Combined chlorhexidine-sodiumfluoride mouthrinse for orthodontic patients: clinical and microbiological study

Background: Orthodontic appliances impede good dental plaque control by brushing. Antimicrobial mouth rinses were suggested to improve this performance. We therefore aimed to investigate the effects of combined mouthrinse containing chlorhexidine (CHX) and sodium fluoride (NaF) on clinical oral hygiene parameters,and plaque bacterial level. Material and Methods: In this double-blind clinical study, 60 fixed orthodontic patients aged 14-25 years were randomly assigned to one of four mouthrinses groups: 1- combined CHX /NaF 2- CHX 0.06% 3- NaF0.05% 4-placebo. Following baseline examination patients were instructed to use the assigned mouthrinse twice daily for 21 days. Bleeding index (BI), modified gingival index (MGI) and plaque index (PI) were determined at the baselineand after three weeks of rinsing. Samples from supragingival plaque were obtained for the assessment of total bacterial, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli colony counts. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: Clinical parameters; All three active mouth rinses induced significant improvements of BI, MGI, and PI ( P <0.05). Results of CHX/NaF were slightly, but not significantly, better than CHX. CHX/NaF and CHX induced significantly more changes than NaF and placebo. Microbiological measurements; Except placebo, other mouthrinses reduced total bacterial, Streptococcus mutans , and Lactobacilli counts significantly ( P <0.05). CHX/NaF acted against Lactobacilli significantly more than others. Conclusions: Adding CHX0.06%/NaF0.05% combined mouth rinse to daily oral hygiene regimen of orthodontic patients significantly improved oral hygiene status. Effect of this combined mouth rinse on dental plaque Lactobacilli was remarkable. However, large controlled trials could provide more definitive evidence

Effect of Propolis mouthwash on plaque and gingival indices over fixed orthodontic patients

In patients with fixed orthodontics, the presence of orthodontic appliances causes dental plaque accumulation and hygiene problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Propolis and chlorhexidine mouthwashes on plaque and gingival indices in patients who are undergoing orthodontic treatment. In this triple blind study, in total, 37 patients aged from 15 to 35 years those who have been undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment were studied. After that, one of the mouthwashes that containing either Propolis or Chlorhexidine was randomly prescribed to patients. The patients were asked to use mouthwashes twice a day after brushing their teeth for three weeks consecutively. Indicators of plaque, gingival and periodontal status (PI, GI, CPI) were determined on Ramford teeth at the beginning and at the end of three weeks for each patient. Then the results were analyzed statistically. The difference between the values of plaque index (P<0.001), gingival index (P=0.006) and periodontal index (P= 0.005) before and after administration of Propolis were statistically significant. The difference was also statistically significant for all three indexes of plaque (P<0.001), gingival (P=0.001) and periodontal (P=0.003) before and after chlorhexidine mouthwash usage. The indices after using mouthwashes were not statistically significant different between two mouthwash groups. It seems that Propolis mouthwash can be used as a suitable alternative in patients with fixed orthodontic treatment without the side effects of chlorhexidine mouthwash

The effect of low level laser on condylar growth during mandibular advancement in rabbits

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>It has been shown that Low Level Laser (LLL) has a positive effect on bone formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low level laser on condylar growth during mandibular advancement in rabbits.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Continuous forward mandibular advancement was performed in fourteen male Albino rabbits with the mean age of 8 weeks and the mean weight of 1.5 ± 0.5 kg, with acrylic inclined planes. The rabbits were randomly assigned into two groups after 4 weeks. LLL (KLO3: wave length 630 nm) was irradiated at 3 points around the TMJ, through the skin in the first group. The exposure was performed for 3 minutes at each point (a total of 9 minutes) once a day for 3 weeks. The control group was not exposed to any irradiation. The rabbits in both groups were sacrificed after two months and the histological evaluation of TMJ was performed to compare fibrous tissue, cartilage, and new bone formation in condylar region in both groups. Disc displacement was also detected in both groups. Student's t-test, Exact Fisher and Chi square tests were used for the statistical analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The formation of fibrous tissue was significantly lower, while bone formation was significantly greater in lased group as compared with control group. The thickness of cartilage did not differ significantly between two groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Irradiation of LLL (KLO3) during mandibular advancement in rabbits, increases bone formation in condylar region, while neither increase in the cartilage thickness nor fibrous tissues was observed.</p

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Static and kinetic frictional forces of silica-insert ceramic brackets with coated archwires in artificial saliva

