A look back in time. The training of dental students in Sheffield before the opening in 1953 of the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital.

A review of the archive material held by the School of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Sheffield has revealed how the dental training facilities in Sheffield were arranged before the opening of the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital in 1953. The archive also provides an interesting insight into some of the priorities of dental training in the first part of the last century. This archive information was then supplemented by discussions with four local dentists who qualified in the late 1940s and early 1950s and provides some interesting personal reflections on what it was like to be a dental student during and immediately after the Second World War.

Murmurs, infective endocarditis and dentistry.

Patients with cardiac murmurs may have a predisposition to infective endocarditis, and the dental practitioner must be aware of this potential problem. This article reviews cardiac murmurs and how they are investigated by physicians to assess their significance. Practical advice is offered concerning the need to refer patients with a suspected heart murmur. The emergency and elective dental management of patients with heart murmurs is included, together with recommended regimens for antibiotic prophylaxis.

Actinomycosis associated with a root-treated tooth: report of a case.

An unusual case of a persistent infection related to a root-filled tooth is reported. Microscopical evaluation revealed the cause to be a large mass of Actinomyces-like filaments, and microbiological culture yielded a low level of Actinomyces israelii. The significance of such a presentation is discussed.

Fluoride penetration into dentine abutments in vitro.

The diffusion of fluoride ions from various concentrations of sodium fluoride solution into the dentine of decoronated human canine teeth, prepared as for reception of overdentures, was studied in vitro. The decoronated preparations were immersed for 7 days in 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.05% solutions of neutral-pH sodium fluoride and then fluoride penetration into the prepared transverse face of the dentine was assessed by electron microprobe. Only with high concentrations of fluoride (2.0%) was there significant penetration. In peritubular dentine, fluoride penetration could be measured to a depth of 400 microns, but in intertubular dentine penetration did not take place beyond 100 microns. These findings call into question the efficacy of patient-administered caries prophylaxis with low-concentration fluoride treatments in overdenture cases.

ACTH and resistance of small blood vessels to trauma: use of mucosal petechiometry.

The effect of an intramuscular injection of ACTH on the resistance to trauma of oral mucous membrane blood vessels was assessed by petechiometry. In a double-blind cross-over study involving 20 healthy volunteers, 18 showed a reduction in petechial count after the active injection but only nine did so after the injection of placebo. These findings may justify the use of ACTH in the management of patients with a history of haemorrhage after dental extraction.

Metastatic retinoblastoma of the mandible.

Two cases of oral metastasis of retinoblastoma are reported. The first case was seen in Iraq and the second case in England. Review of the literautre revealed that when oral metastasis occurs, the prognosis must be considered to be grave; this was confirmed by Case 2. In each case there was metastasis in the symphyseal region, which followed enucleation of the affected orbit. Although the prognosis is poor, recent studies indicate that immunologic techniques may be useful to monitor the response to treatment of the primary lesion.