Objective. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the force degradation of two types of elastomeric chains following different periods of immersion in zinc-containing mouthwashes. Materials and Methods. Four hundred and forty pieces of Elasto-Force and Super Elasto-Force elastomeric chains were divided into two control and eight experimental groups. The pieces were stretched to 25 mm on pins mounted on an acrylic block and stored in distilled water at 37°C. The experimental groups were immersed in four different types of mouthwash for one minute twice a day throughout the test period. Ten continuous thermocycles per day between cold and hot water baths (5–55°C) were carried out. Forces were measured at six-time intervals (initial, 24 hours, 1, 3, 6, and 8 weeks). The mean force was calculated and compared among different elastomeric chains, mouthwashes, and times using the t-test and one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s HSD test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results. Both types of elastomeric chains had significant force degradation over time (74–79% at 8 weeks). The Super Elasto-Force generated a higher force level than the Elasto-Force elastomeric chain at all time points. SmartMouth Clinical DDS mouthwash had a significantly lower effect on force degradation than other mouthwashes with no significant difference compared to control groups. Conclusions. Depending on these results: there is no clinically significant difference between both types of elastomeric chains, although Super Elasto-Force delivered a higher force level. The pH of the mouthwashes could play a role in force degradation over time, rather than other ingredients including zinc. The SmartMouth mouthwash had the minimum effect on force degradation of elastomeric chains, followed by Halita, Listerine Total Care Zero, and Breath Rx, respectively.
Background and objectives: This study aimed at testing the effect of plastic sleeve or barrier, used to cover the guide of the light cure unit to prevent cross-infection, on the shear bond strength and site of bond failure of stainless steel and ceramic orthodontic brackets. Materials and methods: Forty orthodontic brackets; twenty stainless steel and twenty ceramic brackets bonded to forty extracted human maxillary first premolars using light cure adhesive cured with and without the use of a protective plastic barrier on the guide. Comparing the effect of this barrier on the shear bond strength and adhesive remnant index was performed using an independent t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The protective barrier had decreased the shear b
... Show MoreBackground: Treatment of malocclusions using removable orthodontic appliances may prepare new stagnant areas susceptible for colonization and retention of Candida species, therefore; the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of upper removable orthodontic appliances on the mucosal Candidal count in group of apparently healthy orthodontic patients. Materials and Methods: Patients enrolled in this study were children aged 8-12 years having upper removable orthodontic appliances. Candidal counts at six mucosal sites were estimated using Imprint Culture method before, 14 and 28 days during orthodontic therapy. Results: Whole mouth and individual mucosal sites for Candidal counts increase significantly during treatment with upper remov
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to determine phototoxic effect of visible blue light on anaerobic periodontal pathogens namely Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Materials and methods: Strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis were isolated from pockets of systemically healthy patients aged between 35-55 years old with pocket depths of 5-6 mm, the bacteria cultured on special blood Agar plates solid media, then subjected to visible blue light emitted from commercially available light cure devise (LED curing light); that emits blue light (400-500nm) of 1000mw energy at different periods of time exposures, then the CFU of each plate was measured by direct colony count
... Show MoreDiesel generators are used in various locations throughout Baghdad city, central Iraq, when the public electricity power is in outage. The main purpose of the current research is to investigate possible changes in certain biochemical parameters in the blood of operators of diesel generators in different locations Baghdad city, at both Rusafa and Karkh sides. The workers were divided according to the number of working years.
Serum urea, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase (AlP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), albumin, total serum bilirubin (TSB), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were analyzed in samples from forty wo
... Show More(1) Background: Plant flavonoids are efficient in preventing and treating various diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of hesperidin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruits, in inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation, which induced lethal toxicity in vivo, and to evaluate its importance as an antitumor agent in breast cancer. The in vivo experiments revealed the protective effects of hesperidin against the negative LPS effects on the liver and spleen of male mice. (2) Methods: In the liver, the antioxidant activity was measured by estimating the concentration of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), whereas in spleen, the concentration of cytokines including IL-33 and TNF-α was measured. The in vitro expe
... Show MoreBackground: Debonding orthodontic brackets and removal of residual bonding material from the enamel surface include critical steps that may cause enamel damage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the site of bond failure and enamel surface damage after debonding of three types of esthetic brackets (composite, ceramic, sapphire) bonded with light cure composite and resin-modified glass ionomer adhesive. Materials and methods: Seventy two maxillary premolars teeth were divided into three groups each group consisted of 24 teeth according to the type of brackets. Each group was subdivided into two subgroups (12 teeth for each) according to the bonding material that was used. After 7 days of bonding procedure, the brackets
... Show MoreThis study aimed to evaluate the anticancer activity and cell division arresting by dandelion methanolic extract on breast cancer cell line MCF-7 cancer cell line. For achieving this goal, cytotoxicity assay (MTT assay), multipara system assay: High Content Screening (HCS) which include (viable cell count VCC; membrane permeability MP; cellular mitochondrial permeability CMP; nuclear intensity NI and cytochrome C releasing ), reactive oxygen species detection and cell cycle phases division were tested. The results of this study showed the ability of the plant to reduce cancer cell viability in a dose-dependant manner within IC50 (141.0) in comparison to IC50 of (334.4) on the
... 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 MoreThe study aims to introduce the Islamic sites available on the Internet and determine the criteria that contribute to evaluating these sites to indicate their value, topics, and services, while evaluating a simple random sample of the general Islamic sites, which number (35) sites. The results were presented in (8) tables. The study concluded To a set of conclusions, including: (465) “Islamic” websites were seized during the research period, and they are constantly increasing. They were classified according to the name of the website (domain name) com, org, net, edu, and also according to topics such as general Islamic websites and websites of holy places. Mosques, sites of sheikhs, etc. Among the best general Islamic websites are: Isla
... Show MoreLimited importance of research in a stand on the most important difficulties faced by both faculty and parents to communicate with each process to follow up on their children, and the analysis and inventory of the obstacles that hinder the educational process, and work to develop a vision of how to address these constraints and the important role of technology in the treatment of problems of the society so as to develop frameworks future to minimize the errors and the problems they face, and the development outlook for future generations in order to promote the educational level, especially that Iraq is going through a change in conditions in all sectors. Through the questionnaire, which includes questions set that was made on a sample o
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