Treatment Of Caries Research Articles

Development of dental varnish based on red propolis for the treatment and prevention of dental caries

Caries is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. To control and prevent the disease, it is important to expand the treatment options. The various types of propolis have been studied as alternatives. Studies have shown that Brazilian red propolis has important activity against S. mutans, as well as good anti-inflammatory activity. For the effective use of this alternative, it is necessary to develop pharmaceutical forms that make it feasible to handle and apply them. This study aims to produce a dental varnish based on red propolis, for later application in in vitro and in vivo studies. It is hoped that the formulation produced will conserve the good antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity of propolis and that it will be able to generate an innovative product for depositing patents with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).

Beyond the horizon: Exploring adverse childhood experiences and their lifelong, intergenerational influence on dental caries

The influence of sociodemographic, psychological, and behavioral characteristics on dental caries development, maintenance, and treatment is well-established. Although current evidence shows a direct effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)11ACE(s): Adverse Childhood Experience(s). on oral health-related outcomes, such as dental anxiety and tooth loss, the major impact in dental caries probably occurs through indirect pathways. Even though some evidence observed mediation by variables related to health behavior (e.g., sugar intake and smoking) and mental health in the relationship between ACEs and oral health-related outcomes, there is a significant gap in the understanding of potential causal pathways related to socioeconomic, psychosocial, and behavioral variables. In this way, the main objective of this hypothesis paper was to present and discuss the hypothesis on how ACEs might increase the risk of dental caries in childhood and adulthood, as well as the risk of intergenerational transmission of effect, using a life course approach in a chain-of-risk perspective. The leading hypothesis of this paper was that exposure to ACEs might lead to worse socioeconomic, psychosocial, and behavioral conditions that might increase the risk of dental caries in childhood, adulthood, and intergenerationally. The hypothesis outlined is valuable for the development of further empirical evidence, mainly longitudinal studies. Strengthening the evidence is essential to promote a comprehensive understanding of the short- and long-term effects of ACEs and to establish points for intervention to improve oral health outcomes in both children and adults.

Unlocking the potential of probiotic administration in caries management: a systematic review

BackgroundThe use of prebiotics and/or probiotic bacteria with the potential to modulate the oral ecosystem may play an important role in the prevention and management of dental caries. To assess the evidence of the potential of pre/probiotics both in the prevention and treatment of dental caries, we focused on the PICO question “In individuals with caries, after probiotic administration, is there an improvement in outcomes directly related to caries risk and development?“.MethodsAn extensive systematic search was conducted in electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane, to identify articles with relevant data. This systematic review included trials performed in Humans; published in English; including the observation of patients with caries, with clear indication of the probiotic used and measuring the outcomes directly involved with the cariogenic process, including the quantification of bacteria with cariogenic potential. To evaluate the methodological quality of the studies, the critical assessment tool from the Joanna Briggs Institute was used.ResultsEight hundred and fifty articles, potentially relevant, were identified. Following PRISMA guidelines 14 articles were included in this systematic review. Outcomes such as reduction of cariogenic microorganism counts, salivary pH, buffer capacity, and caries activity were assessed. The probiotic most often referred with beneficial results in dental caries outcomes is Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus. Regarding the most used administration vehicle, in studies with positive effects on the caries management, probiotic supplemented milk could be considered the best administration vehicle.ConclusionsEvidence suggests a beneficial effect of probiotic supplemented milk (Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus) as an adjuvant for caries prevention and management. However, comparable evidence is scarce and better designed and comparable studies are needed.

