The purpose of this in vitro study was to determine whether adding silver-zeolite (SZ) to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) would enhance the antimicrobial activity of MTA against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC #25923), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC #29212), Escherichia coli (ATCC#25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC #27853), Candida albicans (ATCC #90028), Porphyromonas gingivalis (ATCC #33277), Actinomyces israelii (ATCC #12102), and Prevotella intermedia (ATCC# 15032). SZ was added at 0.2% and 2% mass fraction concentration to MTA powder. The control group was MTA powder with no SZ. The antimicrobial effect test was accomplished by placing freshly mixed MTA specimens on agar plates inoculated with microorganisms and comparing the zones of inhibition at 24, 48, and 72 h. The amounts of silver ion release from MTA specimens were measured with atomic absorption spectrophotometry at 10-min, 24-, 48-, and 72-h periods. The pH of MTA specimens was measured with a pH meter at 10-min, 24-, 48-, and 72-h periods. MTA with 2% and 0.2% SZ specimens showed inhibitory effects on some microorganisms at all time periods, whereas no antimicrobial activity showed for P. intermedia and A. israelii. MTA without SZ inhibited C. albicans, E. Coli, and P. intermedia. The highest silver release was detected in 2% SZ MTA at 24 h. The incorporation of SZ may enhance the antimicrobial activity of MTA.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the plant extract ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) in vitro. Study Design: ABS was eluted with fresh Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) without serum for 72 h, at 37°C. The cells treated with various dilutions of ABS were seeded into 96-well microplate at 10 4 /well in triplicates. Cells without treatment served as a control group. The number of viable cells after 48 h incubation was determined by a modified 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The relative viability of pulp cells was expressed as color intensity of the number in the experimental wells relative to that of the control group. Absorbances were read at 570 nm on a microplate reader with a background subtraction at 620 nm. Result: The results showed that ABS was cytotoxic to human pulp fibroblasts by MTT assay. Conclusions: The influence of cytotoxicity to human pulp fibroblasts depended on concentration of ABS. The more dilutions exhibited less cytotoxic characteristics compared to the more concentrated forms.

It has been reported that white spot lesions (WSLs) can be seen as a result of prolonged plaque accumulation on the affected surface of the teeth. They are more often associated with fixed orthodontic treatment and defined as "the presence of clinically detectable, localized areas of enamel demineralization." These lesions are managed in the first step by establishing a good oral hygiene to enhance remineralization, and prophylaxis with products mostly containing fluoride, calcium, or phosphate. The aim of this chapter is to outline the risk factors and preventive measures of WSLs, and the currently used methods to manage it based on the latest evidence.A review of the literature has shown that WSLs develop as a result of prolonged "undisturbed" plaque accumulation on the affected teeth surface, commonly due to inadequate oral hygiene [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Under these conditions, acids diffuse into the enamel and the demineralization continues in the subsurface enamel, then the intact enamel surface collapses and becomes cavitated [10]. It has been shown that these lesions can appear within 4 weeks [11].The concept of caries process was explained with a model; it was initiated by fluctuations in pH caused by the bacteria that are always metabolically active in the biofilm or dental plaque. These fluctuations may cause erratic loss and gain of mineral ("demineralization" and "remineralization") [12]. As a total result of these continuous demineralization and remineralization processes of enamel that occur episodically based on the presence of cariogenic bacteria in dental plaque and the availability of refined carbohydrates for fermentation to organic acids [13], dissolution of the dental hard tissues develops and a caries lesion forms [14].In the first stage of the enamel defect there is a lower mineral distribution and also a lower interprismatic mineral content in the surface layer [15]. It has been proposed that further dissolution of the outer 10-30 microns of enamel is prevented relatively by several metabolic formations. The protective roles of salivary proline-rich proteins and other salivary inhibitors like statherin have also been emphasized [16]. But they cannot penetrate the deeper parts of the enamel due to their macromolecule structures; so their stabilizing role is limited for the surface enamel [17]. The white-spot lesion's shape is determined by the distribution pattern of the biofilm and the direction of the enamel prisms [18].The presence of fixed orthodontic appliances causes an increasing number of plue retention sites as a result of the presence of brackets, bands, wires, and other applications, which makes the cleaning of teeth more difficult [4,5,7,9,10,[19][20][21][22].When the orthodontic bands are removed and the feasibility of tooth cleaning is provided, it results a reduced porosity of the deeper parts of lesions (Figure 1). The return of fluids to supersaturation condition causes a shift in equilibrium and reprecipitation of minerals at the sites of demineralization. As a result of this...

The aim of this in vivo study was to evaluate the performance of fluorescence-based devices in detecting occlusal caries lesions in primary molars compared with conventional methods. Two examiners assessed 44 occlusal surfaces of first and second primary molars in 20 patients using two fluorescence devices: DIAGNOdent (LF) and DIAGNOdent pen (LFpen). Teeth were also assessed by visual examination and bitewing radiograph. Histological examination served as the gold standard after extraction. By using the McNemar test, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the receiver operating curve were calculated as outer enamel (D1), inner enamel (D2) and dentine caries (D3) lesion thresholds. The intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility were calculated using the Cohen's unweighted kappa statistics. At the D1 threshold, the LFpen sensitivity was statistically higher than LF and radiographic examination (P < 0.001), whereas there was no statistically significant difference among the groups at the D2 and D3 thresholds (P > 0.05). All methods demonstrated the highest sensitivity values at D3. At the D1 and D2 thresholds, there were no significant differences between the LFpen specificity and the other methods. All methods presented similar performance in detecting all lesions considering the area under the receiver operating curve. The LFpen showed better performance than LF. Furthermore, visual examination and the LFpen device seem to be sufficient for detection of occlusal caries in primary molars.