Chorion type is an important variable that can affect the prenatal environment of monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs, leading to differences in growth and development. In particular, vascular anastomoses between monochorionic (MC) MZ twin pairs can lead to an imbalance in nutrition between co-twins. One objective of this study was to determine whether maternal reports, hospital records or birthweight discordances found in MZ co-twins provide reliable indications of monochorionicity. The other objective was to test the hypotheses that in MZ twin pairs of known chorion type, MC twin pairs would show greater birthweight differences and greater within-pair variability in permanent tooth size than dichorionic (DC) twin pairs, reflecting greater differences in intrauterine environment between MC MZ pairs. Birthweights and tooth size data were recorded for 170 pairs of MZ Australian twins enrolled in an ongoing study of dentofacial growth and development. Chorion type based on maternal reports was compared with that based on hospital records for a subsample of 68 pairs of these MZ twins. Maternal reports were found to be unreliable for determining chorion type and hospital records often did not provide enough information to be certain about chorionicity. For 27 twin pairs with confirmed chorion type, associations were tested between birthweight discordances in MZ twin pairs and chorion type, and also between intrapair variances for tooth size and chorion type. A significant association was noted between birthweight discordance and chorion type (p <.05), with greater discordances occurring more often in MC twin pairs. Although significant heterogeneity of intrapair variances for tooth size was found in only 5 of 48 comparisons, intrapair variances for crown dimensions were greater significantly more often in MC pairs than DC pairs (p <.05). Our findings indicated that neither maternal reports nor often hospital records can be relied upon for information on chorion type. However, when analyses were performed on data for MZ twin pairs of known chorion type, we found evidence of a significant association between intrapair birthweight differences and chorion type and also between intrapair variances of dental crown measurements and chorion type. Consistent with our hypotheses, large birthweight discordances were found to occur more often in MC twin pairs than DC twin pairs, and intrapair variances for tooth size in MC twin pairs exceeded those in DC twin pairs more often than expected due to chance.

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This study investigated the efficacy of Er,Cr:YSGG laser and ultrasonic activated irrigation on eradicating a mixed-species biofilm grown in root canals with complex anatomy. The biofilm was grown over 4-weeks in the root canals of decoronated human mandibular molar teeth. Control roots received no further treatment. The remaining roots were chemomechanically prepared using different irrigating protocols: 4% NaOCl and 15% EDTAC with ultrasonic activated irrigation and laser activated irrigation using power settings of 0.5 W and 0.75 W. Cellular viability was determined using serial plating. One tooth from each group was subjected to qualitative SEM analysis. Quantification by culturing revealed significant differences between control group and all other treatment groups. This study demonstrated that chemomechanical irrigation with laser and ultrasonic activated irrigation significantly reduced the bacterial load from complex root canal systems; however, there were no significant differences found between the experimental groups.