Al-Rafidain Dental Journal

A total of (1425) cases of histologically diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma collected from the main centers of pathology in Iraq were analyzed according to age, sex, site, patient complain at time of presentation and histological grading Patients at their fiive decade of life were the most commonly affected with males to females ratio of (2:1). Lower lip was the most commonly affected site followed by the tongue. The most common clinical complain was ulceration and swelling. More than (70%) of the cases were well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The authors emphasize on the need for interprofessionalhealth care delivery approaches for reducing oral cancer mortality and improving patient's quality of life.

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental fluorosis in a group of school students lived in area with high and low natural fluoride contained drinking water in Ninevah Governorate. The study was conducted among (1724) school\'s students aged (11-16) years from randomly selected schools (primary and intermediate) in two provinces in Ninevah Governorate. Eight hundred and thirteen students who had lived since birth in high natural fluoride level area (Sinjar province) (2.05-2.22 ppm) and (911) students lived continuously from birth in low natural fluoride level area in their drinking water (Talkaif province) (0.11-0.19 ppm). Dean index has been used to assess the dental fluorosis. The results show that the prevalence of dental fluorosis in Sinjar province is (97.3%) within individual and (62.9%) within teeth, ranging from very mild to mild form of dental fluorosis, with no significant sex difference, but the percentage of severity has been found to be increasing with age, while the prevalence of dental fluorosis in Talkaif province was (5.5%) within individual and (1.2%) within teeth, with no significant sex difference. The community fluorosis indices for Sinjar and Talkaif provinces are (1.7 and 0.1) respectively. This difference is due to the difference in level of natural fluoride in both provinces drinking water supplies.

The main objectives of this study were to determine the effects of the bleaching solutions on the surface characteristics of dentin namely, microhardness and surface roughness. Sixteen dentin samples were prepared for the measurements. Teeth mounted in an acrylic resin blocks for microhardness measurements and surface roughness. The bleaching was performed by immersion of each sample in (35%) hydrogen peroxide at (37)°C in an incubator for a period of one hour. Vicker'smicrohardness instruments used for microhardness measurements and profilometertesting machine was used to evaluate surface Toughness. Two measurements were taken from each samples one before and the other after bleaching procedure. The data were collected and analyzed using analysis of variance and t-test, The results showed that the microhardness of dentin is greater before bleaching than the mean after bleaching procedures. This indicated that the bleaching solution used in this study reduced the microhardness of the dentin in vitro. There are slight changes in the mean value of the surface roughness of dentin after bleaching, which is statistically not significant

The purpose of this study is to determine the width of the missing central incisor of one arch when the central incisor of the other arch is available in personsliving in the north of Iraq, and to compare these measurements with persons living in the middle of Iraq. Four hundred Iraqi students from University of Mosul, North of Iraq were selected for this study, The measurements of maxillary and mandibular central incisors were done on (800) stone casts. A new method was concluded in this study to determine the width of a missing central incisor in relation to the opposing central incisor using the following equation: The width of maxillary central incisor = The Width of mandibular central incisor × 1.65

This study aims at investigating the scope of topical acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) gel effect on initial carious lesions, evaluating the effect of the gel on newly erupted teeth, as well as on the low-, moderate, and high-risk School children. A sample of (340) school children [177 (52.06%) males and 163 (47.94%) females]initially in the fourth grade (aged 9-11 years) were collected from (4) Primary schools in Mosul city center, The children were allocated randomly to one experimental group (received topical APF gel) and one control group (did not receive any fluoride therapy). The dental examinations were done using DMFT index: one before fluoride application and the other after one year. It can be observed from this study that the topical APF gel is effective on initial lesions. Moreover, the efficacy of the gel on the newly erupted teeth, including chose teeth erupted during the study, is found to be greater than on the previously erupted ones. The results also reveal that the high - risk groups are the most benefitted from the fluoride treatment than the moderate- and low-risk groups. The percentages of caries reduction were (96.700%), (74.880%), and (36.071%) for the three groups, respectively. So, the use of such a fluoride therapy as a school-based programme is advised for all children with evidence of dental caries, and is recommended to be planned to match the pattern of eruption of teeth.