Age estimation is a fundamental part in forensic, criminal, legal, and anthropological investigations. The biomolecular analysis is considered to have a good capability in estimating age because it can describe a person's biological age. According to previous studies, DNA methylation has the best effectiveness for estimating biological age, compared to other biomolecular analysis. Although DNA methylation is influenced by a number of factors such as heredity, environment, lifestyle and systemic diseases, DNA methylation still has accuracy that accountable to estimate age. A literature review search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and EBSCO was conducted to get all studies that published before February 2020. The review was then performed on 22 papers that selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The purpose of this reviewed paper was to identify all gene markers that have been used to estimate age using DNA methylation analysis; and to find out the subject, age range, tissue taken for DNA methylation analysis, and the effectiveness of the analysis.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Color plays an important role in a child's life and can elicit emotions such as anxiety and fear. Clothes worn by a dental surgeon may increase anxiety and fear in children because of the children's previous experiences. Furthermore, a dental clinic environment can significantly contribute to dental anxiety and fear. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to evaluate children's preferences for dentist attire and the color of the pediatric dental clinic environment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 132 female schoolchildren aged 6–10 years. Using a questionnaire with a pictorial demonstration, each child was interviewed to gather information regarding their preferences for the dentist attire and the color of the dental clinic. First, the children were asked to prioritize five photographs of a single anonymous dentist wearing five different aprons (white coat, casual attire, pediatric scrub, surgical scrub, jeans, and T-shirt). Then, a set of five pictures of a dental clinic painted in blue, yellow, green, and black and one clinic with cartoon images were shown to the children. The data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software. Results: The majority of the children preferred that pediatric dentists wear traditional white coats (n = 62), while the most preferred interior for the dental clinic was the one with cartoon images (n = 88). Statistical analysis indicated that preference for the white coat and preference for the clinic with cartoon images were significant when compared with others (P < 0.0224). Conclusion: The study concludes that children likes to see dentists in white coat and also prefer pictures of cartoon characters in the dental clinic settings.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Einstein's photoelectric amplification theory provided the template for the development of lasers. With recent technological advancements, the increasing use of lasers in dentistry has had a meaningful impact on the diagnosis and management of oral mucosal lesions. This case series highlights lasers' impact. Case Reports: Five patients with diagnoses of arteriovenous malformation, homogeneous leukoplakia, mucocele, traumatic fibroma, and erosive lichen planus were treated with a diode laser (1,200 J/s; wavelength of 940 nm; 1.5 W; pulse mode). The patients were followed up to evaluate lesion healing and complete healing of the lesion was rapidly achieved with minimal discomfort. Conclusion: Soft-tissue lasers are trending in the management of various oral mucosal lesions due to their advantages of providing higher precision, a clean surgical field with minimal blood loss, accelerated wound healing, and fewer postoperative complications.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: One of the most common microorganisms found in infected teeth after root canal treatment is Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis). This bacteria can cause failure in root canal treatment, so it is necessary to provide intracanal medicament, such as calcium hydroxide, which can increase antibacterial effectiveness by adding a mixing agent. One of the calcium hydroxide mixing ingredients is chlorhexidine (CHX) digluconate gel 2%, which can increase the activity of hydroxyl ions in calcium hydroxide. A natural mixing ingredient is 25% propolis, which contains flavonoids with an antibacterial effect. Objective: The aim is to determine the difference in antibacterial effectiveness between a combination of calcium hydroxide with 2% CHX digluconate or 25% propolis as an intracanal medicament against E. faecalis (in vitro) bacteria. Methods: This research used an experimental in vitro laboratory test with 18 teeth that had a single root canal. Teeth were sterilized, had root canal treatment, and cut off at the crown. Antibacterial efficacy was calculated by measuring optical density (OD) values with spectrophotometry. