Background: One common undesirable side effect of orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances is the development of incipient caries lesions around brackets, particularly in patients with poor oral hygiene. Different methods have been used to prevent demineralization; the recent effort to improve the resistance against the demineralization is by the application of lasers. Materials and method: Thirty human premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes were used to test the effect of two energy level of ER-YAG laser on enamel resistance to demineralization. The brackets were bonded on the teeth and all the labial surface excluding 2 mm area gingival to the brackets were painted with acid resistance varnish. Three groups were generated. The first group was the control group (A), with no treatment was performed. In group II (B)and groups III (C); teeth were irradiated by ER-YAG laser of 200, 60 mj energy respectively. All the teeth were individually subjected to acid challenge cycle for 30 days. After debonding longitudinal sections were taken and examined under stereomicroscope. The enamel demineralization evaluation was done by taking the average of three depths at the centre of the artificial lesion. Also the enamel surface was classified by an experienced investigator according to acid etch pattern. Comparisons of the average depth values of the groups were performed with ANOVA and LSD tests. The statistical significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: The results revealed that average lesion depth was significantly deeper at the control group than the laser groups, and its significantly deeper in group (B) 200 mj than in group (C) 60 mj, enamel surfaces showed deeper pits and craters than in control group. Conclusions: the decrease in artificial caries lesion depth associated with use of the two laser energy level support the ER-YAG laser as a tool to increase enamel resistance to demineralization and white spot lesion prevention. Key words: Demineralization, ER-YAG, laser.
One of the unique properties of laser heating applications is its powerful ability for precise pouring of energy on the needed regions in heat treatment applications. The rapid rise in temperature at the irradiated region produces a high temperature gradient, which contributes in phase metallurgical changes, inside the volume of the irradiated material. This article presents a comprehensive numerical work for a model based on experimentally laser heated AISI 1110 steel samples. The numerical investigation is based on the finite element method (FEM) taking in consideration the temperature dependent material properties to predict the temperature distribution within the irradiated material volume. The finite element analysis (FEA) was carried
... Show MoreBackground: Irrigation of the canal system permits removal of residual tissue in the canal anatomy that cannot be reached by instrumentation of the main canals so the aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the efficiency of conventional irrigation system, endoactivator sonic irrigation system,P5 Newtron Satelec passive ultrasonic irrigation and Endovac irrigation system in removing of dentin debris at three levels of root canals and to compare the percentage of dentin debris among the three levels for each irrigation system. Materials and methods: Forty extracted premolars with approximately straight single root canals were randomly distributed into 4 tested groups of 10 teeth each. All canals were prepared with Protaper Universal ha
... Show MoreBackground: footballers may have poor oral health like elevated levels of dental caries. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and severity of dental caries in Iraqi footballers and to measure dental treatments needs. Materials and methods: 403 Iraqi males footballers aged from 18-32 years were included in the study. The cases were recruited from 18 clubs in Baghdad city. Results: the results of present study showed increased percent of caries experience according to age increase and decreased dental caries percent as education level increased among Iraqi footballers. Decayed component was found to be the largest of DMFS value compared to MS and FS among all age groups, Caries experience was found to be increased as age
... Show MoreBackground: 37% phosphoric acid (PA) is the traditional enamel etching technique prior to bracket adhesion, yet it has been implicated in numerous enamel injuries. The purpose of the current study was to create a calcium phosphate (CaP) etching paste in a simplified capsule formula that can underpin clinically adequate bracket bond strength without jeopardizing the integrity of enamel upon the debracketing procedure. Materials and Methods: micro-sized hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was mixed with 40% PA solution to prepare experimental acidic CaP paste. Sixty human premolars were assigned into two groups of 30 each. Enamel conditioning was accomplished using 37% PA-gel for control group and CaP paste for e
... Show MoreOne of the most important challenges facing the development of laser weapons is represented by the attenuation of the laser beam as it passed through the layers of atmosphere.This paper presents a theoretical study to simulate the effect of turbulence attenuation and calculates the decrease of laser power in Iraq. The refractive index structure C_n^2 is very important parameter to measure the strength of the atmospheric turbulence, which is affected by microclimate conditions, propagation path, season and time in the day. The results of measurements and predictions are based on the Kolmogorov turbulence theory. It was demonstrated by simulations that the laser weapons in Iraq were severely affected due to the large change in temperatures,
... Show MoreBackground: Complete seal of the root canal system following its chemo-mechanical debridement plays a pivotal role for achieving successful endodontic treatment. This can be established by reducing the gaps between the core filling material and root canal wall. Aim: To assess and compare the dislocation resistance of root canals obturated with GuttaFusion® and TotalFill BC sealer versus single cone obturation technique and TotalFill BC sealer after instrumentation of the canals with WaveOne, ProTaper Next and ProTaper Universal system. Material and Method: Sixty extracted human permanent mandibular premolars were conducted in the current study. The teeth were decorated and left the root with 15mm length; the roots were divided randoml
... Show MoreWe aimed to examine the effect of amoxicillin and azithromycin suspensions on the microhardness of sliver-reinforced glass ionomer and nano-resin modified glass ionomer (GI). Method: Thirty discs (2mm height x 4mm diameter) of each type of GI were prepared, which were randomly assigned to amoxicillin, azithromycin, and artificial saliva groups. Microhardness was evaluated by Vickers hardness test before and after three immersion cycles. Results: The overall model (P < 0.001), before/after intervention (P < 0.001), intervention group (type of antibiotic) (P=0.013), and type of glass ionomer (P < 0.001) showed significant differences among study groups (P < 0.001). Post hoc test showed only non-significant before/after difference for Azithrom
... Show MoreBackground: Molars and premolars are considered as the most vulnerable teeth of caries attack, which is related to the morphology of their occlusal surfaces along with the difficulty of plaque removal. different methods were used for early caries detection that provide sensitive, accurate preoperative diagnosis of caries depths to establish adequate preventive measures and avoid premature tooth treatment by restoration. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical sensitivity and specificity rates of DIAGNOdent and visual inspection as opposed to the ICDAS for the detection of initial occlusal caries in noncavitated first permanent molars. Materials and Methods: This study examined 139 occlusal surface of the first permanent
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