Minimally Invasive Adhesive Rehabilitation for a Patient With Tooth Erosion: Seven-year Follow-up

Tooth wear is a multifactorial condition of growing concern. In clinical practice, it is often a challenge for prevention and treatment since many etiological factors may be involved. This case report describes an esthetic rehabilitation of a young patient presenting tooth wear due to erosion. The etiological factor of this case was the patient sucking on lemons, an acidic fruit. The main complaint of the patient was the appearance of short maxillary incisors. The treatment involved orthodontic and restorative dentistry techniques. First of all, an orthodontic device was used to increase the vertical dimension of occlusion and create an adequate space for the direct restorations. The posterior teeth were restored with two direct composite resin techniques; the anterior teeth were then restored using a balanced occlusion. The seven-year follow-up of the case is presented. Replicas of the restorations were made and visualized under scanning electron microscopy up to the 12-month evaluation. In the clinical follow-up at seven years, maintenance of the results and restorations can be clearly seen.

Densitometry, radiography, and histological assessment of collagen as methods to evaluate femoral bones in an experimental model of osteoporosis

SUMMARY

All methods to detect experimental loss of bone present technique limitations. The sensitivities of image and histological analyses to detect the effects of teriparatide in rats with bone loss after ovariectomy were evaluated. All methods were qualitatively valid.

INTRODUCTION

The standardization of methods to assess bone loss after ovariectomy is crucial to establish the degree of experimental osteoporosis. In general, methods per image or histological techniques are used. To validate these two ways to determine the degree of bone loss in ovariectomized rats, we evaluated the sensitivities of bone densitometry, conventional radiography, and histological analysis of the area occupied by collagen, detecting the effects of teriparatide treatment in the femur of ovariectomized rats with bone loss.

METHODS

Wistar rats were divided into three groups: a control group, in which the animals were only subjected to laparotomy; an ovariectomized group, in which bilateral removal of the ovaries was performed; and an ovariectomized + teriparatide group, in which bilateral removal of the ovaries was performed, and the animals were treated with 3 μg/100 g/day of teriparatide. Three months following the ovariectomy, bone densitometry, radiographic densitometry, and histological analysis of the area occupied by collagen fibers were carried out in the femur diaphysis.

RESULTS

The bone densitometry revealed 11.2% reduction in femur density; in the conventional radiography, the loss of bone mass was 14.5%, and with the histological analysis, a 40.9% reduction in the area occupied by collagen was detected in the femur diaphysis.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, histological analysis could not be quantitatively compared with the methods of bone densitometry and conventional radiography; however, all of these methods were qualitatively valid for assessing the loss of bone stemming from ovariectomy and the therapeutic effect of teriparatide in the prevention of osteoporosis.

Eosinophil cationic protein damages protoscoleces in vitro and is present in the hydatid cyst

Eosinophils are locally recruited during the establishment and chronic phases of cystic hydatidosis. This study provides evidence that eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), one of the major components of eosinophil granules, can damage Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces (PSC). The toxicity of ECP was investigated in vitro by following parasite viability in the presence of this protein. ECP was found to damage PSC at micromolar concentrations; the effect was blocked by specific antibodies and heparin, and was more severe than the one caused by similar concentrations of RNase A, suggesting that the cationic nature of ECP, and not its ribonuclease activity, is involved in toxicity. This observation may highlight the capacity of eosinophils to control secondary hydatidosis, derived from PSC leakage from a primary cyst. To further assess the relevance of the previous result during infection, the presence of eosinophil proteins was investigated in human hydatid cysts. ECP was found to be strongly associated with the laminated layer of the cyst wall, and present at micromolar concentrations in the hydatid fluid. Overall, these results demonstrate that eosinophils degranulate in vivo at the host-parasite interface, and that the released ECP reaches concentrations that could be harmful for the parasite.

The efficacy of a fluoride varnish in reducing enamel demineralization adjacent to orthodontic brackets: an in vitro study

OBJECTIVES

To test the hypothesis that fluoride varnish is effective in reducing demineralization (white spot) lesions adjacent to bonded orthodontic brackets.

DESIGN

Two similar samples of extracted bovine incisors, with bonded orthodontic brackets, were separated into an experimental group (fluoride varnish was applied) and control group (no fluoride varnish) to examine the preventive effects of fluoride varnish.

SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION

The dental clinic of the State University of Maringá--UEM (Maringá, Paraná, Brazil). Thirty-eight extracted bovine incisors with bonded orthodontic brackets.

EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLE

Fluoride varnish was applied topically to half of the sample of extracted bovine teeth. No varnish was applied to the other half.

OUTCOME MEASURE

The depths of enamel demineralization (white spot) lesions were measured from polarized light microscopy images using image analysis software.

RESULTS

The teeth in both the experimental and control groups had been exposed to a cariogenic environment twice a day for 35 days. Those teeth that had been treated with two applications of fluoride varnish (one at the outset and another 15 days later) demonstrated about 38% less mean lesion depth than teeth where no varnish had been applied.

CONCLUSION

Orthodontists may wish to consider the application of fluoride varnish during fixed orthodontic therapy to help reduce the development of enamel white spot lesions.

Isodicentric Y chromosomes and secondary microchromosomes

We report here on two mosaic patients with both an idic(Yp) and a microchromosome. FISH with the DYZ3 alphoid repeat demonstrated that the isodicentrics effectively exhibited two alphoid clusters whereas the small markers had a Y-centromere. These data, along with 4 previous observations, indicate that such microchromosomes effectively result from functional dicentricity of isodicentric Y-chromosomes and represent the excision of one centromere plus various amounts of adjacent chromatin. Other than a real infrequency of such a concurrence or a very low proportion of the cell line(s) containing the microchromosome, the paucity of observations points to a high rate of underdiagnosis as revealed by two idic(Y) instances in which the microchromosome was detected only in samples assessed by FISH.

