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Calcium-enriched mixture cement and MTA showed similar performance in pulpotomy of immature caries-exposed permanent molars.

Although human mouth benefits from remarkable mechanical properties, it is very susceptible to traumatic damages, exposure to microbial attacks, and congenital maladies. Since the human dentition plays a crucial role in mastication, phonation and esthetics, finding promising and more efficient strategies to reestablish its functionality in the event of disruption has been important. Dating back to antiquity, conventional dentistry has been offering evacuation, restoration, and replacement of the diseased dental tissue. However, due to the limited ability and short lifespan of traditional restorative solutions, scientists have taken advantage of current advancements in medicine to create better solutions for the oral health field and have coined it "regenerative dentistry." This new field takes advantage of the recent innovations in stem cell research, cellular and molecular biology, tissue engineering, and materials science etc. In this review, the recently known resources and approaches used for regeneration of dental and oral tissues were evaluated using the databases of Scopus and Web of Science. Scientists have used a wide range of biomaterials and scaffolds (artificial and natural), genes (with viral and non-viral vectors), stem cells (isolated from deciduous teeth, dental pulp, periodontal ligament, adipose tissue, salivary glands, and dental follicle) and growth factors (used for stimulating cell differentiation) in order to apply tissue engineering approaches to dentistry. Although they have been successful in preclinical and clinical partial regeneration of dental tissues, whole-tooth engineering still seems to be far-fetched, unless certain shortcomings are addressed.

The performance of tongue muscles in various feeding behaviours is not well defined. This study was undertaken to examine the role of the intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles during natural drinking, food ingestion and chewing. Ten 12-week-old Yucatan miniature pigs (5 in each gender) were used. Under anesthesia, fine-wire electrodes were inserted into three intrinsic (verticalis and transversus [V/T]; superior and inferior longitudinalis [SL and IL]) and two extrinsic (genioglossus [GG] and styloglossus [SG]) tongue muscles and two jaw muscles (masseter [MA] and anterior digastricus [DI]). Electromyogram (EMG) and jaw movement were recorded and synchronized when pigs were drinking water, ingesting and chewing food freely. Chewing frequency (CF), onset of activation, burst duration and integrated activity (IEMG) were assessed quantitatively, and EMG activities during drinking and ingestion were examined qualitatively. Results indicate that during chewing, the V/T and GG had one phase of activity starting at early jaw opening, and the V/T activity lasted through late of jaw closing. The SL, IL and SG had double phases with the first starting at jaw opening and the second at late jaw closing phases. The three intrinsic tongue muscles and the SG were active during 35-48% of the chewing cycle. IEMG values of the SL, IL and SG of both sides were significantly greater compared to the other muscles (p<0.05-0.01). Both the SL and the IL showed significantly higher activities in the contralateral than ipsilateral sides (p<0.05). The timing sequences of both extrinsic and intrinsic muscles were similar between ingestion and chewing, but amplitudes of the GG and IL were greatly enhanced and those of the MA and SL were reduced during ingestion. The simultaneous activation of the MA, GG and V/T were seen during drinking, along with major activity in the GG and V/T. These results suggested that the majority of activity in the intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles occurred during jaw opening and the occlusal phases of chewing. The activity of the GG and IL played a major role during ingestion, whereas simultaneous activation of jaw, extrinsic and intrinsic tongue muscles and major activity in the GG and V/T occurred during drinking.

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