Contamination of Low Frictional Elastomeric Ligatures by Streptococcus mutans: A Prospective RT-PCR and AFM Study

Objective: To compare Streptococcus mutans colonization between low-friction elastomeric ligatures and to correlate microbial colonization levels with the surface roughness status.Methods: The study included 160 premolars of 10 patients. During the study period, which consisted of 4 sessions each lasting 4 weeks, the ligature types Slide™ Low-Friction Ligature (Leone, Firenze, Italy), Tough-O Energy™ (Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, Denver, USA), and Sili Ties™ (Dentsply Sirona, Surrey KT13 0NY, UK), and steel ligatures (American Orthodontics, Sheboygan, USA) as a control, were fixed to the premolar teeth by clockwise rotation among the jaw quadrants. The plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were obtained before bonding (T0), 6 weeks after bonding (T1), and subsequently every 4 weeks (T2, T3, T4). Presence of S. mutans was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction at T1, T2, T3, T4. Surface roughness was evaluated with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) before ligation (Ra0) and after (Ra1) ligation. The paired t-test, ANOVA, repeated measures of ANOVA, and the Kruskal–Wallis test were used for the statistical analysis.Results: S. mutans colonization was significantly higher on the Slide group (P .05).Conclusion:S. mutans colonization showed variations in low-friction elastomeric ligatures independent of surface roughness. Ringshaped low-friction elastomeric ligatures were not different from the steel ligature in terms of S. mutans colonization

Examination of Teacher Candidates’ Communicatıon Skills Accordıng to Different Variables

AbstractThe aim of the present study is to examine education faculty students’ communication skills according to such variables as gender, class level and department. The study was carried out during the 2010-2011 academic year with 143 students studying at the Elementary Education Department, the Mathematics Education Program, the Turkish Education Department and the Preschool Education Program. The likert type attitude scale prepared by Korkut was administered to the teacher candidates studying at the Education Faculty of Uludag University. The data obtained was analyzed with using SPSS program. In the statistical analysis of the data, t-test and anova were applied for the parametric data and Mann Whitney U test was used for the non-parametric data. In the statistical analyses, the significance level (p value) was taken as 0.05. Significant differences were found between the university students’ communication skills and such variables as departments and class level. However, no sigificant difference was determined between the students’ communication skills and gender

An investigation of speech sounds of patients applied to orthodontics clinic

The aim of this study is to determine the sound characteristics of speech sounds of patients applied to orthodontics clinic to understand how speech will be affected after orthodontic treatment. The study included 60 patients (35 females, 25 males; 13.60±2.35 years) Fricatives (/f/, /s/, /s/) were selected for spectral center of gravity analysis. Sounds were examined under four groups: syllable-initial, syllable-final, /a/ context and /i/ context. The Shapiro Wilk test and Mann-Whitney U-test, were used for statistical evaluations. There was a statistically significant difference between syllable-initial and syllable-final measurements of /f/ sound (p=0.008). There was a significant effect of gender in all groups of /s/ sound and syllable-initial group of /s/ sound (p [Med-Science 2019; 8(2.000): 287-290

Effects of Sleep Hygiene Education on Subjective Sleep Quality and Academic Performance

Aim: Sleep problems are common in students with one third of university students reporting insufficient sleep. It is known that sleep quality and daytime sleepiness cause decrasing academic performans. For this reason we aimed to investigate the effects of a sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and academic performance of first year medical students. Material and Method: Self-reported sleep data and academic performance of 131 first grade medical students were collected. To all students enrolled Pittsburg Sleep Quality Scale in the assessment of sleep quality and Epworth Sleepiness Scale for assessment of daytime sleepiness in the evaluation. The students were divided into two subgroups and the intervention group received a 30 minute structured sleep hygiene education. Global academic performance was assessed by grade point average at the end of the year. Results: Mean Pittsburgh sleep quality index score of the students was 7.9 +/- 3.5 and 106 (82.8%) of then had a score >= 5. After intervention,. the worse the initial sleep quality, the more improvement by the sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and academic performance. Discussion: An education on sleep hygiene might improve subjective sleep quality and academic performance of medical students