SEM Studies Assessing the Efficacy of Laser Treatment for Primary Teeth: A Systematic Review

Treating and limiting caries among young children are crucial issues for pediatric dentistry. In our systematic review, the authors intend to assess alterations in the surfaces of primary teeth following laser treatment using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The aim of this article is to systematically review and consolidate existing knowledge regarding the use of SEM imaging to assess the efficacy of laser treatment for primary teeth. On 10 November 2023, an electronic search was systematically conducted across PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus databases with keywords ((laser) AND ((primary teeth) OR (deciduous teeth)) AND (SEM)). The initial pool consisted of 205 records, from which 93 duplicates were eliminated. After careful examination of the remaining articles, 24 records were included in this systematic review. The majority of articles suggest that laser treatment provides dentinal surface without a smear layer, enhances remineralization of enamel, and improves the bonding quality of resin restorations. However, some discrepancies are still present. Based on the gathered articles, the authors of this review have concluded that laser treatment could be applied to deciduous teeth in terms of caries treatment and remineralization although further research is still needed.

Early childhood caries, family functioning, and common mental disorders in a region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the need for dental treatment in preschool children concerning early childhood caries (ECC), evaluated by the School Health Program (SHP); family functioning; and common mental disorders (CMDs) within families in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Methods: A structured questionnaire was applied to the main caretaker of the 61 children by telephone contact. The questions addressed socioeconomic and demographic data; the Questionnaire of General Family Functioning (GFF) sought to investigate family functioning; and the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) served to screen for CMDs among the main caretakers. Secondary data were collected from the SHP to survey the need for oral health treatments. The dependent variable was the need for tooth restoration or extraction. The data were analyzed descriptively and by Pearson’s chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests (p < 0.05), using SPSS v.22.0. Results: The median age of the children was 5 years old, and 32.8% required treatment for dental caries. There was no association between the need for tooth restoration or extraction and socioeconomic factors, family relations, and the presence of CMDs in the main caretaker (p > 0.05). However, there was a greater frequency of need for treatment in families with low income (24.6%) and with less social support (family and friends < 1). Children whose family was included in the Family Grant Program (62.3%), the respondent was the mother (57.4%), had completed high school or higher (36.1%), no paid work (42.6%), with a traditional or nuclear family structure (27.8%), and living in a house with good sanitary conditions (63.9%) presented a lower frequency of need for treatment. The GFF and SRQ-20 values among preschool children with and without the need for dental treatment were similar. Conclusion: There was a trend of a higher need for ECC treatment in children from families with lower income and less familiar and social support.

Research on causes, treatment, prevention of dental caries

Dental caries is a disease which is affected by many factors, mainly bacteria, and eventually leads to the dissolution and damage of the hard tissue of the teeth. Dental caries has become one of the most common diseases affecting children worldwide, and it is on the rise, seriously endangering childrens oral, general and mental health. Traditional clinical treatment methods mainly use filler therapy and root canal therapy, but these are invasive and dependent on patients compliance. There are many therapies that are less invasive and more suitable for children being researched and applied clinically. It is worth noting that for caries, early prevention is more important and effective than late treatment. In recent years, the researches on the pathogenesis and influencing factors of dental caries have also made some progress. This review focuses on the causes, treatment and prevention of dental caries in children, in order to promote the updating of research trends on dental caries in children and to help develop an individualized oral health plan for children.

Integrated approach to the study of biodegradation of composite materials for the restoration of hard dental tissues

Objective. To study the stress-strain state of demineralized tooth enamel after its impregnation with a low-viscosity composite in a long-term period of functioning in the oral cavity in a series of equivalent cyclic tests; to study the correlation of the experimental results with clinical observations of the treatment of enamel caries using a modified infiltration technique. Materials and methods. The parameters of laser holographic interferometry and atomic force microscopy, reflecting the timing, type and severity of deformation defects in samples of demineralized tooth enamel were analyzed in a series of equivalent cyclic tests. During the experiment the samples underwent classical infiltration with composite using ICON technology (main group) and a 2-stage enamel caries treatment technique, including carrying out a time-modified conditioning of classical infiltration and the final stage (stages) of enamel coating with a bioactive hybrid glass ionomer (comparison group). Results. The first signs of the deformation defects generation in demineralized enamel filtered on the classical method (the appearance of perifocal microcracks) were recorded in 11.2 % of the tested samples after 0.9 · 106 cycles (equivalent to 9 months of functioning of a tooth with treated enamel caries in the oral cavity), during further cyclic tests the percentage of samples with local defects increased progressively. Signs of a violation of the stress-strain state in the enamel after combined treatment (samples of the comparison group) were revealed in cycles corresponding to 2–3 years of being in an artificial environment of the oral cavity. Experimental data correlated with the clinical observations both in time and frequency of complications (secondary/recurrent caries) in the long term after treatment of enamel caries by various methods. Conclusions. In the process of equivalent cyclic tests, heterogeneous elastic-plastic deformations develop in the thickness of a section of demineralized enamel impregnated with a flowing composite and along its perifocal zones, most pronounced at the interface between intact and treated enamel, which leads to the development of local defects, delaminations, cracks, and destruction of the structurally heterogeneous environment of tooth enamel. According to the results of the comparative analysis, the most favorable results in terms of the timing of development, frequency and severity of deformation defects were obtained in samples of demineralized enamel after its treatment using a modified caries infiltration technique followed by coating with a bioactive hybrid glass ionomer.

