Light diffusion through composite restorations added with spherical glass mega fillers

The influence of inorganic fillers on the light transmission through resin-matrix composites during the light-curing procedure: an integrative review

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to perform an integrative review on the effect the inorganic fillers on the light transmission through the resin-matrix composites during the light-curing procedure.

METHOD

A bibliographic review was performed on PubMed using the following search terms: "fillers" OR "particle" AND "light curing" OR "polymerization" AND "light transmission" OR "light absorption" OR "light irradiance" OR "light attenuation" OR "light diffusion" AND "resin composite." The search involved articles published in English language in the last 10 years.

RESULTS

Selected studies reported a decrease in biaxial strength and hardness in traditional resin-matrix composites in function of the depth of polymerization. However, there were no significant differences in biaxial strength and hardness recorded along the polymerization depth of Bulk-Fill™ composites. Strength and hardness were enhanced by increasing the size and content of inorganic fillers although some studies revealed a progressive decrease in the degree of conversion on increasing silica particle size. The translucency of glass-ceramic spherical fillers promoted light diffusion mainly in critical situations such as in the case of deep proximal regions of resin-matrix composites.

CONCLUSIONS

The amount of light transmitted through the resin-matrix composites is influenced by the size, content, microstructure, and shape of the inorganic filler particles. The decrease of the degree of conversion affects negatively the physical and mechanical properties of the resin-matrix composites.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The type and content of inorganic fillers in the chemical composition of resin-matrix composites do affect their polymerization. As a consequence, the clinical performance of resin-matrix composites can be compromised leading to variable physical properties and degradation. The polymerization mode of resin-matrix composites can be improved according to the type of inorganic fillers in their chemical composition.

A new spiral dental implant: a tool for oral rehabilitation of difficult cases

Spiral dental implant (SDI) is an implant with a conical internal helix that confers the characteristic of self-drilling, self-tapping, and self-bone condensing. These proprieties offer better control during insertion of SDI giving a high primary stabilization, even in poor quality bone. A shorter diameter of SDI results in reduced drilling during insertion and consequently less trauma and minimal bone loss. To address the research purpose, the investigators designed a retrospective cohort study. The study population was composed of 25 patients, 11 males and 14 females that have been treated by Dr. Balan with 187 SDI positioned in mandible and into maxilla bone. The implants were placed during the years 2013 to 2014 in Dr. Balan clinic. All patients underwent the same surgical protocol. Several variables are investigated: demographic (age and gender), anatomic (upper/lower jaws and tooth site), implant (length and diameter and type) variables, edentulism (partial or total), and comorbid status of health (i.e.: hypothyroidism, parodontitis, hypertension, diabetes, presence of cancer, heart disease, hepatitis and rheumatologic disease). Pearson Chi-Square test was used to investigate variables and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Statistically it has been shown that females have a higher possibility of unsuccessful respect of male, with a "p value" of 0.014. Another important impact factor for success of implant insertion has been represented by concomitants pathologies: cancer represents the most negative high factor risk with a percentage of unsuccessful of 50%, followed by heart disease (15%), and diabetes (3.7%). SDIs are reliable tools for difficult cases of oral rehabilitation. They have a higher success and survival rate, which means stable results over time. No differences were detected among SDI lengths, implant/crown ratio. In addition, the insertion of SDIs in banked bone can be performed without adverse effects. Finally, flapless and computer tomography-planned surgery does not significantly increase the clinical outcome of SDIs in complex rehabilitation. Cancer represents the most important variable to consider when a patient wants to do oral rehabilitation because of its high risk of unsuccessful.

Positioning of a contextual implant along with a sinus lift anchored with a block of heterologous bone

During a sinus lift procedure the main requirement in order to position an implant is to have a maxillary sinus floor cortical bone thick enough to guarantee a primary stability in the implant inserted. In this way, the healing process is facilitated and osseointegration of the titanium surface may occur simultaneously, thus reducing the waiting time for the engraftment of the implant into the body. Unfortunately, these conditions are not always present. Hence, the need of developing an alternative approach that could simultaneously allow to perform sinus floor elevation along with an implant placement. Here we present the case of a 62-year-old patient that requires implant-prosthetic rehabilitation from 1.2 to 1.6 at diagnosis. In this study, we reported a novel application derived from the use of a heterologous bone scaffold (SmartBone@) in a sinus lift procedure. We showed the successful implant along with sinus lift with SmartBone@, both at the time of the surgery and after follow-up of the patient at 10 months from the implant. The possibility to perform simultaneously the contextual implant along with sinus lift dramatically reduced the waiting time for the patient of minimum 5-6 months required for osseointegration of the grafted biomaterials, before performing the implant procedure. This surgery represents an advance both in terms of medical technique and as life-benefit for the patient.

Effects of the application of high-pressure oxygen on the treatment of periodontal disease in diabetic patients

Purpose

In this study we wanted to observe the improvement in the healing of periodontal tissues in a group of diabetic patients treated with traditional methods compared to another group treated with the addition of oxygen.The potential of oxygen has long been known in the field of plastic surgery, where it is used to treat burns and skin lesions.

Materials and methods

This study consists in a split mouth study which involved 30 patients. We carefully treated them with periodontal therapy using manual and mechanical instrumentation. Then, we applied oxygen in half mouth according to randomization list. Finally we checked up patients after some weeks.

Results

Our results highlight that all areas treated with oxygen application healed more rapidly and better than no treated areas.

Conclusions

All in all, we have demonstrated that oxygen can improve the outcome of non-surgical periodontal treatment in diabetic subjects.