Salivary Protein and Electrolyte Profiles during Primary Teeth Eruption: A Cross-Sectional Study.

This study aimed to assess the qualitative changes in the saliva during the process of primary teeth eruption. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 147 children from 2 to 48 months, of which 49 were in group A (no erupted primary teeth), 53 were in group B (at least one active erupting primary tooth), and 45 were in group C (eruption of all 20 primary teeth was completed). Salivary proteins were evaluated by sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis with polyacrylamide gel, while the concentrations of salivary sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium ions were evaluated by ion selective electrodes. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Bonferroni tests (alpha = 0.05). The concentration of proteins with molecular weights of 20-30 KDa was significantly higher in group A, and it gradually decreased with age. The concentration of proteins with molecular weights of 50-60 KDa in group B was significantly lower than those of groups A and C. The calcium ion concentration in group A was significantly higher than that of the other groups. The concentration of potassium ions was minimal in group C. The proteins and electrolyte profiles of the subjects' saliva changed in the process of primary tooth eruption. The highest concentrations of proteins such as statherin, histatin, P-B peptide, and cystatin and the lowest concentrations of proteins such as amylase were present in group B.

Self-reported experience of orofacial injury, preventive practice, and knowledge of Iranian adolescent martial art athletes towards sports-related orofacial injuries.

BACKGROUND: Increased engagement of adolescents in martial arts exposes them to a relatively high risk of experiencing orofacial injuries. We evaluated self-reported experience of orofacial injuries, preventive practice, and knowledge of management of sport-related orofacial injuries and related factors in adolescent Karate and Taekwondo athletes in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on Iranian martial arts athletes including Karate and Taekwondo aged 11-17-year-old in 2020 via an online questionnaire. The anonymous self-administrated questionnaire had four parts: background (age, gender, duration of sports activity, training sessions per week, and previous education on orofacial injury); self-reported experience of orofacial injury; preventive practice including mouthguard and helmet use; and knowledge of emergency management of orofacial injuries. Preventive practice and knowledge scores were calculated by summing up the scores of corresponding questions (possibly range 0-7). A linear regression model and the Pearson correlation served for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Totally, 295 athletes with a mean age of 14.56 ± 1.91 years participated in the study. A quarter (n = 74, 25.1%) of athletes stated that they had received training on prevention of orofacial injuries. Only 3.7% (n = 11) of the participants reported the use of custom-made mouthguards, and 62% (n = 183) reported a positive history of orofacial injuries. A significant relationship existed between self-reported orofacial injury and age (ß = - 0.32, p < 0.001), hours of training per week (ß = 0.12, p = 0.037), type of sport (ß = 0.11, p = 0.049), and previous training on orofacial injuries (ß = - 0.14, p = 0.010). No difference existed in the history of orofacial injury between females (n = 114) and males (n = 69) (p = 0.374). The mean score of self-reported preventive practice and knowledge of management of orofacial injuries was 3.53 ± 1.82 (out of 7) and 1.67 ± 1.10 (out of 7), respectively. Age (ß = 0.19, p = 0.002) and history of orofacial injury (ß = - 0.15, p = 0.010) were associated with the score of self-reported preventive practice. Female athletes (ß = 0.11, p = 0.048) and athletes who exercised more per week (ß = 0.15, p = 0.012) had significantly more knowledge on management of orofacial injuries. CONCLUSION: Adolescent athletes had relatively undesirable preventive practices and a distinct lack of knowledge. The high occurrence of self-reported orofacial injuries indicates the importance of more education and stricter rules for the athlete population.

Optimization of Buffer Additives for Efficient Recovery of hGM-CSF from Inclusion Bodies Using Response Surface Methodology.

Overexpression of human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) by Escherichia coli leads to formation of insoluble and inactive proteins, inclusion bodies. The aim of this study was to improve recovery of biologically active hGM-CSF from inclusion bodies. The effect of types, concentrations and pHs of denaturing agents and addition of reducing agents on the yield of inclusion bodies solubilization was evaluated. Next, various conditions were evaluated for refolding hGM-CSF using a two-step design of experiment (DOE) including primary screening by factorial design, and then optimization by response surface design. It was found that hGM-CSF inclusion bodies can be efficiently solubilized with 4 M urea and 4 mM ß-mercaptoethanol, pH = 9. A response surface quadratic model was employed to predict the optimum refolding conditions and the accuracy of this model was confirmed by high value of R2 (0.99) and F-value of 0.64. DOE results revealed that sorbitol (0.235 M), imidazole (97 mM), and SDS (0.09%) would be the optimum buffer additives for refolding of hGM-CSF. Following refolding studies, the obtained protein was subjected to circular dichroism which confirmed correct secondary structure of the refolded hGM-CSF. The refolded hGM-CSF exhibited reasonable biological activity compared with standard protein. The approach developed in this work can be important to improve the refolding of other proteins with similar structural features.

Effect of Two Educational Interventions Regarding the Management of Traumatic Dental Injuries on Mothers of 8-Year-Old Children.

Objectives: This study evaluated the effect of two educational interventions on knowledge and self-reported practice of mothers of 8-year-old children regarding emergency management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs). Materials and Methods: Six public elementary schools (girls and boys) in Tehran were randomly selected. The mothers of 8-year-old students at each school were randomly assigned to three groups: intervention by poster, intervention by pamphlet, and control. An anonymous valid and reliable questionnaire, including demographics, previous experience on TDIs, mothers' knowledge, and self-reported practice about emergency management of TDIs was provided to the mothers. After collecting the questionnaires, educational interventions by poster and pamphlet with similar contents regarding step-by-step emergency management of TDIs were performed for the target groups. Three months after the interventions, the same questionnaire was completed by the mothers. The results of pre-test and post-test were compared. Results: Totally, 201 mothers participated in this study. The mean knowledge score significantly increased in the pamphlet group (P<0.05) after the intervention, while this change was not significant in the poster and control groups (P>0.05). The mean knowledge score was significantly higher in the pamphlet than the poster group (P=0.009). The mean self-reported practice score significantly increased after the intervention in both intervention groups (P<0.05) but not in the control group. There was no significant difference in the mean self-reported practice score between the two intervention groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Both pamphlet and poster were equally effective in improving the self-reported practice of mothers regarding TDIs, which highlights the significance of educating mothers.

Effectiveness of two interactive educational methods to teach tobacco cessation counseling for senior dental students.

OBJECTIVE: Nowadays, one of the major health problems in many countries is tobacco use. Dental professionals are in a unique position to promote smoking cessation since they have the opportunity for regular interaction with their patients. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of two educational methods to teach tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) in dental practice for senior dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this interventional study, 93 eligible senior dental students from two dental schools in Tehran, Iran were randomly divided into two groups. Two educational programs, role play (RP) and problem-based learning (PBL), with the same aim about TCC in dental practice, were developed and implemented for the two groups. The score of knowledge, attitude, and skill were determined in both groups before and after participation in the course using a questionnaire. The changes in the scores from pre- to post-test were statistically analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA test. RESULTS: Total scores of knowledge, attitude, and skill of the participants showed improvements when compared to scores before training (P < 0.001, P = 0.003, and P < 0.001, respectively). However, the differences between the two study methods were statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that TCC training through RP and PBL methods leads to improvement in knowledge, attitude, and skills of dental students in the short-term evaluation.