Application of light-cured nanofilled composite materials in dentistry (literature review)

Currently, patients are increasingly turning to dentists with complaints about unsatisfactory dental aesthetics. All this is associated with both carious and non-carious lesions of the teeth. Methods of dental treatment today are diverse and satisfy the desires of even the most fastidious patient. So, in the treatment of dental caries, dentists prefer filling. All kinds of composite materials, mainly of foreign production, are used for sealing. Due to the changed global trends, we are faced with the task of finding and developing a new domestic nanofilled light-curing composite that will not be inferior in its properties and composition to leading foreign analogues.

Recent Advances in Quaternary Ammonium Monomers for Dental Applications.

Resin-based dental materials have been one of the ideal choices among various materials in the treatment of dental caries. However, resin-based dental materials still have some drawbacks, such as the lack of inherent antibacterial activity. Extensive research has been conducted on the use of novel quaternary ammonium monomers (QAMs) to impart antibacterial activity to dental materials. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in quaternary ammonium monomers (QAMs) for dental applications. The current progress and limitations of QAMs are discussed based on the evolution of their structures. The functional diversification and enhancement of QAMs are presented. QAMs have the potential to provide long-term antibacterial activity in dental resin composites, thereby prolonging their service life. However, there is a need to balance antibacterial performance with other material properties and the potential impact on the oral microbiome and general health. Finally, the necessity for further scientific progress in the development of novel quaternary ammonium monomers and the optimization of dental resin formulations is emphasized.

Application and exploration of artificial intelligence for caries management

With the advent of big data era and improvement of computer performance, the artificial intelligence (AI) technology has rapidly boosted in the field of stomatology. Dental caries is one of the cutting-edge research domains in stomatology. The application of AI in dental caries is expected to promote intelligent, precise and high-efficient diagnosis and treatment of caries. This article focuses on the application of AI in medical-aided diagnosis, treatment and risk prediction of caries and discusses their challenges.

Pathogenesis, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for radiation-related caries

Radiation-related caries is a common complication following head and neck tumor radiotherapy. It is a rapidly progressing and widespread destructive disease of tooth tissue after radiotherapy, which greatly affects the life quality of patients after radiotherapy. This article elucidates research progress in the pathogenic mechanisms, diagnosis and caries assessment, treatment, as well as prevention strategies for radiation-related caries, aiming to provide references for clinical prevention and treatment of radiation-related caries.

Effect of a novel pH-responsive tertiary amine monomer dodecylmethylaminoethyl methacrylate modified resin adhesive on biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus casei in vitro

