ObjectivesTricalcium silicate is the major constituent phase in mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). It is thus postulated that pure tricalcium silicate can replace the Portland cement component of MTA. The aim of this study was to evaluate bond strength of methacrylate-based (MB) composites, silorane-based (SB) composites, and glass ionomer cement (GIC) to Biodentine® and mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Material and MethodsAcrylic blocks (n=90, 2 mm high, 5 mm diameter central hole) were prepared. In 45 of the samples, the holes were fully filled with Biodentine® and in the other 45 samples, the holes were fully filled with MTA. The Biodentine® and the MTA samples were randomly divided into 3 subgroups of 15 specimens each: Group-1: MB composite; Group-2: SB composite; and Group-3: GIC. For the shear bond strength (SBS) test, each block was secured in a universal testing machine. ResultsThe highest (17.7±6.2 MPa) and the lowest (5.8±3.2 MPa) bond strength values were recorded for the MB composite-Biodentine® and the GIC-MTA, respectively. Although the MB composite showed significantly higher bond strength to Biodentine (17.7±6.2) than it did to MTA (8.9±5.7) (p<0.001), the SB composite (SB and MTA=7.4±3.3; SB and Biodentine®=8.0±3,6) and GIC (GIC and MTA=5.8±3.2; GIC and Biodentine=6.7±2.6) showed similar bond strength performance with MTA compared with Biodentine (p=0.73 and p=0.38, respectively). ConclusionsThe new pure tricalcium-based pulp capping, repair, and endodontic material showed higher shear bond scores compared to MTA when used with the MB composite.

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Subaerial biofilms (SAB) are an important factor in weathering, biofouling, and biodeterioration of bare rocks, building materials, and solar panel surfaces. The realm of SAB is continually widened by modern materials, and the settlers on these exposed solid surfaces always include melanized, stress-tolerant microcolonial ascomycetes. After their first discovery on desert rock surfaces, these melanized chaetothyrialean and dothidealean ascomycetes have been found on Mediterranean monuments after biocidal treatments, Antarctic rocks and solar panels. New man-made modifications of surfaces (e.g., treatment with biocides or photocatalytically active layers) accommodate the exceptional stress-tolerance of microcolonial fungi and thus further select for this well-protected ecological group. Melanized fungal strains were isolated from a microbial community that developed on highly photocatalytic roof tiles after a long-term environmental exposure in a maritime-influenced region in northwestern Germany. Four of the isolated strains are described here as a novel species, Constantinomyces oldenburgensis, based on multilocus ITS, LSU, RPB2 gene phylogeny. Their closest relative is a still-unnamed rock-inhabiting strain TRN431, here described as C. patonensis. Both species cluster in Capnodiales, among typical melanized microcolonial rock fungi from different stress habitats, including Antarctica. These novel strains flourish in hostile conditions of highly oxidizing material surfaces, and shall be used in reference procedures in material testing.

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