Aim This study aimed to investigate salivary concentrations of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and some Lactobacilli, and plaque index (PI) in patients wearing fixed versus removable orthodontic appliances. Methods A sample of 90 orthodontic patients (56 males and 34 females) was included in the study: 30 subjects (aged 21.5±1.5 years) were treated with removable clear aligners (CA), while for other 30 cases (aged 23.3±1.6 years) a fixed multibrackets appliance (MB) were utilized, and 30 patients (aged 18.2 ±1.5 years) wearied a removable positioner (RP). Salivary concentrations of S. mutans and Lactobacilli and PI were evaluated prior to start of the orthodontic treatment, after 3 months and 6 months. Results After 6 months, 40% of MB patients (12 subjects over 30) showed a concentration of S. mutans associated to high risk of developing tooth decay (CFU/ml>105), differently from participants wearing removable appliances (odds ratio = 5.05; 95% C.I. = 1.72‐14.78; chi‐square = 9.64; p = 0.0019). The same trens was observed for the concentration of Lactobacilli (odds ratio = 4.33; 95% C.I. = 1.53‐12.3; chi‐square = 8.229; p = 0.004). In addition, over the duration of the study, CA patients maintained PI at 0 level, while MB patients experienced a statistically significant increasing trend of PI over time, and their PI became clinically/statistically relevant after 6 months, respect to CA and RP patients. Conclusions Comparing all the data, while, after 6 months, only about 10% of CA patients and 13.3% of RP patients achieved a microbial colonization which may lead to high risk of caries development, about 40% of MB patients ‐ and 20% after 3 months ‐ showed a high level of vulnerability to developing caries, which require additional strategies for plaque control and microbial colonization to be employed.

Background Pacifier sucking habit has been associated in the literature with alterations of dental occlusion, and it could be a predisposing factor for other poor oral habits among children. Orthodontic pacifiers have been introduced in the market aiming to reduce these disadvantages caused by the conventional type of pacifiers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of poor oral habits and malocclusions, after usage of orthodontic pacifiers in children with primary dentition. Methods A sample of 198 pre-school children, aged 3–5 years, (96 males and 102 females) who had exclusively used an orthodontic pacifier were included in order to assess the level of poor oral habits and the absence/presence of dental malocclusion. Firstly, children’s parents/legal guardians were given a validated questionnaire, then the children were clinically examined at a dental clinic. Results Most of the children (79.79%) had started using the orthodontic pacifier within the first 3 months of life, and the 43.49% of them continued using it over a period of 2 years. The recorded percentage for those who had used it throughout sleep was 89.39%. Mouth breathing during the night was reported for 36.04% of the children. Tongue thrust swallow affected 16.16% of the sample. The 5.56% of the data indicated the presence of fingersucking/thumbsucking habit. The noted percentages for children with lip biting, lingual interposition between teeth at rest and those with nail biting, were 5.56, 12.63 and 15.15%, respectively. The regression revealed a significant contribution between early start of using an orthodontic pacifier with the prevalence of fingersucking/thumbsucking (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.04–0.47, p = 0.0004). This also reported a noticeable increase of the malocclusion prevalence among the female gender (OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.42–5.31), as well as those who were not exclusively breastfed (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.17–4.37). Conclusions Orthodontic pacifiers does not favor the development of poor oral habits, even if it has been used for a period of 2 years in children with primary dentition. Children who begin to use orthodontic pacifier between 0 and 3 months, are less likely to acquire fingersucking/thumbsucking habit. The use of an orthodontic pacifier appears not to be correlated with the prevalence of malocclusion in primary dentition, differently from what stated in literature about the conventional type of pacifier.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of an air purifier device (professional XXl inn-56 innoliving) with HEPA 14 filter in reducing the number of suspended particles generated during dental procedures as a vector of COVID-19 transmission. The survey was conducted on 80 individuals who underwent Oral Surgery with dental Hygiene Procedures, divided into two groups based on the operational risk classification related to dental procedures: a Test Group (with application of filtering device) and a Control Group (without filtering device). All procedures were monitored throughout the clinical controls, utilising professional tools such as molecular particle counters (Lasair III 350 L 9.50 L/min), bacteriological plates (Tryptic Soy Agar), sound meters for LAFp sound pressure level (SPL) and LCpk instantaneous peak level. The rate of suspended particles, microbiological pollution and noise pollution were calculated. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis method. The results showed the higher efficacy of the TEST Group on pollution abatement, 83% more than the Control fgroup. Additionally, the contamination was reduced by 69–80%. Noise pollution was not noticeable compared to the sounds already present in the clinical environment. The addition of PAC equipment to the already existing safety measures was found to be significantly effective in further microbiological risk reduction.

