Journal of Baghdad College of Dentistry

Background: Plaque retention during fixed orthodontic therapy is an important cause of developing enamel demineralization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different brackets types on the count of Streptococcus Mutans in orthodontic patients using conventional fluoridated toothpaste.
Materials and Methods: Plaque samples were collected from maxillary 1st premolar teeth of twenty right handed patients (using split mouth technique) before bonding, after 48 hrs of bonding using tooth brush only, and after 2 weeks of using fluoridated toothpaste. Stainless steel bracket was bonded on right first premolar while the left one was bonded with sapphire bracket. The calculation of the Streptococcus Mutans count was done using the plate counting method utilizing colony counter. The differences between the two types of brackets were determined using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.
Results: The median bacterial count on the right side was insignificantly higher than the left side; streptococcus mutans in the plaque sample around the sapphire brackets showed insignificantly less counts than around the stainless steel one, when the patients used tooth brush only or fluoridated toothpastes. Fluoridated toothpastes reduced streptococcus mutans insignificantly around both types of brackets.
Conclusion: Fluoridated toothpaste acts effectively in reducing streptococcus mutans colony counts around sapphire and stainless steel brackets.

Background: Periodontitis is an infection attributable to multiple infectious; it causes an interrelated cellular and humoral host immune responses. Recent reports have indicated that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) may contribute to pathogenesis of periodontitis. The HCMV can stimulate the release of cytokines from inflammatory and non-inflammatory cells and weaken the periodontal immune defense. This study aimed to reveal the presence of anti-CMV IgG, and determine the levels of IL‐6 and TNF-α and to correlate the presence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) with cytokines levels.
Materials and Methods: Forty patients with chronic periodontitis and 40 healthy control subjects (their age and sex were matched with the patients) were involved in this study. Periodontal parameters used in this study included plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and bleeding on probing (BOP). Saliva samples were taken from all subjects. ELISA was carried out to estimate the levels of anti-CMV IgG, IL‐6 and TNF-α. Statistical tests used involved t-test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, Fisher exact and spearman's correlation test.
Results: This study found a significant difference (p<0.05) in the frequency of anti-CMV IgG in saliva between patients and controls. The number and percentage of patients group who had positive for anti-CMV IgG were 14 (35%), while controls were 5 (12.5%). A significant increase was found in mean of PPD, CAL and BOP among patients with the positive IgG as compared to those patients with the negative IgG. In addition, there was a significant elevation in the salivary levels of IL‐6 and TNF-α in patients compared with healthy controls. IL- 6 was significantly associated with GI and BOP, whereas TNF-α was significantly associated with PPD and CAL. On the other hand, there was a significant correlation between TNF-α and anti- CMV IgG.
Conclusion: The findings revealed that the significant association between the presence of virus with periodontal parameters and cytokines level in patients group gives additional evidence toward the potential importance of the direct and indirect effects of CMV infection in periodontitis.

Background: Diabetes and periodontitis are considered as chronic diseases with a bidirectional relationship between them.
This study aimed to determine and compare the severity of periodontal health status and salivary parameters in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with chronic periodontitis.
Materials and Methods: Seventy participants were enrolled in this study. The subjects were divided into three groups: Group I: 25 patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic periodontitis, Group 2: 25 patients had chronic periodontitis and with no history of any systemic diseases, Group 3: 20 subjects had healthy periodontium and were systemically healthy.
Unstimulated whole saliva was collected for measurement of salivary flow rate and pH. All periodontal parameters (plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level) were recorded for each patient.
Results: The results showed that all clinical periodontal parameters were highest in group 1 in comparison with groups 2 and 3. Comparisons between pairs of groups revealed significant differences between groups 1 and 2 for plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level, and highly significant differences for plaque index, gingival index between groups 2 and 3, and between groups 1 and 3. The salivary flow rate and pH were lower in group 1 compared to groups 2 and 3. Inter-group comparisons of salivary parameters also revealed a significant difference between groups 1 and 2, with a non-significant difference between groups 2 and 3.
Conclusion: Type 2 diabetic patients have significantly lower salivary flow rate, pH and present with advanced periodontal destruction compared to healthy patients.

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the color change ΔE of the dental enamel following treatment with 2 kinds of protector (icon infiltrant, clinpro varnish) before fixed orthodontic treatment to avoid the possible white spot lesions.
Materials and Methods: Fifty four subjects treated with fixed appliances were divided into 3 groups: the 1st group was control, while the 2nd and 3rd groups were treated with icon infiltrant and clinpro varnish before bonding procedure, respectively. Color parameters (L,a,b) were recorded for the middle and gingival thirds before and after bonding procedure to get the ΔE of each group.
Results: One-way ANOVA test showed a non-significant difference in ΔE between the 3 groups at p value <0.05, while there were highly significant differences in value of ΔE between middle thirds and the gingival thirds in all groups.
Conclusion: The icon infiltrant and clinpro varnish have no effect on color of the enamel when used before the bonding procedure. Color change ΔE occurring in middle third is higher than that of the gingival third.

Background: Polymer surfaces usually present problems in bonding and finishing due to their low hydrophilicity. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of plasma treatment with the use of two types of gases (oxygen and argon) on surface roughness, and chemical surface properties of acrylic resin denture base polymer material.
Materials and Methods: Three heat cured acrylic resin specimens of (2*8*30 mm) dimensions were prepared for each test carried out in this study. Two tests were conducted, surface roughness test and chemical surface analysis test.
Results: Application of plasma treatment increased surface roughness for both oxygen and argon plasma treated acrylic resin specimen groups compared with control untreated group, with a highly significant difference (P <0.01) among groups. FTIR chemical analysis for oxygen plasma treated acrylic resin specimen group showed a spectrum with a broad peak, which represents the hydroxyl group (-OH). This was an important chemical change that increased the hydrophilicity as compared with FTIR spectrums of control and argon plasma treated acrylic resin groups which exhibited relatively the same peaks with mild chemical changes.
Conclusion: Application of oxygen and argon plasma treatment represents an effective surface treatment method for increasing the surface roughness of acrylic resin denture base polymer material. Oxygen plasma treatment can activate the treated surface towards further chemical reactions, and increase the hydrophilicity of the acrylic resin denture base polymer material.

Background: Red clover oil (Trifolium pratense) has isoflavones bunches which have estrogen-like exercises and may establish an option in contrast to hormone substitution treatment. The present study investigated the impact of Red clover oil on bone healing in rats by histomorphometric study.
Materials and Methods: Intra bony defect was performed in right femur of thirty six healthy male albino rats. Then these rats were randomly divided into three groups (12 rats each): one control and 2 experimental groups. For control, the bony defect was left for normal healing; for the experimental (S) group, the defect was treated with hemostatic absorbable gelatin sponge; and for experimental (RS) group, the bony defect was treated with 0.2 ml red clover oil and covered by haemostatic absorbable gelatin sponge. Six rats from each group were sacrificed at 2 and 4 weeks intervals. Histomorphometric analysis was performed on H&E bone section of all the studied groups which includes counting of bone cells (osteoblasts, osteocytes and osteoclasts), trabecular number, trabecular area and bone marrow space area.
Results: Histomorphometric results of bone cells revealed that the combination group stimulated larger numbers of osteoblasts and osteocytes than in sponge and control group. Number of new bone trabeculae, trabecular area and bone marrow space area showed higher mean values in combination groups than others. Highly significant differences between groups were observed in all histomorphometric parameters throughout all durations.
Conclusion: Red clover oil stimulated larger numbers of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, indicating increased bone remodeling especially at 2 weeks interval as compared with sponge and control groups.