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by the Mann–Whitney test. Results: The largest OD difference group was in the calcium hydroxide mixture 25% propolis than calcium hydroxide mixture 2% CHX gel. Conclusion: There was a difference in the antibacterial power of the intracanal medicament, calcium hydroxide combination with 2% CHX digluconate gel or 25% propolis. The combination of calcium hydroxide with propolis 25% more effective than the mixture of calcium hydroxide with 2% CHX digluconate as root canal medicament against E. faecalis bacteria.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: The conventional inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) cannot be employed in clinical scenarios with trismus. In addition, it is a blind procedure, so failure to follow the ideal anatomical landmarks and improper positioning of the needle may result in anesthesia failure. This study evaluated whether the Vazirani–Akinosi (VA) and Gow-Gates (GG) techniques for mandibular anesthesia have superior outcomes in the form of fewer positive aspirations and rapid onset of action, as well as better anesthetic attainment. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the anesthetic efficacy and associated complications of a conventional IANB compared to the VA and GG techniques. Method: The study involved 300 patients divided randomly into three groups of 100 patients each. Group I received mandibular anesthesia through the GG technique, Group II received mandibular anesthesia through the VA technique, and Group III received mandibular anesthesia through a conventional IANB. The onset of action, incidence of positive aspiration, and success of the anesthetic technique were assessed in all patients. Result: The Group II patients showed superior anesthetic success (97%) that was significantly different from the results of Groups I and III (P = 0.0241). The mean value of the onset of anesthesia was longer in Group I than in the other two groups. A significant difference was seen between the GG and VA techniques (P = 0.0001*) and between the GG and conventional IANB techniques (P = 0.0001*). Conclusion: The VA technique is considerably superior to either the GG or the conventional IANB techniques in terms of the onset of action and anesthesia success. Positive aspirations are encountered relatively more frequently with the conventional IANB technique.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Oral squamous carcinoma is a malignancy of the head-and-neck area that comprises 90% of all oral cancers. Research continues to look for therapies with low concentrations of cytotoxicity to reduce morbidity in patients with tongue carcinoma. The red fruit plant (Pandanus conoideus Lam.) is believed to have anticancer activity because of its antiproliferation activity. The high antioxidant content in red fruit is able to ward off and break free radicals that carry carcinogen compounds. Red fruit ethyl acetate extract has the highest antioxidant activity compared with other fractions, such as water, chloroform, methanol, and n-hexane. Objective: This study sought to evaluate whether red fruit ethyl acetate extract is able to inhibit the growth of the Human Squamous Carcinoma (HSC-3) cell line with varying concentration levels and exposure times. Method: The HSC-3 cell line was treated with extract concentrations of 10 μg/mL, 20 μg/mL, and 40 μg/mL and exposure times of 6 and 12 h. Doxorubicin was used as a positive control, and dimethyl sulfoxide was used as a negative control. The percentage of viable HSC-3 cells was calculated through the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay cytotoxicity test. All groups were statistically compared, and P < 0.05 was considered to be a statistically significant difference. Result: A concentration of 20 μg/mL with an exposure time of 6 h and a concentration of 10 μg/mL with an exposure time of 12 h showed a significant difference compared with the positive control of doxorubicin (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the higher the concentration of red fruit ethyl acetate extract, the lower the percentage of viable HSC-3 cells.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

India accommodates 28.3 million disabled people. Among these, 20% are locomotor disabled (LD). Previous evidence showed that the relationship between general and oral health was high, and both were compromised in this population. Hence, evidence-based appropriate knowledge and understanding of the oral problems in this population is required to formulate policies on oral care for people with locomotor disabilities. Based on this background, the aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of oral health status among the LD population in India. The current review generated 1.811 articles in a search using PICO in the following electronic databases: PubMed, EBSCO, Cochrane, and Google Scholar based on PICO. Based on the inclusion criteria, seven articles were selected for the final analysis. The majority of the included studies showed higher decay (3.37) and gingivitis (1.71), followed by malocclusion (54%). There were no data on adult and geriatric populations or on other oral pathologies, such as trauma, congenital malformations of the head and neck, or mucosal lesions. All articles showed a high-quality methodology. Poor oral health is prevalent among this population. However, further evaluation of other orofacial problems is required in all age groups to formulate necessary policies for the LD population of India.