This in vitro study evaluated the apical sealing ability, bioactivity and biocompatibility of an experimental calcium silicate-based and two light-curing calcium silicate/calcium-phosphate cements as potential root end filling materials. A calcium silicate Portland-based (Control PC), an experimental calcium silicate (Exp. PC) and two light-curing cements (LC-CaP; LC-Si/CaP) were assessed for their alkalinising activity (pH) and biocompatibility. Single-rooted human canines were endodontically treated, filled with gutta-percha and finally submitted to apicoectomy. Root end fillings were performed using all tested cements, and their apical sealing ability was evaluated up to 4 weeks of immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF). The mineral precipitation at the apical region and the cement adaptation to root dentine were also evaluated through non-destructive optical microscopy both at 24 h and after prolonged water storage (four week). LC-CaP and LC-Si/CaP had neutral pH, the greatest sealing ability (24 h) and excellent cytocompatibility. The Exp. PC cement presented sealing ability after two and four weeks, as well as biocompatibility after four and seven days, similar to LC-CaP and LC-Si/CaP. The control PC cement showed the lowest sealing ability and the greatest cytotoxicity. Mineral precipitation was observed in all groups, while some differences were seen in terms of cement adaptation along the root canal dentine walls. The experimental light-curable cements as well as the experimental PC might be suitable root end filling materials with appropriate (in vitro) sealing ability, biocompatibility and aptitude to induce mineral precipitation.

Background: the aim of this longitudinal prospective study was to analyze the effect of digital and traditional mockup on masticatory muscle activity in patients with teeth wear, rehabilitated with an increase of occlusal vertical dimension. Subjects and Methods: a sample of 22 adult patients who were about to receive a prosthetic rehabilitation was divided into a study group (3M; 9F; mean age 42 ± 0.8 years), treated using the digital mockup; and a control group (2M; 8F; mean age 37 ± 0.5 years), treated using the conventional technique (traditional) mockup. Electromyographic activity of anterior temporalis and masseter muscles were evaluated before the beginning of the treatment (T0), at mockup insertion (T1), after treatment (T2) and each lapse of time lasted 2–5 months. Results: the comparison between the two groups at different time gaps revealed that at ∆1 (T1–T0) only the impact index (IMP) showed significant difference and no other significant variation was observed between the two groups at ∆2 (T2–T1) and ∆3 (T2–T0). It concludes that traditional and digital methods generally have nonsignificant differences. Conclusions: both methods seem to be effective in prosthetic rehabilitation and give comparable effects on masticatory muscles.

Accelerating orthodontic tooth movement has become a topical issue and the corticotomy seems to be the only effective and safe technique reported in the literature. Simultaneously, aesthetic orthodontic treatment with removable clear aligners has become commonly requested. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the management of facilitated aesthetic orthodontic treatment, a combined approach including piezocision corticotomy and clear aligners for orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic planning for traditional clear aligners should be modified to take advantage of the corticotomy technique in order to facilitate the most difficult orthodontic movements needed to achieve treatment completion, where each aligner will be used for four days rather than 15 days for a total time of four months. A corticotomy with a modified minimally invasive flapless piezocision technique should be performed in both jaws at the same time, before the time window of the orthodontic treatment, where the most difficult orthodontic movements are planned. Treatment planning where difficult orthodontic movements, such as anterior open-bite closure and extraction space closure, are easily managed with clear aligners and are presented as examples of facilitated aesthetic orthodontic treatment application. The combination between aesthetic treatment with clear aligners and modified piezocision corticotomy, if carefully planned, seems to represent a synergy that achieves the current goals of orthodontic treatment. The primary objectives of this combination should be facilitating difficult orthodontic movements and reducing treatment duration.

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Experimental investigations of teeth are significantly impeded with the main impediments being small dimensions involved and ethical issues associated with in vivo testing. On the other hand, numerical simulations which can be used as an alternative method have their own inherent limitations which are being reliant on constitutive and boundary information, and also numerical predictions should be validated with experimental findings. Hence, it is necessarily required that experimental tests are conducted on equivalent models which should inevitably be made out of different materials. However, there is not any known method to predict the crack propagation and fracture behavior of structures using equivalent models made from different materials. The present paper aims to propose a scaling method based on the finite similitude theory which has recently been appeared in open literatures to investigate the crack propagation and fracture behavior of teeth in which different materials can even be used for scaled models. The effectiveness of the developed scaling method is examined using the Abaqus finite element software by employing the J-integral, cohesive zone model (CZM) and extended finite element method (XFEM). By conducting the compressive numerical experiments, it is revealed although the exact prediction of the behavior of a tooth using equivalent models made out of inorganic materials is impossible, it can be anticipated to a good accuracy. Also, the response characteristics of the tooth subjected to a cyclic loading which can be imposed during the act of chewing are anticipated to a good accuracy using the scaled up trial model made out of zirconia which demonstrates the high capability of the proposed method in practical applications.