Whitening toothpaste containing activated charcoal, blue covarine, hydrogen peroxide or microbeads: which one is the most effective?

The efficacy of whitening toothpastes is questionable and controversial. Clinicians, patients and researchers have expressed concern with whitening toothpastes due to the risk of wearing the dental structure and the potential for disappointment if the advertised cosmetic results are not achieved. Objective: This study compared the whitening performance of toothpastes with different whitening technologies after initial and continued use. Material and Methods: Ninety bovine incisors were stained using a concentrated solution of black tea. They were randomly distributed into 6 groups, according to the toothpaste whitening technology: activated charcoal (B&W), blue covarine (WAD), hydrogen peroxide (LWA), microbeads (Oral B 3D White Perfection – 3DW) and optimized abrasives (XW4D). They were compared to a traditional toothpaste without a whitening agent (TA – control). Specimens underwent a brushing machine with controlled pressure, time and temperature. A calibrated examiner measured the color using a VITAClassical scale before the first brushing cycle (T0), after the first brushing cycle (TI), and after a brushing cycle that simulates continuous use (TCU). Whitening performance was evaluated by the difference of shades (ΔSGU) between T0–TI and T0–TCU timepoints, using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s non-parametric test. The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the cumulative effect (α=0.05). Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between toothpastes in both TI and TCU (p<0.05). The time of use also had a significant effect (p<0.05). Conclusion: Only WAD and 3DW showed whitening performance after the first use (TI). The greatest whitening performance after continuous use was obtained by WAD, followed by LWA and 3DW. The use of conventional toothpaste (TA) promotes no tooth whitening. Clinical relevance: Microbead abrasives (3DW) and blue covarine (WAD) were the active technology tested that presented the best global tooth whitening performance

Microbial Cellulose — Biosynthesis Mechanisms and Medical Applications

Currently some principles of sustainability, eco-efficiency and green chemistry are guiding the development of a new generation of materials as an alternative to conventional polymers based on petroleum. Then, in the field of biodegradable polymers one of the most promising investigations is focused on the use of microbial cellulose (MC), biocellulose or bacterial cellulose. MC has received substantial interest since it is synthesized from the bacterium Gluconacetobacter genus from a variety of carbon sources such as glucose, fructose, galactose, etc. MC is an interesting emerging biomaterial, with no toxicity, and since its discovery has shown tremendous potential in various fields, because the structural aspect of MC is far superior to those of plant cellulose. Thus, the main focus of the chapter review involves detailed aspects about the biosynthesis and recent advances on microbial production, including mechanism for the biochemistry of the cellulose synthesis, new sources for culture medium, main aspects about static and air-reactor productions and genetic modifications. We also revised microbial cellulose devices for biomedical applications: artificial skin, artificial blood vessels and microvessels, wound dressing of second- or third-degree burn ulcers, scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, dental implants, among others

Can a bleaching toothpaste containing Blue Covarine demonstrate the same bleaching as conventional techniques? An in vitro, randomized and blinded study

Objective The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the efficacy of a bleaching toothpaste containing Blue Covarine vs. conventional tooth bleaching techniques using peroxides (both in-office and at-home). Material and Methods Samples were randomly distributed into five experimental groups (n=15): C - Control; BC – Bleaching toothpaste containing Blue Covarine; WBC – Bleaching toothpaste without Blue Covarine; HP35 - In-office bleaching using 35% hydrogen peroxide; and CP10 – At-home bleaching with 10% carbamide peroxide. The dental bleaching efficacy was determined by the color difference (ΔE), luminosity (ΔL), green-red axis (Δa), and blue-yellow axis (Δb). The CIELab coordinates were recorded with reflectance spectroscopy at different times: T0 - baseline, T1 – immediately after bleaching, T2 - 7 days, T3 - 14 days, and T4 - 21 days after the end of treatments. Data were analyzed by a repeated measures mixed ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni test, with a significance level of 5%. Results No significant differences were found between the treatment groups C, BC, and WBC. The groups HP35 and CP10 showed significantly higher whitening efficacy than groups C, BC, and WBC. Conclusions There were no significant differences in the whitening efficacy between a Blue Covarine containing toothpaste, a standard whitening toothpaste, and a control. Neither of the whitening toothpastes tested were as effective as in-office or at-home bleaching treatments

Fracture strength of flared bovine roots restored with different intraradicular posts

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the fracture strength and failure mode of flared bovine roots restored with different intraradicular posts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty bovine incisors with similar dimensions were selected and their roots were flared until 1.0 mm of dentin wall remained. Next, the roots were allocated into five groups (n=10): GI- cast metal post-and-core; GII- fiber posts plus accessory fiber posts; GIII- direct anatomic post; GIV- indirect anatomic post and GV- control (specimens without intraradicular post). A polyether impression material was used to simulate the periodontal ligament. After periodontal ligament simulation, the specimens were subjected to a compressive load at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min in a servo-hydraulic testing machine (MTS 810) applied at 135º to the long axis of the tooth until failure. The data (N) were subjected to ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc test (α=0.05). RESULTS: GI and GIV presented higher fracture strength (p;0.05) from GI, GII and GIV. Control specimens (GV) produced the lowest fracture strength mean values (

INFLUENCIA DE DIFERENTES INTENSIDADES DE LUZ EN LA RESISTENCIA DE UNIÓN DE UN SISTEMA ADHESIVO UTILIZANDO UN COLORANTE FLUORESCENTE PARA SU OBSERVACIÓN