Objective: To explore the application prospect of a new pH-responsive tertiary amine monomer dodecylmethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEM) modified resin adhesive (DMAEM@RA) in the prevention and treatment of secondary caries. Methods: Five percents DMAEM was added to the resin adhesive to synthesize DMAEM@RA for modifying. Streptococcus mutans (Sm) and Lactobacillus casei (Lc) biofilms were cultured on resin adhesive and DMAEM@RA, respectively. The culture systems were set up at pH=7.4, 6.0, 5.5, and 5.0. The antimicrobial activity of DMAEM@RA was evaluated by quantitative PCR. The effects of DMAEM@RA on biofilm thickness, bacterial amount, and extracellular polysaccharides were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and extracellular polysaccharide staining. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to study the effect of DMAEM@RA on the expression levels of cariogenic genes in Sm. Results: DMAEM@RA could significantly reduce the amount of Sm and Lc under acidic conditions, especially Lc. At pH=5.0, the logarithm value of co-cultured Sm bacteria [lg (CFU/ml)] in DMAEM@RA group (7.58±0.01) was significantly lower than that in control group (7.87±0.03) (t=14.32, P<0.001), and the logarithm value of Lc bacteria [lg (CFU/ml)] (7.29±0.04) was also significantly lower than that in control group (7.93±0.15) (t=6.93, P=0.002). SEM observed that the bacteria decreased and the cell fragments appeared in DMAEM@RA group. In addition, DMAEM@RA significantly reduced the biomass of extracellular polysaccharides in the dual-species biofilm under acidic conditions. At pH=5.0, the biomass of extracellular polysaccharides in DMAEM@RA group [(25.13±3.14) mm3/mm2] was significantly lower than that in the control group [(42.66±7.46) mm3/mm2] (t=3.75, P=0.020). DMAEM@RA could significantly up-regulate the expressions of gtfB and gtfC genes in Sm under acidic conditions. At pH=5.0, gtfB and gtfC genes were significantly up-regulated by (14.64± 0.44) times and (2.99±0.20) times, respectively (t=-42.74, P<0.001; t=-13.55, P<0.001). Conclusions: The DMAEM@RA has a good antibacterial effect under acidic conditions, demonstrating that it has a good potential to prevent the occurrence and development of secondary caries.

Treatment strategies for deep caries

Deep caries occurs when caries progresses to the deep dentin layer, and further progression has the risk of pulp exposure, which may affect pulp vitality and tooth longevity. Currently, there are no objective standards for the diagnosis of deep caries. In addition, traditional therapy for deep caries emphasizes complete debridement of the decayed tissue, resulting in an incremental high risk of pulp exposure. There are different views on how to deal with the remaining dentin after caries removal, and root canal treatment is often adopted directly after pulp exposure. In recent years, due to advances in dental pulp biology, bioactive pulp-capping materials, and clinical evidence-based medicine, the principle of deep caries treatment has shifted to pulp protection. Based on the latest international research progress, evidence-based medicine and expert consensus, we present a series of advancements in this article, including the terminology of deep caries, pathological changes and defense mechanisms of the pulp close to the deep caries, treatment principles of deep caries, technical strategies for carious tissues removal, and the decision-making of treatment protocols after pulp exposure, with the aim of enhancing the understanding of deep caries among dentists, as well as providing a reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of deep caries.

Analysis of aerosol generation during Er:YAG laser-assisted caries treatment: A randomized clinical trial.

Maintaining biosafety in dental practice involves the effective elimination of aerosols produced during dental treatment. To assess the quantity of aerosols and aerobic bacteria in the air during the treatment of caries. The study involved 60 patients with a total of 60 molar teeth (n = 60) in the mandible who were divided into 2 groups based on caries treatment method. Group 1 (G1, n = 30) received treatment with a conventional dental turbine (W&H Synea TA-98LC; W&H, Burmoos, Austria), while group 2 (G2, n = 30) underwent treatment with an Er:YAG (erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet) laser (LightWalker, Fotona, Slovenia). Measurements of aerosol particles between 0.3 Ęm and 10.0 Ęm near the operatorfs mouth were taken using the PC200 laser particle counter (Trotec GmbH, Schwerin, Germany). The number of aerobic bacteria in the air was determined using 60 Petri plates with a microbiological medium (Columbia agar with 5% sheep blood) and the sedimentation method. A control group (G3) was established to measure initial aerosol levels and initial total number of bacteria colony-forming units (CFUs) before each treatment. In G1 (dental turbine), the median value of aerosol particles was 57,021 (42,564.67,568), while in G2 (Er:YAG laser), it was significantly lower at 33,318 (28,463.35,484) (p < 0.001). The median total bacteria count per cubic meter of air in G1 (conventional dental turbine + high volume evacuator (HVE)), G2 (Er:YAG laser + HVE) and G3 (control group before caries treatment) were 734 (420.988), 158 (96.288) and 48 (32.74), respectively, with a statistically significant difference between the groups (p < 0.001). The use of Er:YAG laser during caries treatment resulted in a 41.6% reduction in aerosol amounts and a 78.5% decrease in the total bacterial count (TBC) compared to treatment with a dental turbine.

