Bacteria living constantly in the oral cavity are in the form of a biofilm. The biofilm formed on a solid base such as the enamel of the teeth, fillings, restorations, orthodontic appliances or obturators is dental plaque. Disturbance of homeostasis of biofilm, excessive growth or increase in the number of acid-forming bacteria leads to the development of the most common diseases of the oral cavity, i.e. dental caries and periodontal disease. The presence of bacterial biofilm on the walls of the root canal or at the top of the root on an outer wall leads to complications and failure in endodontic treatment. The aim of the study was to present the latest information on the occurrence, development and the role of biofilm in the etiopathogenesis of oral diseases and its control. Based on the literature analyzed, it can be concluded that the biofilm, due to its complex structure and numerous mechanisms of bacteria adaptation, is an effective barrier against the traditional agents with antibacterial properties. There are now great hopes for nanotechnology as an innovative method for obtaining new structures of nanometric size and different properties than source materials. The use of antibacterial properties of nano-silver used in dentistry significantly reduces the metabolic activity and the number of colony forming bacteria and lactic acid production in the biofilm.

Background: The one of the most recent imaging technology is X-ray microtomography which allows non-invasive three (Folia Morphol 2017; 76, 2: 143-148)

BackgroundOne of many functions of the pulp-dentin complex is sensory function. Acute, situated, receding pain after the cessation of the stimulus action is called dentin pain. Dentin hypersensitivity has been described as one of the most painful and least successfully treated chronic ailments of teeth. The aim of this research was the clinical evaluation of the effectiveness of professional polishing paste containing calcium sodium phosphosilicate formula (NovaMin) in eliminating dentin hypersensitivity after a single application.Material/MethodsThe study comprised 92 teeth with dentin hypersensitivity diagnosed on the basis of history and clinical examination. The pain reaction of exposed dentine was induced by tactile and dehydrating stimuli, asking patients to assess the severity of pain on the VAS scale. Clinical trial and survey were carried out twice: before and 1 week after the application of the polishing paste.ResultsAfter the application of the examined paste, the percentage of teeth reacting with a severe pain to the touch of the probe decreased from 16.3% to 4.3%, and with a moderate pain from 42.4% to 12%. Examination after applying dehydrating stimulus a week after carrying out the application showed a decrease in the proportion of teeth with strong pain from 28.3% to 0% and moderate pain from 38% to 15.2%. The lack of pain increased from 12% to about 50%.ConclusionsThe use of prophylactic professional paste with NovaMin formula in in-office procedure provides the reduction of dentin hypersensitivity noticeable by 1 week after application.

(Folia Morphol 2016; 75, 3: 275-280)

Exact caries detection and monitoring over time are important in modern clinical caries management. Especially the detection before cavitation occurs and the control of initial lesions are of significance because an accurate diagnosis can reduce the need for drilling and filling. Among many techniques, impedance spectroscopy technique is one of the proposed. The aim of the study was to determine dental caries clinically and characterize its bio-impedance to gain detailed information about the progression of the process. Human extracted permanent premolars and molars were used in this in-vitro experiment. The teeth were unrestored and undamaged, except of caries. Their occlusal surfaces were examined by dentists according to Universal Visual Scoring System and assessed with CarieScan PRO™. The statistical analysis of obtained results revealed that clinical examination and AC-impedance spectroscopy measurements showed differences in impedance depending on changes and stages in caries progress. Preliminary results from this research indicate that the device using AC-impedance spectroscopy may be a useful additional aid for caries diagnosis together with clinical examination.

Proximal surfaces are the second in turn after the occlusal surfaces, as being the most exposed places to the carious process. The specificity of changes and location makes the diagnostic of approximal cavities difficult. The aim of the study was to collect information on possibilities of detection, monitoring and assessment of carious lesions located on proximal surfaces, starting from the early stage. On the base of current literature, chosen methods of diagnosis, from conventional, to advanced technologies were presented. Current literature also suggests that none of the diagnostic methods exclude the possibility of misdiagnosis of proximal caries. Therefore, during the diagnosing of doubtful cases, it is advisable to employ several methods of assessment, with simultaneous individual appraisal of caries risk factors, such as oral hygiene, frequency of eating sweets or the number of active caries foci.

De tec tion and moni tor ing of the com plex pro cess of dem in er ali zation and re min er ali sa tion by the den tal car ies is a den tist's chal lenge. Even car ies start ing as a sub surface dem in er ali za tion of enamel, may prog ress to the un der ly ing den tine and, even tu ally, to cavi ta tion of the sur face [14]. Ac cu rate di ag no sis be fore cavi ta tion oc curs would per mit tar geted pre ven tive treat ment, thereby signifi cantly im prov ing den tal health and re duc ing the need for ex pen sive drill ing and fill ing [10]. Con ven tional di agnos tic meth ods in volv ing vis ual in spec tion and the use of sharp den tal ex plorer tools de pend on sub jec tive clini cal crite ria such as color, tex ture, soft ness and re sis tance to re moval. These meth ods are good for the de tec tion of larger or cavi tated le sions. How ever, they are not suit able for the de tec tion of early den tal car ies be cause of poor sen si tiv ity and speci fic ity. Rou tine den tal ra dio graphs also lack the abil ity to de tect early cari ous lesions on enamel sur face. Ap proxi mately 30-40% min eral loss is nec es sary be fore ra dio graphs can de tect the cari ous lesion. It can take a few months or longer for this ex tent of dem in er ali za tion. There fore, bet ter di ag nos tic tools are needed to de tect early cari ous le sions and help pre vent dental cavi ties. Over the last years, vari ous tech niques have been ex plored to ad dress the need for bet ter de tec tion tools to di ag nose early den tal car ies. These tech niques include mag ni fy ing loups, di rect digi tal ra di og ra phy, digi tal im ag ing fiber-optic tran sil lu mi na tion, elec tri cal con ductance, quan ti ta tive light-induced fluo res cence, laser-induced fluo res cence, auto fluo res cence, mul ti pho ton im ag ing, infra red ther mo gra phy, te ra hertz im ag ing, op ti cal co her ence to mo graphy, ul tra sound, Ra man spec tros copy and oth ers [1,2,11,14,15,16]. In spite of nu mer ous stud ies evalu at ing dif fer ent tools with re spect to car ies de tec tion, car ies di agno sis con tin ues to be a chal leng ing task for the den tal prac ti tio ner. Es pe cially oc clu sal car ies is a clini cally dif ficult one due to the com plex mor phol ogy of the fis sure and fossa sys tem and fre quent pres ence of stain ing. Ad di tionally, the ex ten sive use of fluo ride and re min er al iz ing agents seems to de lay cav ity for ma tion. There fore, the ac curate de tec tion in the pre cavi ta tion stages is very im por tant for un der tak ing proper pre ven tive and re stora tive pro cedures and avoid ing un nec es sary treat ment.Among al ter na tive tech niques, meas ure ment of elec trical re sis tance has shown the most prom is ing. Car ies di ag no sis by elec tri cal meas ure ment was in tro duced into den tistry many years ago. Even in 1878, Magi tot's first sug ges tion was to use elec tric cur rent for car ies de tec tion [15]. The method is based on the phe nome non that den tal enamel, con sist ing largely of hy droxy...

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