Background: During sliding mechanics, the frictional force (FF) is an important counterforce to orthodontic tooth movement. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the static and kinetic FFs of S silica-insert ceramic (SIC) brackets with Teflon-coated (TC) and conventional S stainless steel (SS) archwires. Materials and Methods: The target group of this study included 80 maxillary canine 0.022 inch slot SIC brackets. Forty SS brackets were used as the control. TC and conventional uncoated SS archwires of different dimensions (0.016, 0.018, 0.016 × 0.022, and 0.018 × 0.025 inch) were examined. All tests were carried out under artificial saliva injected condition. Scanning Electron Micrographs were prepared for two samples of coated and uncoated archwires. Analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc tests were used for statistical purposes (level of significance P < 0.05). Results: SIC brackets showed significantly lower levels of FFs than SS brackets. TC archwires had greater frictional values than conventional uncoated ones. They also exhibited an unusual behavior of increasing kinetic FFs with time. Indentation and delamination of coating were obvious under scanning electron microscopy observations. Conclusion: From the standpoint of friction, SIC brackets may serve well, even better than SS brackets, in sliding mechanics. The coating layer of the archwires may delaminate and lost, causing an impediment to tooth movement

Septal injection in comparison with inferior turbinates injection of botulinum toxin A in patients with allergic rhinitis

Background: Botulinum toxin A (BTA) is a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). Although recent studies have introduced BTA septal injection as an alternative method, the conventional localization for the injection of BTA in patients with AR is still the nasal turbinates. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness and safety of septal BTA injection with turbinal BTA injection in patients with AR. Materials and Methods: This open‑label study was performed on 50 patients with AR who were randomly allocated to septal and turbinal BTA injection groups. All patients received an injection of 40 U of BTA (Dysport;, Ipsen Ltd, Maidenhead, UK) in each side of the nose and were followed for 8 weeks. Prior to the intervention and 8 weeks later, symptom severity and quality of life scores were calculated using the AR symptom severity and Rhinasthma questionnaires respectively. Results: Comparison of pre‑ and post‑treatment symptom severity scores within each group showed a significant reduction of total symptom severity score and severity of sneezing, rhinorrhea, and congestion in both groups (P 0.05). Both methods have improved the quality of life of subjects significantly (P < 0.05). Significantly more patients in the turbinal injection group reported adverse effects (four patient′s vs. one, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Although both septal and turbinal BTA injections are effective on patients with AR, septal administration of BTA could be safer and easier method. However, further investigations are required to achieve more accurate results

A study on how organizational citizenship behavior influences on human resource management

During the past few years, there have been some evidences to believe that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) could significantly influence on the success of organizations. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the effects of OCB on human resource management. The proposed study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among some 260 experts who worked for an Iranian auto industry. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale, examines three hypotheses including the relationship between conscientiousness and information quality, courtesy and work efficiency and between civic virtue and work efficiency. Cronbach alphas for Courtesy, Civic virtue and Information Quality are calculated as 0.75, 0.76 and 0.81, respectively. Using structural equation modeling, the study has confirmed existence of positive and meaningful relationships among various components of the survey, which confirms all three hypotheses of the survey

Management Science Letters A study on how organizational citizenship behavior influences on human resource management

During the past few years, there have been some evidences to believe that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) could significantly influence on the success of organizations. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the effects of OCB on human resource management. The proposed study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among some 260 experts who worked for an Iranian auto industry. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale, examines three hypotheses including the relationship between conscientiousness and information quality, courtesy and work efficiency and between civic virtue and work efficiency. Cronbach alphas for Courtesy, Civic virtue and Information Quality are calculated as 0.75, 0.76 and 0.81, respectively. Using structural equation modeling, the study has confirmed existence of positive and meaningful relationships among various components of the survey, which confirms all three hypotheses of the survey

Evaluation of Two Facial Nerve Landmarks Frequency in Parotidectomy

Background & Aim: Various landmarks are discussed to find the facial nerve during parotid surgery. The surgeon should use existing landmarks for a safe surgical use. To evaluate two new landmarks in parotid surgery, this study was done. Methods & Materials/Patients: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 43 patients with parotid masses, whom were referred to Alzahra and Kashani tertiary hospitals in 2013. In a parotid surgery, the greater auricular nerve was detected; then the greater auricular nerve and facial nerve diameter were measured by the compass with precision of 0.1 millimeter and recorded. After facial nerve exploration, if the other landmarks of vascular and tail signs are detected, they are recorded in the files. Results: This study contained 43 patients, 22 men and 21 women. There were 21 (48.8%) masses in deep lobes and others on superficial lobes. In 36 cases (83.7%), vascular signs were observed. In 23 cases (53.5%), tail signs were found. The diameter of facial nerve was 2.647(±4641) mm (minimum: 2 mm and maximum: 4 mm). The diameter of greater auricular nerve was 2.691(±4545) mm (minimum: 2 mm and maximum: 4 mm). By paired T-test, there was no significant difference between the diameter of facial and greater auricular nerves. Of all cases, 76.7% had differences less than 0.5 mm. Conclusion: This study showed that greater auricular nerve can be used as a proper graft for facial nerve, and we can use “vascular sign” as a good indicator of facial nerve