IntroductionDental and oral diseases are major concerns in Thailand, affecting the country's health system. Everyone, at any age, is at risk of losing teeth. Tooth loss can lead to many health problems, including difficulty chewing, which increases the risk of poor nutrition. In addition, tooth loss leaves a large gap, leading to plaque accumulation that can cause periodontal disease. Moreover, the remaining teeth start to shift in an attempt to fill in the gap, leading to misalignment of teeth. Losing teeth may also affect personality, including a loss of confidence that may affect work or social activities. Restoration, with dentures or dental implants, is needed to replace the missing teeth.Current research has focused on dental and bone implants capable of promoting cell differentiation Xavier Acasigua et al., 2014;Naddeo et al., 2015). Cells isolated from tooth pulp contain odontoblasts, fibroblasts, immune cells, and undifferentiated mesenchymal cells called dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). These findings may lead to restoration using dental pulp cells (DPCs), together with dental implants, to replace lost teeth. Various research groups have proposed the possibility of producing bioactive dental implants by adding natural products, such as natural hydroxyapatite/ zircon (Karamian et al., 2014), plant products (Varoni et al., 2012), or herbal extracts (Wang et al., 2012), to dental materials.Snails have been used in medicine since ancient times. Until the late 19th century, the synthetic peptide ziconotide (SNXIII), which is found in the venom of Conus magus, was used as a painkiller following approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (Bonnemain, 2005). According to reports, snails contain several medically useful substances, including mytimacinlike antimicrobial peptides, which are exclusively found in the mucus of giant African snails (Zhong et al., 2013). In addition, lectin, which acts as an antimicrobial, is also present in the mucus of giant African snails (Ito et al., 2011). High-performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the amount of allantoin and glycolic Abstract: Dental pulp tissue contains stem cells that can be isolated and used for regenerative medicine in tooth restoration or autologous transplantation. The aim of this study was to observe the mineralization and gene expression in dental pulp cells (DPCs) following treatment with snail mucus. Snail mucus was collected from adult Achatina fulica and processed as a dry powder by the freeze-drying technique. The mucus powder was dissolved in a culture medium at a concentration of 15 µg/mL. DPCs were prepared by the outgrowth technique and cultured in a 6-well plate at a density of 5 × 10 4 cells per well. A mucus-supplemented medium (15 µg/mL) was added to each well. Cell culture was maintained for 3 weeks. The results of Alizarin Red S staining indicated that the DPCs cultured in a medium supplemented with snail mucus showed a higher number of mineralized nodules as compared with the control group cultured in a norm...

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The overgrowth of certain strains of normal flora in oral cavity can cause many kinds of oral infections or diseases such as carries, periodontitis, and gingivitis. Prevention and treatment of these diseases are usually achieved by chemical antiseptics. However, these chemicals are found as negative impacts of human health hazards and accession of microbial resistance. The present study explores the potential of Piper betle extracts on inhibition of two oral pathogenic bacteria; Streptococcus mutans DMST 41283 and Streptococcus intermedius DMST 42700. P. betle demonstrated significantly higher inhibitory activity against both pathogenic strains than Acacia catechu, Camellia sinensis, Coccinia grandis, Solanum indicum, and Streblus asper. Among fractionated extracts of P. betle from several solvents, the extract from ethyl acetate (Pb-EtOAc) possessed the widest inhibition zone of 11.0 ± 0.1 and 11.3 ± 0.4 mm against both bacterial strains, respectively. Pb-EtOAc showed the same minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.5 mg/mL against both strains, whereas its minimum bactericidal concentrations were 2.0 and 0.5 mg/mL against S. mutans and S. intermedius, respectively. HPLC analysis demonstrated that the major active compound of Pb-EtOAc was 4-allylpyrocatechol. It was found that the killing kinetics of Pb-EtOAc against both test strains were time and dose dependent. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed the morphological changes and depletion of the tested pathogens indicating cell destruction after exposure to Pb-EtOAc. It is confirmed that Pb-EtOAc is potentially effective against both oral pathogens and might be used as natural alternative agents in prevention and treatment of oral infections caused by oral pathogenic bacteria.

