Relationship between Plasma Concentrations of Maternal Zinc during Pregnancy and the Risk for Orofacial Cleft

Aim: Recent studies have suggested the occurrence of a variety of abnormalities including oral clefts following the deficiency of nutritional elements. The present study aimed to address the association between plasma concentrations of maternal zinc and the risk of an infant being born with an orofacial cleft. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study conducted in Hamadan, Iran, 2015, 48 mothers of children with an isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate and 48 control mothers of children with no congenital malformations were recruited. The concentration of zinc in the whole blood was measured using flame atomic absorption spectrometry method. Data were analyzed by the use of descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS version 16. Results and Discussion: Plasma level of zinc in a group with orofacial clefts was 16.87 +/- 8.17 mu mol/L, and in the control group was 19.28 +/- 8.83 that was statistically similar between the groups (t = -1.329, P = 0.187). T-test showed that the two groups did not have a significant difference in zinc level. The odds ratio (OR) for the case and control group was 1.6, which indicates there was no significant difference in zinc deficiency between the two groups (OR = 1.66, 95 confidence interval = 0.61-4.54, P = 0.426). Conclusion: Despite lower zinc plasma levels in women of the case group, the difference in concentration of this element was not statistically significant between the two groups. In general, there is no definitive conclusion on whether the deficiency of nutritional elements during pregnancy is the cause of malformations or not, and it is still necessary to further studies

Investigating the relationship between DMFT index of pregnant women and neonates’ low birth weight in Hamadan in 2016

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW), defined as a weight less than 2500 g, is strongly associated with a neonatal mortality. Many studies show a positive association between periodontal disease of pregnant mothers and LBW, but few studies have been conducted on the relationship between the dental decays and the LBW. Thus, due to the lack of information in this field, the present study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between DMFT index of the pregnant women in Hamadan and neonates’ LBW. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on the pregnant women of Hamadan in 2016. The experimental group consisted of 114 pregnant mothers who had normal vaginal delivery and their neonates’ birth weight was less than 2500 g. The control group consisted of 147 pregnant mothers who had normal vaginal delivery and their neonates’ birth weight was over 2500 g. The data were collected based on an interview and examination. The data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of two sections, including demographic characteristics and dental information. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics with SPSS version16 software and P <0.05 was considered as the significance level. Results: The results showed that the mothers in the experimental and control groups were significantly different in terms of DMFT index (P=0.003). The mean of DMFT index in the experimental and control groups were 13.03 and 10.66, respectively. This difference was statistically significant. The correlation coefficient revealed no significant relationship between DMFT index and the neonatal weight in the control group (p=0.532). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, there is a positive relationship between the dental decays of the pregnant women and the neonates’ LBW. To prevent neonates’ LBW, the public health providers and mass media should provide essential oral hygiene promoting and maintaining programs for pregnant women. Also, due to limited number of studies in this area, further studies in different populations and races seem to be necessary. © 2020, Venezuelan Society of Pharmacology and Clinical and Therapeutic Pharmacology. All rights reserved

Relationship between dental plaque formation and salivary cortisol level in pregnant women

Purpose: Understanding how increased level of salivary cortisol contributes to the development of dental biofilm during pregnancy can help inthe prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between salivary cortisol level and dental biofilm formation in pregnant women. Patients and methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted in Hamadan, Iran in 2011. Forty consecutive pregnant women with no history of abortion, stillbirth, or any known physical or psychological disorders at weeks 25 and 33 of gestation were included. Salivary samples were collected for measurement of cortisol levels by Enzyme Linked Immunoabsorbent Assay (ELISA) method. The amount and extension of dental biofilms were determined by using a disclosing agent. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS version 16. Results: The mean levels of salivary cortisol at weeks 25 and 33 of gestation were respectively, 2.45 +/- 1.56 mug/dl and 5.24 +/- 4.07 mug/dl which demonstrates a significant difference (P<0.001). Evaluation of dental biofilm at two time intervals revealed a significant increase in amount of dental biofilm at week 33 of gestational period (34.65 +/- 10.9 vs. 42.45 +/- 12.35, P<0.001). Elevated levels of dental biofilm were significantly correlated with salivary cortisol levels at week 33 (r=0.494, P=0.001),however, it was not significant at week 25 of gestation (r=0.148, P=0.361). Conclusion: The findings suggested that increased levels of salivary cortisol can predict dental biofilm formation and accumulation in pregnant women in the last weeks of gestation

Taurodontism: A case report of successful treatment of root and crown

Taurodontism is a rare dental anomaly in which the involved tooth has enlarged and elongated body and pulp chamber with apical displacement of the pulpal floor. Endodontic treatment of these teeth is challenging because it requires identifying the number of root canals. A case of bilateral involvement of maxillary first molar teeth is presented. Endodontic treatment of the right maxillary first molar with taurodontism was indicated due to irreversible pulpitis. In this article, we described the procedure of root canal therapy for this case