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Rehabilitating the partial edentulous space, especially in the distal extension area, is a daunting task for the prosthodontist. If the opposing arch has natural teeth or a fixed partial denture (FPD), the maxillary or mandibular distal extension edentulous spaces can be restored with either attachment-retained removable dental prosthesis or implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis. Case Report: A 55-year-old male presented with missing 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 in the maxillary posterior region with an implant-supported FPD in 43, 44, and 45 regions and 36 and 37 were treated for root canal. The clinical condition was diagnosed as Kennedy Class I in the maxillary posterior region and Kennedy Class II partial edentulous space in mandible. The treatment options given to the patient were either a removable partial denture or an implant-supported FPD. As the patient preferred the fixed dental prosthesis, the case was successfully managed with implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis in the distal extension partial edentulous area. Conclusion: Implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis is the only effective treatment for distal extension edentulous space for persons who desire to have a fixed prosthesis.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]

Background: Advances in nanotechnology research make the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) attractive for improving the mechanical properties of glass ionomer cement (GIC). Sugarcane bagasse (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a CNCs source with a high CNC content (72.5%). Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of the addition of sugarcane bagasse CNCs on the mechanical properties of GIC. Methods: In total, 42 GIC (Fuji IX, GC, Japan) samples were divided into six groups, with various concentrations of CNCs, added to the samples. After 24 h immersion in distilled water at 37°C, the samples were analyzed using the Vickers hardness test. The samples were also characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For statistical analysis, a one-way analysis of variance, followed by Tukey's post hoc test, was applied. A value of P < 0.05 denoted statistical significance. Results: The TEM revealed crystalline particles in the form of nanocrystals, with varying particle sizes (lengths of 100–200 nm and diameters of 4–19 nm). The addition of 0.4% of CNCS from bagasse fiber to GIC increased the Vickers hardness of the material by 38.89% (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The addition of 0.4% of sugarcane bagasse can improve the hardness of GIC.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: The concept of rigid fixation following surgical interventions in the maxillofacial region is in use since the 1970s. The presence of oral native bacteria in addition to the occlusal forces acting on the plates during mastication results in few complications following rigid fixation which would eventually lead to their retrieval. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the need for hardware removal in the postoperative phase following orthognathic surgery. Methods: This retrospective study encompassed 86 patients who underwent orthognathic surgery for the correction of their dentofacial deformities in a single hospital unit between July 2009 and October 2019. A total of 314 stainless steel miniplates were used for achieving osteosynthesis in 86 patients. The primary outcome variable in this study was hardware removal. Secondary outcome variables included the reason for hardware removal and the duration between the time of placement of the hardware and its removal. The verdict on whether to postoperatively retrieve plates was based on plate exposure, infection, and patient discomfort caused by the palpability of the plate. Results: Out of the 86 patients (314 plates), 36 patients underwent Le Fort I osteotomy, harboring 144 plates; eight patients underwent anterior maxillary osteotomy, harboring 16 plates; 47 patients underwent bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, harboring 94 plates; and 30 patients underwent genioplasty, harboring 60 plates. It was observed that hardware was retrieved from 24 patients (27.90%) only due to palpability. Among the patients from whom the hardware was removed as a result of complications, 41 patients (47.67%) developed an infection in the postoperative phase, 15 patients (17.44%) had exposed hardware, and six patients (6.97%) developed an inflammatory reaction as a result of a loose screw that necessitated the removal of the hardware. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that hardware removal is essential following orthognathic surgery in the late postoperative phase. Hence, following confirmation of optimal postoperative osseous healing, patients should be educated about the need for hardware retrieval and the significance of postoperative follow-up.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]