Packaging of foods in high barrier materials is essential to attain food safety. Nanocomposite technology is leading in search of the earlier said kind of packaging materials. The role of zinc oxide (ZnO) loadings on poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) structure were investigated, in addition to that packaging properties such as barrier, thermal, and mechanical properties were studied. Antimicrobial films are developed based on PBAT and ZnO nanoparticles. The nanocomposites exhibits a significant increase in the mechanical and thermal stability. The resulting PBAT/ZnO nanofilms show superior antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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ObjectiveIn children, manual dexterity poses a problem with the use of manual tooth brushes (MB), resulting in inefficient plaque removal. Recently, novel chewable brushes (CB) have been introduced which could overcome this problem but are less researched in children. The objective of this study is to assess and compare the plaque removal effectiveness of CB with that of MB.Materials and methodsA total of 60 patients aged 8 to 10 years were enrolled in a single-blinded randomized clinical trial. At baseline, disclosing solution was applied and the Turesky modification of the Quigley–Hein index (TQHI) plaque index and Loe and Silness gingival index were recorded. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups as group I (MB) and group II (CB) and they were instructed to use their respective brushes for a period of 1 week. For statistical comparison, the difference (prebrushing minus postbrushing) in average scores was calculated. Data were evaluated by the independent t test and paired t test, with p < 0.05.ResultsThe overall plaque scores reduced from 1.71 ± 0.4 to 0.79 ± 0.24 when using CB and from 1.64 ± 0.64 to 1.13 ± 0.47 when using MBs. On lingual tooth surfaces, CB showed a plaque reduction of 38.70 ± 11.04 to 12.60 ± 4.79 compared to less reduction from 37.43 ± 14.26 to 28.73 ± 11.37 for MB. The overall gingival scores were also reduced from 0.33 ± 0.51 to 0.09 ± 0.07 when using CB and from 0.30 ± 0.33 to 0.19 ± 0.23 when using MB. Differences in scores between the two brushes were statistically significant (p = 0.0001).ConclusionIt was concluded that the experimental CB was able to remove a significant amount of plaque, particularly on the lingual surfaces, and reduced gingival index scores, thereby improving oral hygiene and gingival health status.How to cite this articleKayalvizhi G, Radha S, et al. Comparative Evaluation of Plaque Removal Effectiveness of Manual and Chewable Toothbrushes in Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2019;12(2):107–110.

Bio-based nanocomposites of poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT)/silver oxide (Ag 2 O) were prepared by the composite film casting method using chloroform as the solvent.The prepared Ag 2 O at different ratios (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 wt%) is incorporated in the PBAT.The PBAT nanocomposite films were subjected to structural, thermal, mechanical, barrier, and antimicrobial properties. The electron micrographs indicated uniform distribution of Ag 2 O in the PBAT matrix. However, the images indicated agglomeration of Ag 2 O particles at 10 wt% loading. The thermal stability of the nanocomposite films increased with Ag 2 O content.The tensile strength and elongation of the composite films were found to be higher than those of PBAT and increased with Ag 2 O content up to 7 wt%. The PBAT-based nanocomposite films showed the lower oxygen and water vapor permeability when compared to the PBAT film.Antimicrobial studies were performed against two food pathogenic bacteria, namely, Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus.

In this present study, biodegradable PBAT nanocomposites containing different weight percentages (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10% w/w) of TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared by using solvent casting technique, chloroform as a solvent. The microstructure and morphology of the as‐synthesized poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT)/TiO2 nanocomposite films were characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscope. The thermal degradation of PBAT composites was studied by using thermogravimetric analysis. The mechanical strength of the films was improved by increasing TiO2 concentration. Tensile strength increased from 32.60 to 63.26 MPa, respectively. Barrier properties of the PBAT/TiO2 nanocomposites were investigated by using an oxygen permeability tester. The oxygen permeability (oxygen transmission rate) decreased with increasing the TiO2 nanoparticle concentrations. The PBAT/TiO2 nanocomposite films showed profound antimicrobial activity against both Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative foodborne pathogenic bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, to understand to the zone of inhibition. These results indicated that filler–polymer interaction is important and the role of the TiO2 as a reinforcement in the nanocomposites was evident. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.