No abstract

The present study demonstrated that experimental GICs containing chlorhexidine diacetate and cetrimide were effective in inhibiting bacteria associated with caries, and incorporation of 1% cetrimide was optimal to give the appropriate antibacterial and physical properties.

Objective: The aim of this article is to review the published literature with the purpose of knowing the importance of using various probiotic Streptococcus strains as a preventive and therapeutic method for dental caries management. Materials and Methods: Research question was formulated based on the PICO strategy. A comprehensive electronic literature search was conducted across PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and EBSCOhost databases independently by two reviewers. All papers published from 1989 to December 2017 that focused on the use of probiotic Streptococcus strains for caries prevention were included in this review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the selected articles, and a customized data extraction sheet was formulated. The selected articles were subjected to quality assessment, and the risk of bias in selected studies was evaluated. Results: A total of five articles were included. The overall risk of bias of the selected clinical trials was found to be high risk, and the overall level of evidence of the selected in vitro studies was moderate. Conclusion: The two included clinical studies on the use of probiotic Streptococcus strains for caries prevention had high risk of bias. Although in-vitro studies showed promising results, clinical studies have not demonstrated clear clinical outcomes. Thus, there is a vast scope for future research in this field. Clinical Relevance: Application of oral probiotics will help reinstate a balanced microbiota and thereby improving oral health. This systematic review focused on evaluating the role played by probiotic Streptococcus strains in the carious lesion incidence.

Context:Silver nanoparticle (AgNP) is a potent antimicrobial that is widely used in several fields of medicine. Chlorhexidine (CHX) gluconate is a well-known agent used in dentistry to eliminate oral microbial flora.Aims:The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of AgNPs, 2% CHX gluconate, and the combination of two solutions against endodontic pathogens such as Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. These organisms are frequently found in the root canal space and their persistence may lead to endodontic failure. The synergistic effect of the two solutions has been evaluated in this study. The antibiotic gentamycin was taken as the control group.Settings and Design:Agar well diffusion method was used and minimum inhibitory concentration of AgNP was found to be 15 μg/mL. AgNPs were synthesized from the aqueous plant extract of Cassia roxburghii. The combination of CHX-AgNP solution was stirred together by a glass rod. The values were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis using the SPSS software version 20. One-way ANOVA test was used to compare within the groups and between groups. The level of significance was set at 5%.Results:CHX-AgNP combined solution exhibited the highest efficacy in comparison to these solutions used alone. They showed the highest efficacy against C. albicans among the three organisms tested.Conclusion:The present study demonstrates the antimicrobial efficacy of a novel mixture of CHX-AgNP solution, and it may be developed as a promising antimicrobial agent against endodontic flora.

Dental pulp-capping is done to preserve vital teeth when the pulp is exposed due to caries, trauma or instrumentation. Various materials are used as pulp-capping agents. The introduction of newer materials requires scientific studies to assess their clinical efficacy. The study was designed as a split-mouth randomized analysis of four pulp-capping agents (calcium hydroxide, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), Biodentine and EndoSequence root repair material (ERRM)). Based on selection criteria, 15 orthodontic patients requiring the extraction of four premolars (60 teeth total) were included in the study. After pulp-capping, the teeth were extracted after 8 weeks. We analyzed the extracted teeth using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and histological sections to determine the quality of the dentinal bridge and the pulpal response. Ordinal scores were given based on the completeness of the dentinal bridge, the type of bridge and the degree of pulpal inflammation. Results were analyzed using a Kruskal–Wallis test (p < 0.05) with post hoc Conover values being used when applicable. All four pulp-capping materials elicited dentinal bridge formation (60/60). MTA had the highest scores (10/15) in dentinal bridge formation followed by ERRM (8/15). Both materials showed more samples with complete dentinal bridges (9/15 each) and a favorable pulpal response (15/15). Teeth capped with calcium hydroxide showed more cases of incomplete bridge formation (9/15) and pulpal inflammation. These differences in dentinal bridge formation and pulpal inflammation were statistically significant (p 0.001 and p 0.00005, respectively), with post hoc tests revealing no significant differences between MTA and ERRM (p 0.49 and p 0.71, respectively). MTA and ERRM performed better than the other pulp-capping materials but did not differ significantly from each other. The individual preference for a pulp-capping material may be based on clinical efficacy and handling characteristics.