Objectives:To compare the finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation and to examine the effect of gender and time of day on finger pressure.Methods:Fifteen dentists (9 males, 6 females) formed a study group and 10 master dies in premolar shape and Turcom Cera all-ceramic crowns were prepared to measure the maximum finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation. The dentists performed a total of 300 cementation processes. One-way analysis of variance and independent t tests were used to evaluate the results.Results:A statistically significant difference was found in the amount of pressure applied during cementation (P<.005). However, there was no significant difference for time of day or gender according to one-way analysis of variance.Conclusions:Our results show that finger pressure varies by dentist. For this reason, the optimum pressure should be determined exactly. Special equipment or an apparatus could be developed to apply that pressure.

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ObjectivesHigh intake of fluoride (>1.5 mg/L) for a prolonged period may lead to skeletal fluorosis as well as dental fluorosis. The aim of this study was to compare the craniofacial characteristics of children with dental fluorosis in early permanent dentition period to those without fluorosis.MethodsTwo hundred and sixteen children in early permanent dentition (girls:121, boys:95) were included in the study. Study group was composed of 124 children with dental fluorosis who was born and grew up in Isparta (girls:75, boys:49) whereas control group of children (n=92: 46 girls and 46 boys) had no dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis was classified using Thylstrup Fejerskov Fluorosis Index. Radiological evaluation was performed by cephalometric tracing using Björk analysis. Statistical evaluation in between study and control groups was done by Independent Samples T test and comparison with Björk’s standards was done by One Sample T test analysis. The association between two quantitative variables was evaluated with Pearson’s correlation coefficient (rho).ResultsThe mean dental fluorosis level was 4.6±1.8 for children with fluorosis. Systemic fluorosis affect girls no different than boys in the early permanent dentition period because none of the angular measurements show significant difference between boys and girls in the fluoridated group. Comparison of craniofacial angular values of boys with fluorosis show greater diversity compared to boys without fluorosis against Björk’s mean values for boys.ConclusionsCraniofacial morphology of children with fluorosis did not show great diversity than the ones without fluorosis in the early permanent dentition period. None of the angular measurements were significantly different between boys and girls in the fluoridated group which might imply that systemic fluorosis did not show gender difference in the early permanent dentition. (Eur J Dent 2009;3:304–313)