The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of nine tongue conditions and evaluate their relationship to oral hygiene status and personal habits in a Northern Iranian population. Methods and Materials: This descriptive study evaluated 1901 healthy subjects (1142 women, 759 men) >12 years who were referred to the Dental Faculty of Babol University during a period from February 2005 to July 2006. A questionnaire was designed according to the aims of the study. Each subject completed the questionnaire and received a complete dental and oral examination. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software and Chi-square and Fisher's exact probability tests. Results: Six hundred seventy-two (35.3%) of 1901 subjects had tongue lesions with a frequency of 38.6% in women and 47.7% in men which was statistically significant (P<0.0001). A strong association was found between tongue lesions and smoking (p<0.0001), black tea drinking (p=0.021), and poor oral hygiene (p<0.0001). Hairy tongue (p<0.0001), coated tongue (p<0.0001), and fissured tongue (p=0.014) conditions were significantly higher in males, while crenation of the tongue was more frequent in women (p<0.0001). Conclusion: This epidemiologic survey of adult dental outpatients of Northern Iran assessing tongue conditions and lesions found the frequency of these conditions in 47.7% of males and 38.6% of females in this population. Tongue conditions and lesions were more frequent among smokers, black tea drinkers, and those with poor oral

The benefits of using kaolin as a source of aluminosilicate in zeolite synthesis to obtain lowercost catalysts, adsorbents, or ion exchangers are widely known. Previous attempts to produce zeolite from natural Iranian kaolin resulted in the formation of zeolites A, X, and HS. Zeolite Y plays an important role in the petrochemical industry due to its application in the area of fluidized catalytic cracking; ~40% of gasoline production is obtained using this process.In the present study, different methods were used to prepare pure zeolite NaY from the Iranian kaolin available. The effects of different parameters such as aging time, crystallization time, kaolin calcination and crystallization temperature, and starting-material composition were investigated in order to obtain improved properties and maximize phase purity. In all cases, the crystal structure and microstructure were studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Among different synthesis approaches, the ‘guide-agent method’ resulted in the formation of zeolite NaY. The synthesis was generally sensitive to changes in kaolin calcination temperature and in hydrothermal synthesis parameters. The optimum parameters to prepare pure zeolite NaY were: kaolin calcination temperature = 680°C, aging time of guide agent = 48 h without an overall gel aging step, and crystallization at 90°C for 36 h.

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