No abstract

In early adolescence, four oral health practices of Saudi males were associated with those perceived to be adopted by their close friends. Fathers' use of sugary drinks was also significantly associated with that of teenagers.

BackgroundIncreasing the reach of messages disseminated through Twitter promotes the success of Twitter-based health education campaigns.ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify factors associated with reach in a dental Twitter network (1) initially and (2) sustainably at individual and network levels.MethodsWe used instructors’ and students’ Twitter usernames from a Saudi dental school in 2016-2017 and applied Gephi (a social network analysis tool) and social media analytics to calculate user and network metrics. Content analysis was performed to identify users disseminating oral health information. The study outcomes were reach at baseline and sustainably over 1.5 years. The explanatory variables were indicators of popularity (number of followers, likes, tweets retweeted by others), communication pattern (number of tweets, retweets, replies, tweeting/ retweeting oral health information or not). Multiple logistic regression models were used to investigate associations.ResultsAmong dental users, 31.8% had reach at baseline and 62.9% at the end of the study, reaching a total of 749,923 and dropping to 37,169 users at the end. At an individual level, reach was associated with the number of followers (baseline: odds ratio, OR=1.003, 95% CI=1.001-1.005 and sustainability: OR=1.002, 95% CI=1.0001-1.003), likes (baseline: OR=1.001, 95% CI=1.0001-1.002 and sustainability: OR=1.0031, 95% CI=1.0003-1.002), and replies (baseline: OR=1.02, 95% CI=1.005-1.04 and sustainability: OR=1.02, 95% CI=1.004-1.03). At the network level, users with the least followers, tweets, retweets, and replies had the greatest reach.ConclusionsReach was reduced by time. Factors increasing reach at the user level had different impact at the network level. More than one strategy is needed to maximize reach.

Background Beta-tricalcium phosphate in regenerative surgery has shown promising results in terms of bone gain and new vital bone formation; however, several studies have contradicted this finding. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of beta-tricalcium phosphate compared to other grafting materials in the regeneration of periodontal infra-bony defects. Methods Electronic database (Cochrane, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Science Citation Index Expanded) and manual searches for related data were performed up until March 2020. The outcomes were pocket depth reduction, clinical attachment level gain, and amount of bone fill. Results Five studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria. Bone regeneration with beta-tricalcium phosphate was observed to be superior to that with debridement alone but showed comparable results to other bone graft materials in terms of pocket depth reduction, clinical attachment level gain, and bone fill. Regenerative procedures for periodontal infra-bony defects that used beta-tricalcium phosphate in combination with other growth factors yielded superior outcomes. The meta-analysis revealed that for cases with two-wall defects, the use of beta-tricalcium phosphate yielded statistically significant differences in pocket depth reduction and clinical attachment level gain, but not in bone fill. Conclusions Beta-tricalcium phosphate appears to be a promising material for use in periodontal infra-bony defect regeneration around natural teeth. However, randomized clinical trials with larger sample sizes and more controlled study designs are needed to support these findings.

Background. Over time, improvements have been made in dentifrices and recently bioactive components have been added. It is important to address the abrasivity of these dentifrices, which can cause wear of dental restorative materials. Objectives. A comparative study was conducted to examine the effects of commercial and experimental dentifrices upon commonly used dental restorative materials. Material and methods. Three types of experimental dentifrices were prepared with variable concentrations of fluoride-based bioactive glass, nano-zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (TiO 2) powder as active ingredients. A custom-made toothbrush simulator was used with variable cycles (0; 5,000; and 10,000) to treat samples prepared from dental restorative materials. Prior to and after the treatment cycles, the physical properties of the restorative materials were assessed and compared with commercial toothpaste through micro-hardness, surface roughness and color stability testing. Results. The restorative materials showed an insignificant difference in terms of micro-hardness before and after the treatment with all dentifrices. A significant difference was observed in terms of surface roughness. With respect to color stability, there has been observed an insignificant difference between the control and the other 3 experimental dentifrices for all the cycles-pre, post-5,000 and post-10,000. Conclusions. Experimental fluoride-containing bioactive dentifrices caused a change in the restorative material properties; however, it was minimal and the properties still met the requirements for clinical applications.