In search of a 9q13 latent centromere in 9qh polymorphic inversions

In search of a 9q13 latent centromere in 9qh polymorphic inversions: The presence of alphoid sequences in 9q13 has prompted the suggestion that such a region could harbor a latent centromere which under certain circumstances may appear as a neocentromere. We tested this hypothesis by means of FISH with a centromere 9-specific alphoid probe in lymphocyte metaphases from 13 unrelated individuals with a 9qh polymorphic inversion. Since all inverted chromosomes had the alphoid signal onto the primary constriction, it was not possible to identify any neocentromere . We believe, however, that the number of cases was not enough to conclude that all the polymorphic inversions of chromosome 9 are genuine.

Clinical and mycological study of scalp white piedra in the State of Paraíba, Brazil

White piedra is a superficial mycoses characterized by nodules on the hair shaft, caused by the basidiomycetous yeasts. In the present study, clinical and mycological findings of scalp white piedra caused by Trichosporon spp. are related. Twenty three cases of scalp white piedra were observed with a high incidence in women (87%) and preschool children from 2 to 6 (74%) years old. These groups presented a relationship of dependence with this infection. Despite the low socio-economic status, poor standards of hygiene, (48% of the patients) as well as the fact that 30.4% of the children shared the same nursery, these factors were not significant for the transmission of the mycosis. These were the first reports of scalp white piedra in João Pessoa city, Paraíba, Brazil.

inv(9)(p24q13) in three sterile brothers

Only nine non-polymorphic constitutional pericentric inversions of chromosome 9 have been described. We report on a familial inv(9)(p24q13) associated with sterility in three brothers. The mother's chromosomes were normal in blood lymphocytes (n=130); the father was already deceased and his karyotype unknown. However, the presence of any of the maternal chromosomes 9 (as assessed by C-banding) in her carrier children is inconsistent with the assumption of maternal mosaicism. Two single sisters were also carriers. The same rearranged chromosome 9 in the three sterile brothers can hardly be regarded as a fortuitous association, especially when the breakpoints are almost identical to those of the sole inversion previously found in an azoospermic male. If their father was a carrier, the observed sterility may be the result of 'chromosome anticipation', a phenomenon already invoked for certain familial chromosomal rearrangements.

An extra idic(21)(q22.1) in a child with some features of Down's syndrome

A 30-month-old boy with mental retardation, hypotonia, joint hyperlaxity, Brushfield spots, open mouth, distal axial triradius t", and ulnar loops on both forefingers was found to have a 47,XY, + psu idic(21)(q22.1).ish psu idic(21)(q22.1)(D13Z1/D21Z1 + + ,ETS2-) karyotype. The patient's phenotype, with only some Down's syndrome (DS) features, is probably related to his disomy for most or all of the critical region 21q22.2 q22.3 and agrees with the current notion that certain DS features may also result from 21q proximal duplications. The phenotypical comparison with 2 other patients with a similar extra idic(21) reveals some discrepancies, which may be related to the inherent clinical variability of similar imbalances: yet, a real difference between the tetrasomic segments cannot be excluded. Noticeably, all 3 patients with 21q proximal tetrasomy did not have cardiac defect and exhibited none or just one out of the five other DS phenotypic features attributed to a single gene or cluster on distal 21q22.

Centromeric association of a microchromosome in a Turner syndrome patient with a pseudodicentric Y

A 12-year-old patient with Turner syndrome was found to have a complex mosaicism for a microchromosome (MC) and a psu dic(Y)(q11). The MC was smaller than Yp, appeared pale in G, C and late replicating bands, had a pair of small centromeric dots, was associated with other chromosomes in most metaphases, and was rather stable both in size and during mitosis. The psu dic(Y) was Cd-positive only at the active centromere, had two pericentromeric heterochromatic regions, and lacked the Yq12 band. No cells with both abnormal chromosomes were found. To evaluate the association of the MC with all ordinary chromosomes, 857 G-banded cells with the marker were screened. The MC was considered as "associated" whenever the distance between it and other chromosome(s) was equal to, or smaller than, 18p. Out of 848 associations registered, 489 (57.7%) were centromeric, 202 (23.8%) telomeric, and 157 (18.5%) interstitial; i.e., centromeric associations were overrepresented (P < 0.001) and showed a random distribution, except for an excessive involvement of chromosome 8. This association pattern, also exhibited by two similar MCs in human beings, the minute Y of a marsupial and certain B chromosomes in plants, probably reflects the Rabl orientation of chromosomes in interphase.

Mental retardation, microbrachycephaly, hypotelorism, palpebral ptosis, thin/long face, cleft lip, and lumbosacral/pelvic anomalies

We describe 2 Brazilian sisters with a combination of clinical signs strongly suggesting a new autosomal recessive MCA/MR syndrome.

The influence of unilateral cleft lip and palate on maxillary dental arch morphology

A sample of 97 untreated cleft lip and palate adult patients, with and without Simonart's band, was analyzed. The dimensions and form of the maxillary dental arches were analyzed. Comparison of this sample with a "normal" group indicated maxillary dental arch size and shape are distorted by the presence of a cleft which is characterized by a constriction that becomes more severe in the medial and anterior regions. The presence of Simonart's band affects the cleft arch form, redirecting the anterior extremity of the major segment towards the minor segment.