Effects of a Novel Dental Gel on Plaque and Gingivitis: A Comparative Study.

ObjectivesThe goal of this prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blinded study was to evaluate the effects of a novel dental gel on plaque and gingival health. The dental gel was designed to (1) break up and prevent re-accumulation of microbial biofilm, and (2) inhibit metal mediated inflammation.Materials and methodsTwenty-five subjects with moderate gingival inflammation (Löe and Silness Gingival Index ≥2) and pocket depths <4 were randomly assigned to brush twice daily for 21 days with the test or the control dental gel. On Days 0, 7, 14 and 21, plaque levels (Quigley-Hein, Turesky Modification Plaque Index), gingival inflammation (Löe and Silness Gingival Index) and gingival bleeding (modified Sulcus Bleeding Index) were determined by one blinded, investigator using a pressure sensitive probe.ResultsAfter 3 weeks, all 3 clinical indices were significantly improved in both groups (P<0.05) and significantly lower in the test group (P<0.05).ConclusionThe novel dental gel formulation was provided effective plaque control and reduced gingival inflammation.Clinical relevanceA novel dentifrice formulation may be an effective tool for plaque removal and maintaining gingival health

Photoacoustic Imaging for Noninvasive Periodontal Probing Depth Measurements.

The periodontal probe is the gold standard tool for periodontal examinations, including probing depth measurements, but is limited by systematic and random errors. Here, we used photoacoustic ultrasound for high-spatial resolution imaging of probing depths. Specific contrast from dental pockets was achieved with food-grade cuttlefish ink as a contrast medium. Here, 39 porcine teeth (12 teeth with artificially deeper pockets) were treated with the contrast agent, and the probing depths were measured with novel photoacoustic imaging and a Williams periodontal probe. There were statistically significant differences between the 2 measurement approaches for distal, lingual, and buccal sites but not mesial. Bland-Altman analysis revealed that all bias values were < ±0.25 mm, and the coefficients of variation for 5 replicates were <11%. The photoacoustic imaging approach also offered 0.01-mm precision and could cover the entire pocket, as opposed to the probe-based approach, which is limited to only a few sites. This report is the first to use photoacoustic imaging for probing depth measurements with potential implications to the dental field, including tools for automated dental examinations or noninvasive examinations

Optical Diagnostics in the Oral Cavity: An Overview

As the emphasis shifts from damage mitigation to disease prevention or reversal of early disease in the oral cavity, the need for sensitive and accurate detection and diagnostic tools become more important. Many novel and emergent optical diagnostic modalities for the oral cavity are becoming available to clinicians with a variety of desirable attributes including: (i) non-invasiveness, (ii) absence of ionizing radiation, (iii) patient-friendliness, (iv) real-time information (v) repeatability, and (vi) high-resolution surface and subsurface images. In this article, the principles behind optical diagnostic approaches, their feasibility and applicability for imaging soft and hard tissues, and their potential usefulness as a tool in the diagnosis of oral mucosal lesions, dental pathologies, and other dental applications will be reviewed. The clinical applications of light-based imaging technologies in the oral cavity and of their derivative devices will be discussed to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of emergent diagnostic modalities. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S

SPONTANEOUS EXCITATORY MOVEMENTS DURINF RECOVERY FROM PROPOFOL ANAESTHESIA IN AN INFANT: EEG EVALUATION

Spontaneous excitatory movements have been observed during reco very from propofol anaesthesia in children. Epilepsy has been postulated as a possible mechanism to explain these movements. We report the first case in which these spontaneous excitatory movements were studied using simultaneous multichannel EEG recordings. (Br. J. Anaesth. 1993; 70: 459-461

Responding to the threat of urban yellow fever outbreaks

Comment - No abstract available

Epidermal transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in idiopathic small nerve fibre disease, diabetic neuropathy and healthy human subjects

10.1111/j.1365-2559.2007.02851.xHistopathology515674-68

Intra-operative point-of-procedure delineation of oral cancer margins using optical coherence tomography.

ObjectivesSurgical margin status is a significant determinant of treatment outcome in oral cancer. Negative surgical margins can decrease the loco-regional recurrence by five-fold. The current standard of care of intraoperative clinical examination supplemented by histological frozen section, can result in a risk of positive margins from 5 to 17 percent. In this study, we attempted to assess the utility of intraoperative optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging with automated diagnostic algorithm to improve on the current method of clinical evaluation of surgical margin in oral cancer.Materials and methodsWe have used a modified handheld OCT device with automated algorithm based diagnostic platform for imaging. Intraoperatively, images of 125 sites were captured from multiple zones around the tumor of oral cancer patients (n = 14) and compared with the clinical and pathologic diagnosis.ResultsOCT showed sensitivity and specificity of 100%, equivalent to histological diagnosis (kappa, ĸ = 0.922), in detection of malignancy within tumor and tumor margin areas. In comparison, for dysplastic lesions, OCT-based detection showed a sensitivity of 92.5% and specificity of 68.8% and a moderate concordance with histopathology diagnosis (ĸ = 0.59). Additionally, the OCT scores could significantly differentiate squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from dysplastic lesions (mild/moderate/severe; p ≤ 0.005) as well as the latter from the non-dysplastic lesions (p ≤ 0.05).ConclusionThe current challenges associated with clinical examination-based margin assessment could be improved with intra-operative OCT imaging. OCT is capable of identifying microscopic tumor at the surgical margins and demonstrated the feasibility of mapping of field cancerization around the tumor

Spontaneous excitatory movements during recovery from propofol anaesthesia in an infant: EEG evaluation

Spontaneous excitatory movements have been observed during recovery from propofol anaesthesia in children. Epilepsy has been postulated as a possible mechanism to explain these movements. We report the first case in which these spontaneous excitatory movements were studied using simultaneous multichannel EEG recordings

Natural Bacterial Communities Serve as Quantitative Geochemical Biosensors

Biological sensors can be engineered to measure a wide range of environmental conditions. Here we show that statistical analysis of DNA from natural microbial communities can be used to accurately identify environmental contaminants, including uranium and nitrate at a nuclear waste site. In addition to contamination, sequence data from the 16S rRNA gene alone can quantitatively predict a rich catalogue of 26 geochemical features collected from 93 wells with highly differing geochemistry characteristics. We extend this approach to identify sites contaminated with hydrocarbons from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, finding that altered bacterial communities encode a memory of prior contamination, even after the contaminants themselves have been fully degraded. We show that the bacterial strains that are most useful for detecting oil and uranium are known to interact with these substrates, indicating that this statistical approach uncovers ecologically meaningful interactions consistent with previous experimental observations. Future efforts should focus on evaluating the geographical generalizability of these associations. Taken as a whole, these results indicate that ubiquitous, natural bacterial communities can be used as in situ environmental sensors that respond to and capture perturbations caused by human impacts. These in situ biosensors rely on environmental selection rather than directed engineering, and so this approach could be rapidly deployed and scaled as sequencing technology continues to become faster, simpler, and less expensive