The short-term impact of comprehensive caries treatment on the supragingival microbiome of severe early childhood caries.

Children affected by severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) usually need comprehensive caries treatment due to the extensive of caries. How the oral microbiome changes after caries therapy within the short-term warrant further study. This study aimed to investigate the short-term impact of comprehensive caries treatment on the supragingival plaque microbiome of S-ECC children. Thirty-three children aged 2-4 years with severe caries (dt > 7) were recruited. Comprehensive caries treatment was performed under general anesthesia in one session and included restoration, pulp treatment, extraction, and fluoride application. Supragingival plaque was sampled pre- and 1-month posttreatment. The genomic DNA of the supragingival plaque was extracted, and bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was performed. Our data showed that the microbial community evenness significantly decreased posttreatment. Furthermore, comprehensive caries treatment led to more diverse microbial structures among the subjects. The interbacterial interactions reflected by the microbial community's co-occurrence network tended to be less complex posttreatment. Caries treatment increased the relative abundance of Corynebacterium matruchotii, Corynebacterium durum, Actinomyces naeslundii, and Saccharibacteria HMT-347, as well as Aggregatibacter HMT-458 and Haemophilus influenzae. Meanwhile, the relative abundance of Streptococcus mutans, three species from Leptotrichia, Neisseria bacilliformis, and Provotella pallens significantly decreased posttreatment. Our results suggested that comprehensive caries treatment may contribute to the reconstruction of a healthier supragingival microbiome.

Rapid detection of non-normal teeth on dental X-ray images using improved Mask R-CNN with attention mechanism.

Dental health has been getting increased attention. Timely detection of non-normal teeth (caries, residual root, retainer, teeth filling, etc.) is of great importance for people's health, well-being, and quality of life. This work proposes a rapid detection of non-normal teeth based on improved Mask R-CNN, aiming to achieve comprehensive screening of non-normal teeth on dental X-ray images. An improved Mask R-CNN based on attention mechanism was used to develop a non-normal teeth detection method trained on a high-quality annotated dataset, which can segment the whole mask of each non-normal tooth on the dental X-ray image immediately. The average precision (AP) of the proposed non-normal teeth detection was 0.795 with an intersection-over-union of 0.5 and max detections (maxDets) of 32, which was higher than that of the typical Mask R-CNN method (AP = 0.750). In addition, validation experiments showed that the evaluation metrics (AP, recall, precision-recall (P-R) curve) of the proposed method were superior to those of the Mask R-CNN method. Furthermore, the experimental results indicated that proposed method exhibited a high sensitivity (95.65%) in detecting secondary caries. The proposed method took about 0.12s to segment non-normal teeth on one dental X-ray image using the laptop (8G memory, NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics processing unit), which was much faster than conventional manual methods. The proposed method enhances the accuracy and efficiency of abnormal tooth diagnosis for practitioners, while also facilitating early detection and treatment of dental caries to substantially lower patient costs. Additionally, it can enable rapid and objective evaluation of student performance in dental examinations.

Self-assembled branched polypeptides as amelogenin mimics for enamel repair.

