retrospective study was designed to assess the effect of economic liberalization on dental caries experience in Indian children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted to find studies done on dental caries prevalence in children in India from the year 1992-2016. Mesh and free text terms "child," "dental caries," and "India" were searched in databases - PubMed and PubMed Central. A total of 1468 titles were screened, out of which 191 articles were shortlisted for further inspection. Finally, 69 studies were found suitable for final analysis. RESULTS: The pooled caries prevalence was between 50.84% and 62.41% at 5-year interval. There was a decline in caries prevalence in 2-5 and 11-15 years of age group. The overall weighed mean of 2.4, 2.7, and 1.9 was observed in three different age groups. Significant caries index (SiC) of more than 3 was observed in all the age groups. CONCLUSION: The present review suggests that more than half of Indian children have been affected by dental caries. High SIC index score suggests a skewed distribution of caries among Indian children. This data may aid in planning further exploratory research and oral health care services for children by the stakeholders.

Isolation and characterization of bacteriophages from India, with lytic activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bacteriophages are being considered as a promising natural resource for the development of alternative strategies against mycobacterial diseases, especially in the context of the wide-spread occurrence of drug resistance among the clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, there is not much information documented on mycobacteriophages from India. Here, we report the isolation of 17 mycobacteriophages using Mycobacterium smegmatis as the bacterial host, where 9 phages also lyse M. tuberculosis H37Rv. We present detailed analysis of one of these mycobacteriophages - PDRPv. Transmission electron microscopy and polymerase chain reaction analysis (of a conserved region within the TMP gene) show PDRPv to belong to the Siphoviridae family and B1 subcluster, respectively. The genome (69 110 bp) of PDRPv is circularly permuted double-stranded DNA with ∼66% GC content and has 106 open reading frames (ORFs). On the basis of sequence similarity and conserved domains, we have assigned function to 28 ORFs and have broadly categorized them into 6 groups that are related to replication and genome maintenance, DNA packaging, virion release, structural proteins, lysogeny-related genes and endolysins. The present study reports the occurrence of novel antimycobacterial phages in India and highlights their potential to contribute to our understanding of these phages and their gene products as potential antimicrobial agents.

Comparative evaluation of demineralization of radicular dentin with 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 10% citric acid, and MTAD at different time intervals: An in vitro study.

BACKGROUND: The smear layer has the capability to protect the bacteria within the dentinal tubules from intracanal medicament. After removal of the smear layer from infected root canals, it allows disinfection of the entire root canal. The smear layer compromising the seal between the root canal sealer and root canal wall also decreases the penetration of irrigants into dentinal tubules. AIMS: This study compares the amount of phosphorous liberated and demineralization of the radicular dentin with 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 10% citric acid and mixture of doxycycline, citric acid, and a detergent at different time intervals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Extracted maxillary single-rooted teeth were prepared by using a combination of passive step-back and rotary 0.04 taper nickel-titanium files. Sodium hypochlorite 5.25% and sterile distilled water were used as an intracanal irrigant. The canals were then treated with 5 mL of one of the following solutions such as final rinse sterile distilled water, 5.25% sodium hypochlorite, 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or mixture of doxycycline, citric acid, and a detergent. The presence or absence of smear layer and the amount of erosion on the surface of the root canal walls at the coronal, middle, and apical portions of each canal were examined under a scanning electron microscope. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine whether there were significant differences between the groups. RESULTS: The results show that mixture of doxycycline, citric acid, and a detergent is an effective solution for the removal of the smear layer and does not significantly change the structure of the dentinal tubules. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, 10% citric acid shows the maximum amount of dimeneralization of radicular dentine followed by mixture of doxycycline, citric acid, and a detergent, and 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. When all the subgroups were compared, it was seen that the maximum amount of phosphorus liberation was performed by 10% citric acid >mixture of doxycycline, citric acid, and a detergent >17% EDTA at a different time interval.