This study investigated the retreatment effectiveness of .04 Taper nickel-titanium rotary ProFiles. Thirty extracted single-rooted anterior teeth were instrumented and obturated with gutta-percha/Roth's Sealer using lateral condensation. They were distributed into three groups of 10 each. Retreatment for group A was done using Profile alone, group B using Profile and chloroform, and group C using hand files with chloroform. The teeth were then split longitudinally into halves. The remaining gutta-percha/sealer on the root canal wall in the cervical, middle, apical thirds, and the whole canals were visually scored with the aid of light microscopes. The results showed that the mean scores in groups A and B were generally lower (better) than group C. Mean scores of the apical thirds tended to be higher (worse) than the middle and the cervical thirds, except in group A. ProFile with or without chloroform seemed to be a viable alternative retreatment method.

The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness of pre-school teachers concerning the management of traumatized teeth. A questionnaire survey of teachers' backgrounds, attitudes/practices and knowledge was distributed to all teachers who attended a dental education program organized by the Singapore Dental Health Foundation. Of a total of 291 teachers surveyed, 29% had received tertiary education, while the rest (71%) had received secondary education. The mean teaching experience was 6.8 +/- 6.9 years. About a quarter had previous experience in handling dental trauma. Sixty-three percent admitted having no knowledge of dental trauma; 79% were unsatisfied with their level of knowledge in this area; 95% were keen to have further education in dental trauma; 65% thought dental trauma emergency should be dealt with as soon as possible. Concerning knowledge, during-office hour emergency services were more familiar (84%) than after-office hour emergency services (15%), as was the concept of management of avulsed teeth (71%) compared to that of fractured teeth (51%). Knowledge about optimal storage media for avulsed permanent teeth was especially poor--being as low as 15%. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, it was found that teaching experience significantly influenced the respondents' self-assessed knowledge and their level of satisfaction with their knowledge (P = 0.012). Teachers with more teaching experience had better knowledge about the replantation of permanent teeth (P = 0.003). It is recommended that public education targeted at teachers should be carried out to increase dental trauma management awareness.

The use of systemic penicillin after an avulsion injury has been recommended to decrease the occurrence of resorption complications. Tetracycline antibiotics have been reported to possess anti-resorptive properties in addition to their anti-microbial actions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate histologically the effect of systemically administered tetracycline and amoxicillin on the inhibition of resorption due to attachment damage after replantation of dogs' teeth. Thirty-one roots from the teeth of four beagle dogs were endodontically treated to inhibit subsequent inflammatory root resorption of pulpal origin. They were then extracted and left to bench dry for 1 h to ensure severe periodontal ligament damage before replantation. For the teeth in the experimental groups, two dogs were given tetracycline hydrochloride and the other two dogs were given amoxicillin, administered orally, on the day of extraction/replantation and for the following 6 days. The control group were teeth in these animals treated in the same manner but where no antibiotics had been given. After 12-16 weeks, the dogs were sacrificed and histological sections were prepared and evaluated for complete healing, inflammatory and replacement root resorption, and the groups were compared. It was shown that healing in the amoxicillin and the control groups was poor (10.90% and 11.28%, respectively), while for the tetracycline group, 35.45% showed complete healing. Individual teeth with over 50% complete healing sites were considered as having good healing, and significantly more of these teeth were found in the tetracycline group (5 of 11 teeth) compared to the amoxicillin (1 of 11 teeth) or control group (1 of 8 teeth).

The purpose of this study was to assess patient and parental awareness of the importance of immediate management of traumatised teeth. A three-part questionnaire comprising questions on demographic data, attitude and knowledge was distributed to patients or accompanying parents who presented to the principal author for treatment in an 8-week period. One hundred and fifty-seven respondents with a mean age of 31.1 years participated in the study. Only 30% of the respondents recalled having had previous experience of dental trauma. The majority of the respondents, especially those with a higher educational background, had a positive attitude, expressing enthusiasm for public education on emergency management of dental trauma (85%). The availability of an emergency service during office hours was known by 71% of the respondents while only 26% were aware of the after-office-hour emergency service. Participants generally had a better concept of management of avulsed teeth (63%) compared to that of fractured teeth (35%). Knowledge on some critical aspects of the handling of avulsed teeth was poor (6%). Using multiple logistic regression analysis, it was found that the respondents' attitude tended to be influenced by their educational background (P = 0.08). In addition, subjects with higher education were more knowledgeable regarding the emergency service available during office hours (P = 0.05) and the concept of management of fractured teeth (P = 0.02). Educational background appeared to influence the level of awareness of the importance of immediate management of traumatised teeth.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the occurrence and the type of after office-hours traumatic dental injuries managed by the Dental Unit of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Singapore General Hospital. During a 2-year period (from August 1990 to July 1992), 461 trauma patients (314 males, 147 females) sustained injuries to 968 teeth. The distribution in different races of Chinese: Malay: Indian: others was 7.3: 1.3: 0.9: 0.5. The predominant age groups were 2-3 years, 3-4 years and 17-18 years; 71.3% of the teeth sustained luxation type injuries, the remaining 28.7% had fractures, 45.3% of the cohort had concomitant soft tissues injuries, while 13.7% had associated facial bone fractures. Teenager traumas were more common during school vacations. It is concluded that thorough standardized documentation is imperative to obtain baseline information on dental trauma. This could facilitate future preventive measures, education and research.