The regeneration of demineralized enamel holds great significance in the treatment of dental caries. Amelogenin (Ame), an essential protein for mediating natural enamel growth, is no longer secreted after enamel has fully matured in childhood. Although biomimetic mineralization based on peptides or proteins has made significant progress, easily accessible, low-cost, biocompatible and highly effective Ame mimics are still lacking. Herein, we construct a series of amphiphilic branched polypeptides (CAMPs) by facile coupling of the Ame's C-terminal segment and poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate), which serves to simulate the Ame's hydrophobic N-terminal segment. Among them, CAMP15 is the best biomimetic mineralization template with great self-assembly performance to guide the oriented crystallization of hydroxyapatite and is capable of inhibiting the adhesion of Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus on the enamel surfaces. This work highlights the potential application of amphiphilic branched polypeptide as Ame mimics in repairing defected enamel, providing a promising strategy for prevention and treatment of dental caries.

MODERN SCIENTIFIC TRENDS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF DENTAL CARIES

Background. Dental caries remains the most common disease of humanity today. The results of scientific research and clinical observations show that dental caries is most often treated surgically. The most effective way to reduce caries incidence is through primary prevention. Objective. The purpose of the study is to determine the current state of the problem of treatment and prevention of dental caries, to outline promising directions for solving this problem. Methods. In order to find out the main world trends in the treatment and prevention of dental caries, we studied the English-language papers of authors from Portugal, the USA, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Brazil, China, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Cote d'Ivoire, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Turkey, Belgium, Poland and Croatia published in 2019–2023, including literature reviews that tracked the fundamental data of previous years. The analysis of literary sources made it possible to determine that world scientists have made significant achievements with methodological and methodical conclusions, conducted a comparative assessment and proposed new ways to solve the problem in modern conditions. Results. The issue of modern scientific trends in the treatment and prevention of dental caries are presented in this paper. It was established that the main methods of primary prevention in dentistry were the use of sealants for pits and fissures, local professional use of fluoride preparations, use of fluorine-containing toothpaste, chlorhexidine mouthwash at home, use of xylitol, recommendations for regular visits to the dentist, adherence to a non-cariogenic diet and oral hygiene habits. An analysis of various treatment approaches for dental caries is presented. An evaluation of the proposed treatment methods was carried out in the aspect of a critical approach to preventive removal of hard tooth tissues. The main prospective directions for improvement of treatment and preventive measures are outlined. Conclusions. Dentistry should begin with the identification and elimination of cariesogenic factors, preventive measures should be dominant. With the elimination of carious disease, the need for related specialties will significantly decrease

The impact of laser radiation on the effectiveness of therapeutic treatment of dental patients

The paper presents an overview of modern scientific data on the study of the effect of laser radiation on biological tissues of the mouth in the therapeutic treatment of dental diseases. The use of lasers in the treatment of dental caries and its complications, non-carious lesions of hard dental tissues, as well as the use of lasers in the treatment of periodontal diseases and aesthetic restoration of teeth is considered.

Potential factors affecting the success rate of indirect pulp therapy in primary molars with deep caries: a retrospective study.

Indirect pulp therapy (IPT) is a common conservative treatment for deep dental caries. However, the potential risk factors for the prognosis of IPT have not been well studied. This study retrospectively investigated the success rate of IPT in treating primary molars with deep caries and the factors potentially affecting the two-year success rate. A total of 303 primary molars in 202 children (106 boys and 96 girls) were included in this study. These primary molars were identified as having deep caries by clinical and radiographic examinations and were treated with IPT. The factors potentially affecting the IPT success rate were analyzed after two years of follow-up. The results indicated that the two-year IPT success rate was 86% (262/303). The success rate of primary molars with and without stainless steel crowns was 96% (120/125) and 80% (142/178), respectively. Primary molars treated with stainless steel crowns showed a significantly lower risk of failure (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): (0.10, 0.34), p = 0.01). There were no significant differences in other factors, including gender (male vs. female), age (preschool vs. school age), cooperation level (Frankl 2 vs. 3 or 4 scales), arch type (maxillary vs. mandibular), tooth type (first vs. second primary molar), or pulp capping material (calcium hydroxide vs. glass ionomer cement). IPT is an effective, conservative treatment modality for primary molars with deep caries. Stainless steel crowns could significantly improve the IPT success rate.