Osteoporosis is one of the most common debilitating disease around the world and it is more and more established among young people. There are well known recommendations for nutrition of newborns and children concerning adequate calcium and vitamin D intake in order to maintain proper bone density. Nevertheless, important role in structure and function of a healthy bone tissue is played by an integration between all constituents including elements other than Ca, like trace elements, which control vital processes in bone tissue. It is important from scientific point of view as well as prevention of bone diseases, to monitor the mineralization process considering changes of the concentration of minerals during first stage of bone formation. This work presents studies of trace element (zinc, strontium, and iron) concentration in bones and teeth of Wistar rats at the age of 7, 14, and 28 days. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) was used to examine mandibles, skulls, femurs, tibiae, and incisors. The quantitative analysis was performed using fundamental parameters method (FP). Zn and Sr concentrations were highest for the youngest individuals and decreased with age of rats, while Fe content was stable in bone matrix for most studied bones. Our results reveal the necessity of monitoring concentration of not only major, but also minor elements, because the trace elements play special role in the first period of bone development.

At the beginning, applications of thermal imaging in dentistry were focused mostly on the assessment of thermal effects during filling cavities, laser treatment and inflammation of periodontal tissues. The biggest problem in thermal imaging was limiting access and rapid change of humidity when the mouth opens during measurements. However, nowadays thermal map of body surface is correlated with inflammatory state changing inner mouth. The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of thermal imaging to localize the inflammation and monitor treatment effects after surgical removal of third retained molar teeth. The cohort consisted of 27 patients with referral for the surgical extraction of the third retained molar. Thermal imaging of the sagittal face was performed before and after the procedure and on the first, fourth and seventh day after the extraction. Obtained thermal maps are correlated with the third molar teeth inflammation location. Moreover, the changes of temperature in the area of both the tooth and the cheek correspond to the mechanisms of wound healing described in the literature. Obtained results were not only qualitative but also quantitative what was confirmed by statistically significant difference. It seems that thermal imaging, which is a noninvasive method, can be used to monitor treatment processes after surgical procedures, as well as on the location of inflammation.

Concentration of abundant elements e.g. calcium as well as of elements present in trace amount e.g. zinc in mandibles of 7, 14 an 28 day old newborn rats were determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The measurements were carried out by using a measurement system containing X-ray tube ECLIPSE-III and X-ray and gamma ray detector XR-100T-CdTe (Amptek Inc.). Concentration of calcium and zinc depended on the region of interest on the rat's mandible due to mineralization degree conditioned by its function. Increasing age produced a remarkable increase in Ca content in contrast to Zn content in the bone tissue obtained from 7, 14 and 28 day old newborn rats. The calculated Zn/Ca concentration ratio was the biggest for 7 day old newborns and successively decreased with age indicating the important role of zinc at the beginning of bone ontogenesis.

The influence of antiretroviral drug zidovudine treatment during pregnancy on mandible development in newborn rats was studied. The fluorescence of mandibles from 7-, 14- and 28-days old individuals was measured by means of fiber-optical fluorescence analyzer with 407 nm laser excitation. Obtained results revealed disturbing effect of maternal zidovudine administration on mandible fluorescence intensity which should decrease with bone development. Small changes in fluorescence of porphyrin forms are maintaining in the first month of newborns life while the changes observed in 440-585 nm range disappear.

An experiment estimating influence of antiviral drug indinavir treatment during pregnancy on bones and teeth development in newborn rats was performed. Two different fluorescence noninvasive spectroscopy techniques, i.e. laser (407 nm)-induced fluorescence method to characterize the organic fluorescent molecules and X-ray fluorescence analysis to determine mineral components were used to study the surface response of femur, mandible and incisor during their formation in the first month of a rat's life. Differences in autofluorescence depending on the form of the bone were observed on the basis of the emission from enamel in 7-, 14- and 28-day-old newborn rats. The dependence between decrease in intensity of fluorescence and increase in mineralization with age in newborn rats was observed. An enhancement of the autofluorescence and a decrease in the concentration of Ca as a main element, as well as disturbances in the concentration of Zn as trace element were observed for bone as well as teeth in newborns during the first month of their life after maternal administration of indinavir (500 mg kg(-1) p.o.) in comparison with the control group. The results indicate that indinavir causes a delay in development of the skeleton and teeth in newborn rats.