Introduction: Salivary melatonin is a critical antioxidant that contributes to oral health by mitigating oxidative stress. Psychological stress linked to thumb sucking may disrupt oral homeostasis, leading to conditions such as dental caries and fungal infections. Aim: This study explores the relationships between thumb sucking, salivary melatonin levels, dental caries, and the presence of Candida albicans (CA) in children. Materials and methods: A case-control study was conducted with 60 children aged 4-5 years at the University of Baghdad’s College of Dentistry. Participants were divided into thumb-sucking (n=30) and non-thumb-sucking (n=30) groups. Salivary melatonin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), dental caries were assessed via the dmfs index, and CA counts were quantified on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA). Statistical analyses were performed, including t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation assessments. Results: Thumb-sucking children exhibited significantly lower salivary melatonin levels (28.620±2.278 pg/mL) compared to controls (34.525±2.142 pg/mL; p=0.044). The thumb-sucking group also had higher dmfs scores (15.033±1.449 vs. 8.667±0.899; p=0.000) and greater CA counts (18.900±1.048 vs. 13.583±0.549; p=0.000). Negative correlations were observed between salivary melatonin levels and the severity of dental caries, while positive correlations linked CA with dental caries. Conclusions: Thumb sucking adversely affects pediatric oral health by reducing salivary melatonin, increasing dental caries risk, and promoting fungal overgrowth. Early intervention to curb thumb-sucking behaviors may mitigate these risks and improve oral health outcomes.
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Abstract:
There is a close relationship between rigidity and distort structure of production and productivity and inflation rates. The effects of this relationship are distorted the contribution rate of the productive sectors and the disproportionate of exchange rate in foreign trade.
raising the general level of prices is one of the way that have been used by previous governments (inflationary financing or deficit financing) in order to speed up the process of capital formation, depending on the availability of economic resources idle.
The fabricating inflation for development does not represent a true understanding of the nature of the
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This study aims to evaluate and compare the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of a modified heat-cured acrylic denture base material containing 15% phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PA2HEME) with those of nonmodified PMMA. Discs with a diameter of 12 mm and a thickness of 2 mm were prepared using a heat-cured PMMA denture base material and divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was modified with 15% phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PA2HEME). The modified and nonmodified materials were tested via FTIR, and the effect of modification on surface roughness was evaluated with AFM. An in vitro test was conducted to examine the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of heat-cured acry
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Background: Bone regeneration in dehiscence and fenestration defect can be improved with the use of platelet rich fibrin (PRF) that provides a scaffold for new bone regeneration. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of PRF as a graft material and membrane in dehiscence and fenestration defects. Materials and Methods: This prospective clinical study included patients who received dental implants that demonstrated peri-implant defects which were augmented using Leukocyte- PRF (L-PRF) or Advanced-PRF (A-PRF). Twenty four weeks postoperatively the defect resolution and the density of regenerated bone were assessed by CBCT and re-entry surgery. The assessment also included measurement of primary and secondary implant stability
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The current research aims to identify the effect of the Bransford and Stein model on the achievement of fifth-grade literary students for geography and their reflective thinking. To achieve the objective of the research, the following two null hypotheses were formulated:
- There is no statistically significant difference at the significance level (0.05) between the average scores of the experimental group students who studied geography using the Bransford and Stein model and the average scores of the control group students who studied the same subject in the usual way in the achievement test. 2- There is no statistically significant difference at the significance level (0.05) between the average scores of the experimental gr
This study aims to determine the reasons for the increase in the frequency of sand and dust storms in the Middle East and to identify their sources and mitigate them. A set of climatic data from 60 years (1960–2022) was analyzed. Sand storms in Iraq are a silty sand mature arkose composed of 72.7% sand, 25.1% silt, and 2.19% clay; the clay fraction in dust storms constitutes 70%, with a small amount of silt (20.6%) and sand (9.4%). Dust and sand storms (%) are composed of quartz (49.2, 67.1), feldspar (4.9, 20.9), calcite (38, 5), gypsum (4.8, 0.4), dolomite (0.8, 1.0), and heavy minerals (3.2, 6.6). Increasing temperatures in Iraq, by an average of 2 °C for sixty years, have contributed to an increase in the number of dust storm
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Limitations of the conventional diagnostic techniques urged researchers to seek novel methods to predict, diagnose, and monitor periodontal disease. Use of the biomarkers available in oral fluids could be a revolutionary surrogate for the manual probing/diagnostic radiograph. Several salivary biomarkers have the potential to accurately discriminate periodontal health and disease. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of salivary interleukin (IL)‐17, receptor activator of nuclear factor‐κB ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), RANKL/OPG for differentiating (1) periodontal health from disease and (2) stable a
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