El objetivo de este trabajo fue el de utilizar un colorante fluorescente y microscopio CLSM para observarla influencia de diferentes intensidades de luz en la resistencia de unión de un sistema adhesivo. Para talfin, fueron creadas superficies planas en la dentina de 16 dientes terceros molares y divididos en 4grupos: Grupo G1 - Foto-activador halógeno - KM-200R®; Grupo G2 - Foto-activador LED - Ultraled®;Grupo G3 - Foto-activador LED - UltraLume®LED5 y Grupo G4 - Foto-activador LED - Biolux Single V®.Para todos los grupos el procedimiento restaurador fue realizado utilizando el adhesivo Single Bond®pigmentado con rodamina B y la resina compuesta InTen-S®. Seguidamente, cada conjunto fue cortado,resultando en espécimen de aproximadamente 1 mm2 de sección transversal, que luego fue seleccionadoy llevado al test de micro-tracción para finalmente ser examinado con un microscopio digital y de CLSM.Los resultados mostraron luego de la evaluación estadística que el grupo 2 obtuvo valores medios deresistencia adhesiva significativamente menores que los demás grupos, que fueron semejantes entre si.Con relación al tipo de fractura, hubo diferencia entre los grupos G1 / G2 y entre los grupos G2 / G4;entre los otros grupos no hubo evidencia de diferencias significativas. Con esos resultados concluimosque la utilización de pigmentos fluorescentes y CLSM demostró ser una técnica simple y no destructiva, así también como la existencia de evidencias de que la intensidad de la luz foto-activadora influenció enla resistencia de unión en dentina.ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to use a fluorescent dye and CLSM microscope to observe the effect ofdifferent light intensities on dentin tensile bond strength. Flat dentin surfaces were created on 16 intacthuman third molars and divided in 4 groups: Group G1 - halogen - KM -200R®; Group G2 - LED -Ultraled®; Group G3 - LED - UltraLume LED5® and Group G4 - LED - Biolux Single V®. For all thegroups, the restoration procedure used Single Bond® adhesive, mixed with rodamin B and InTen-S®composite resin. Then, they were cut on serial sections to obtain 1 mm2 area and submitted to microtensile test and after words, the fractures were analyzed with a digital microscope and CLSM. Thestatistical analysis showed that all in all groups, except Group G2, which had a significant smaller tensilebond strength ratio. The fracture mode analysis showed that there were significant differences whencomparing groups G1 / G2, and G2 / G4. There is no evidence of relevant differences among the othergroups. With these results, we conclude that the use of fluorescent dye and CLSM demonstrated to be asimple and nondestructive technique, and that there are evidences that light intensities influenced thedentine tensile

Influencia de diferentes intensidades de luz en la resistencia de unión de un sistema adhesivo utilizando un colorante fluorescente para su observación

The purpose of this study was to use a fluorescent dye and CLSM microscope to observe the effect of different light intensities on dentin tensile bond strength. Flat dentin surfaces were created on 16 intact human third molars and divided in 4 groups: Group G1 - halogen - KM -200R®; Group G2 - LED - Ultraled®; Group G3 - LED - UltraLume LED5® and Group G4 - LED - Biolux Single V®. For all the groups, the restoration procedure used Single Bond® adhesive, mixed with rodamin B and InTen-S® composite resin. Then, they were cut on serial sections to obtain 1 mm2 area and submitted to micro tensile test and after words, the fractures were analyzed with a digital microscope and CLSM. The statistical analysis showed that all in all groups, except Group G2, which had a significant smaller tensile bond strength ratio. The fracture mode analysis showed that there were significant differences when comparing groups G1 / G2, and G2 / G4. There is no evidence of relevant differences among the other groups. With these results, we conclude that the use of fluorescent dye and CLSM demonstrated to be a simple and nondestructive technique, and that there are evidences that light intensities influenced the dentine tensile.El objetivo de este trabajo fue el de utilizar un colorante fluorescente y microscopio CLSM para observar la influencia de diferentes intensidades de luz en la resistencia de unión de un sistema adhesivo. Para tal fin, fueron creadas superficies planas en la dentina de 16 dientes terceros molares y divididos en 4 grupos: Grupo G1 - Foto-activador halógeno - KM-200R®; Grupo G2 - Foto-activador LED - Ultraled®; Grupo G3 - Foto-activador LED - UltraLume®LED5 y Grupo G4 - Foto-activador LED - Biolux Single V®. Para todos los grupos el procedimiento restaurador fue realizado utilizando el adhesivo Single Bond® pigmentado con rodamina B y la resina compuesta InTen-S®. Seguidamente, cada conjunto fue cortado, resultando en espécimen de aproximadamente 1 mm2 de sección transversal, que luego fue seleccionado y llevado al test de micro-tracción para finalmente ser examinado con un microscopio digital y de CLSM. Los resultados mostraron luego de la evaluación estadística que el grupo 2 obtuvo valores medios de resistencia adhesiva significativamente menores que los demás grupos, que fueron semejantes entre si. Con relación al tipo de fractura, hubo diferencia entre los grupos G1 / G2 y entre los grupos G2 / G4; entre los otros grupos no hubo evidencia de diferencias significativas. Con esos resultados concluimos que la utilización de pigmentos fluorescentes y CLSM demostró ser una técnica simple y no destructiva, así también como la existencia de evidencias de que la intensidad de la luz foto-activadora influenció en la resistencia de unión en dentina