Fluoride content and recharge ability of five glassionomer dental materials

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The relationship between fluoride content and fluoride release for glass-ionomer cements is not well understood. The aim of this laboratory study was: to determine the fluoride concentrations at the surfaces of glass-ionomer materials with respect to different storage media and different pH environments; to examine the recharge ability of the materials after NaF immersion; and to assess the morphological changes at the material surfaces using scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopic techniques (SEM/EDS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five glass-ionomer materials, Fuji Triage (FT), Fuji II LC (FII), Fuji VIII (FVIII), Fuji IX GP (FIX), and Ketac N100 (KN), were analyzed in this study. Resin-based fluoride releasing material Helioseal F (HSF) was used as a comparison material. The sample consisted of 120 cured cement disks (n = 20 disks of each tested material, 10 × 1.5 mm). Five disks of each material were stored in 4 different storage media (I- saline, II- acidic solution ph = 2.5, III- acid solution ph = 5.5, IV- NaF solution (c = 500/106). After 7 days, two disks of each material were transferred from media I, II and III to the NaF solution for 3 min. EDS analysis was conducted in 3 randomly selected spots of each experimental disk. SEM was used to determine morphological characteristics of the material surface. Differences between the experimental groups have been analyzed using Student's t-test with the level of significance set at p < 0.001.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FT showed the highest fluoride content at the surface of the material. The lowest amounts of fluoride ions were detected at the surfaces of the FT disks stored at low pH environments, and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Glass-ionomers showed significantly higher fluoride concentrations when compared to the HSF (p < 0.001). After immersion in the NaF solution, fluoride concentrations at the surfaces of the disks increased when compared with previous storage media (FT>FVIII>KN>FII>FIX). SEM analysis of the surface morphology revealed numerous voids, cracks and microporosities in all experimental groups, except for KN and HSF. More homogenous material structure with more discrete cracks was observed in samples stored at neutral pH environment, compared to disks stored in acidic solutions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The tested materials could be considered as promising dental materials with potential prophylactic characteristics due to their relatively high fluoride content, but also the ability to extensively reabsorb fluoride ions, especially in acidic environments.</p

U-Pb dating of zircon in hydrothermally altered rocks of the Kawerau Geothermal Field, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Crystallisation-age spectra have been obtained by SIMS techniques (SHRIMP-RG) on zircons from altered volcanic units penetrated by drillholes at Kawerau Geothermal Field in the central Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand. Drillholes penetrate 700-1300. m of volcanic rocks and sediments before reaching the basement Mesozoic greywacke. Twenty-seven samples of altered volcanic lithologies and two surficial, fresh rock units have been studied in order to constrain ages of the major stratigraphic units. Within the volcanic/sedimentary pile the oldest in-situ ignimbrites that can be widely correlated have ages of ~. 1.45. Ma. Between them and the basement greywacke is a variable thickness of sediments, mostly greywacke gravels and minor volcaniclastic units, reflecting localised basinal deposition associated with strike-slip faulting. Two ignimbrites within this sequence yield age estimates of c. 2.4 and 2.1. Ma, consistent with these being distal southern Coromandel Volcanic Zone deposits, pre-dating TVZ activity. Below the regional marker plane of the 0.32. Ma Matahina ignimbrite, three main ignimbrite groups occur, with ages around 1.45. Ma, 1.0. Ma and 0.6-0.5. Ma, which are separated by sediment-dominated intervals and andesite volcanics. All of these ignimbrites represent marker horizons from other volcanic centres and do not reflect the presence of local magmatic heat sources.Numerous bodies of coherent rhyolite, previous labelled as Caxton and Onepu rhyolites, have been intersected at all pre-Matahina ignimbrite levels (including within the basement greywacke) and reflect earlier local magmatic heat sources. Our geochronological data resolve these rock bodies into three packages. The youngest is represented by the surficial rhyodacite Onepu domes, 40Ar/39Ar dated at 0.138±0.007Ma. U-Pb ages on zircons from dome material yield a spectrum that can be matched (consistent with petrography) with two dikes intersected at 880m and 2.67km depth, and with an estimated age of 0.15±0.01Ma (Onepu Formation). The older two packages consist of older crystal rich (~15%) and younger crystal-poor (~5%) rhyolite, here grouped as Caxton Formation and with eruption/intrusion age of 0.36±0.03Ma. The shallowest Caxton rhyolite bodies are interpreted to be domes, whilst deeper intersections are inferred to be sills based on the lateral extents relative to thicknesses.Net subsidence rates inferred from depths to key units do not reflect the present-day situation. Modern rates of subsidence (2 ± 1. mm/yr) associated with TVZ rifting processes can have been active for no more than ~. 50,000. years, based on elevation differences of the Matahina ignimbrite top surface. An inferred change in intrusion geometry from sill (Caxton) to dike (Onepu) indicates a change in principal stress orientations reflecting onset of the modern Whakatane Graben. This change is dated at ~. 0.37. Ma in coastal sedimentary sequences 23. km to the north of Kawerau, consistent with our age data. Although previously interpreted to be a long-lived system, the modern Kawerau Geothermal Field is a Holocene entity reflecting the rejuvenation of magmatic heat flux associated with Putauaki volcano superimposed on an area of multiple reactivated fault structures, sporadic magmatism and variable rates of subsidence

Turbulent mixing and mesoscale distributions of late-stage fish larvae on the NW shelf of Western Australia

Light traps were deployed to describe vertical and cross-shelf distributions of late-stage larval fishes during five cruises in each of the 1997/98 and 1998/99 summers in the region of the Gulf of Exmouth on the southern North West Shelf of Western Australia. At each light trap station on a cross-shelf transect we measured water temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a and used vertical plankton tows to estimate zooplankton biomass and copepod abundance. Current meters were deployed on moorings near the transect and the data used to model flows and mixing on the NW Shelf and in the Gulf. The majority of reef, pelagic and baitfish larvae (81, 83 and 66% respectively) were collected at only two stations that marked the boundary between stratified waters offshore and well-mixed water within the Gulf. Most baitfishes (primarily Spratelloides spp.) were captured by traps deployed near the seabed, while reef fishes (mostly pomacentrids, lethrinids and siganids) and pelagic species (mostly scombrids and carangids) were captured in traps deployed near surface. Catch composition varied between summers with 64% of baitfishes collected in the first summer, while the majority of reef and pelagic fishes (81 and 80% respectively) were captured in the second summer. Modelling of circulation showed that the velocity of tidal currents was enhanced by constriction of flow between NW Cape and South Muiron Island and by shallowing of the shelf. Flood-tide intrusions of water allowed the thermocline to move up the continental shelf, upwelling cool nutrient-rich water that was then mixed throughout the entire water column at stations in the mouth of the Gulf. This upwelling and mixing resulted in higher chlorophyll a concentrations and copepod abundances either as a result of local in situ growth or advection/aggregation processes, and may account for the great abundances of late-stage fish larvae in the mouth of the Gulf