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This study aimed to investigate microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of dried ginger and to develop a rice-based edible film incorporating ginger extract. The optimal MAE conditions of 400 W microwave power and an extraction time of 1 min were determined using a 32 full factorial design. The optimized extract showed total phenolic compounds (TPC, 198.2 ± 0.7 mg gallic acid equivalent/g), antioxidant activity measured by DPPH (91.4 ± 0.6% inhibition), ABTS (106.4 ± 3.1 mg Trolox/g), and FRAP (304.6 ± 5.5 mg Trolox/g), and bioactive compounds including 6-gingerol (71.5 ± 3.6 mg/g), 6-shogaol (12.5 ± 1.0 mg/g), paradol (23.1 ± 1.1 mg/g), and zingerone (5.0 ± 0.3 mg/g). Crude extract of dried ginger showed antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans DMST 18777, with a minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of 0.5 and 31.2 mg/mL, respectively. The rice-based edible film incorporating 3.2% (w/v) ginger extract tested against S. mutans DMST 18777 had a mean zone of inhibition of 12.7 ± 0.1 mm. Four main phenolic compounds, 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, paradol, and zingerone, and six volatile compounds, α-curcumene, α-zingiberene, γ-muurolene, α-farnesene, β-bisabolene, and β-sesquiphellandrene, were found in rice film fortified with crude ginger extract.

Introduction: Induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) have the ability of differentiation into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. iNSCs are very useful in terms of research and treatment. The present study offers an idea that biomaterials could be one of the tools that could modulate reprogramming process in the fibroblasts. Methods: Gelatin biomaterials were fabricated into 3 types, including (i) gelatin, (ii) gelatin with 1 mg/mL hydroxyapatite, and (iii) gelatin with hydroxyapatite and pig brain. NIH/3T3 fibroblasts were cultured on each type of biomaterial for 7, 9 and 14 days. RT-PCR was performed to investigate the gene expression of the fibroblasts on biomaterials compared to the fibroblasts on tissue culture plates. PI3K/Akt signaling was performed by flow cytometry after 24 hours seeding on the biomaterials. The biomaterials were also tested with the human APCs and PDL cells. Results: The fibroblasts exhibited changes in the expression of the reprogramming factor; Klf‫4 and the neural transcription factors; NFIa, NFIb and Ptbp1 after 9 days culture. The cultivation of fibroblasts on the biomaterials for 7 days showed a higher expression of the transcription factor SOX9. The expression of epigenetic genes; Kat2a and HDAC3 were changed upon the cultivation on the biomaterials for 9 days. The fibroblasts cultured on the biomaterials showed an activation of PI3K/Akt signaling. The human APCs and human PDL cells developed mineralization process on biomaterials Conclusion: Changes in the expression of Klf4, NFIa, NFIb, Ptbp1 and SOX9 indicated that fibroblasts were differentiated into an astrocytic lineage. It is possible that the well-designed biomaterials could work as powerful tools in the reprogramming process of fibroblasts into iNSCs.

Many factors that may affect the success of root canal treatment are complexity of root canal system, especially in the apical part, and the virulence of bacteria such as biofilm formation. A cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet is a novel method for sterilization and applied for root canal disinfection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet on Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) biofilms infected in the apical root canals. Methods: Fifty-four single rooted-teeth were infected with E. faecalis for seven days and allocated into five groups. Group I performed as positive control. Group II-V were served as experimental groups: NaOCl, plasma, NaOCl + plasma and gas only, respectively. The disinfection was evaluated by colony count (per milligram) at the depths of 0.05 and 0.10 mm of root dentin. The remaining bacteria was also counted from the grounded root dentin. Data was analysed by one-way ANOVA and post hoc test, with a level of significance set at P<.05. Results: The NaOCl, plasma and NaOCl + plasma groups significantly reduced the E. faecalis, but no significant difference was found among these groups (P>0.5). The NaOCl + plasma group significantly reduced E. faecalis in the deeper dentin level compared to the other groups. Conclusion: The cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet had antimicrobial activity against E. faecalis biofilm as well as the use of NaOCl. The combined treatment yielded the most promising result and may be beneficial in root canal disinfection.