Chinese Journal of Dental Research, 04/2017

FDI World Dental Federation, which has 200 dental association members in some 130 countries, is the official representative body and voice of more than 1 million clinicians worldwide. It set itself the task of creating a new definition for oral health as a baseline to develop tools to measure oral health and related indicators. The definition allows FDI to position oral health within the global health agenda in areas such as quality of life and wellbeing and the challenge of an ageing population worldwide. Furthermore, it provides an impetus for FDI activities in favour of worldwide periodontal health. Keywords: fundamental human right, non-communicable diseases, quality of life, risk factors, wellbeing

Stomatologists and dental practitioners, as they are called in different parts of the world according to tradition and history, are basically physicians who specialise in the study and treatment of diseases of the mouth and surrounding structures. They have always been outstanding in advocating the reduction of sugar consumption, mainly due to its direct connection to the pathogenesis of dental caries. Increasingly, it has come to the attention of researchers, epidemiologists and many healthcare workers and professionals that excessive consumption of sugar is also closely tied to the increase in tandem of our current major health issues like obesity, diabetes, heart, liver and kidney disease, and a host of other associated ailments. This development of current health crises throughout the world wherever traditional diets are replaced with modern fast food diets, which are usually packed with hidden, added refined sugars, is extremely troubling. It becomes all the more urgent and incumbent upon clinicians and stomatologists throughout the world to redouble their efforts to reduce and even eliminate the excessive consumption of added or extrinsic or secondary or hidden sugars to food and drinks. It will not only be to reduce dental caries, but also to reduce the many systemic and organ diseases associated with added sugars and which also exacerbate many oral diseases. This review is to give a basic history of sugar, the current understanding of sugar metabolism and the developing literature and research on the impact of sugar consumption on oral and overall health, as the mouth cannot be divorced from the body and vice versa. The author hopes to kick-start more research into this area that will result in various positive developments in the food and drink industry and persuade stakeholders to comprehensively address this universal health crisis that is closely tied to excessive consumption of added sugar in all its forms. Keywords: health crisis, obesity, sugar

Objective: To compare two methods for Streptococcus mutans detection and quantification in the human oral cavity: a chairside commercial test and a molecular-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method. Methods: A total of 688 whole saliva samples were collected from 344 children aged 3 and 5 and their biological mothers. Caries status was examined using a World Health Organisation survey method. S. mutans levels were measured using the Dentocult SM Strip mutans test and scored as colony forming units per millilitre of saliva. Meanwhile, bacterial genomic DNA was extracted from the saliva, qPCR was performed with S. mutans species-specific primers, and absolute S. mutans DNA concentrations were obtained and scored as micrograms of DNA per millilitre of saliva. The two methods were compared for sensitivity, specificity, agreement and correlation with caries status. Results: Significantly more participants tested positive for S. mutans by qPCR than in the chairside SM Strip test (82.4% vs 71.4%). When only the highest and lowest test scores were considered, the agreement between the two methods assessing S. mutans colonisation was 0.956. Children with high levels of S. mutans in their saliva were six to eight times more likely to develop dental caries at 5 years old. Conclusion: The study provides new evidence supporting the use of the chairside SM Strip test or the qPCR assay for the detection and quantification of S. mutans colonisation in saliva as the analytical approach of choice for caries risk assessment in clinical and epidemiological studies. Keywords: colonisation, dental caries, qPCR, Streptococcus mutans

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and clinical results of a new crestal sinus lift technique used to elevate the sinus floor simultaneously with bone grafts and implant placement. Methods: Eleven patients underwent this crestal sinus lift technique performed using an SCA KIT. The mean residual bone height was 6.4 mm (range: 4.1 mm to 8.6 mm). Bio-Oss collagen was used as the graft material, and 12 implants were simultaneously placed after sinus augmentation. Radiographic and clinical examinations were conducted during follow-up. Results: All procedures were successfully performed with no obvious Schneiderian membrane perforation. The sinus floor was augmented with a mean height of 4.8 mm (range: 2.8 to 7.4 mm). Twelve implants healed uneventfully with healing abutments. Peri-implant marginal bone was stable, with a mean follow-up of 49.4 months (range: 33 to 71 months). No complications were observed during follow-up. Conclusion: According to the limited data collected in this study, the novel crestal sinus lift approach could effectively lift the sinus floor and reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. Additional cases with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm and improve this crestal sinus lift technique. Keywords: bone graft, bone regeneration, dental implant, minimally invasive, osteotome, sinus lift

Objective: To assess the gallium-67 (67Ga) scintigraphy in differential diagnosis of malignant tumours from non-tumorous lesions of the maxilla. Methods: Nineteen patients with malignant tumours (six cases of squamous cell carcinoma and one case of malignant melanoma) and non-tumorous lesions (seven cases of maxillary sinusitis and five cases of postoperative maxillary changes) in the maxilla underwent 67Ga and bone scintigraphy with CT and MRI. The statistical analysis with respect to comparison between imaging features of 67Ga and bone scintigraphy and maxillary lesions was performed with the Pearson's chi-squared test. Results: 67Ga scintigraphy for six of the seven patients with malignant tumours in the maxilla was positive (85.7%), 0 of 12 patients with non-tumorous lesions were positive (0%) (P = 0.000). Bone scintigraphy for six out of seven patients with malignant tumours was positive (85.7%), 10 of 12 patients with non-tumorous lesions were positive (83.3%) (P = 0.891). Conclusion: 67Ga scintigraphy was useful for detection of malignant tumours in the maxilla. However, bone scintigraphy was not an effective technique for interpretation of malignant tumours, maxillary sinusitis and postoperative change in the maxilla. Keywords: carcinoma, gallium radioisotopes, gamma cameras, maxilla

Objective: To investigate electric pulp test thresholds at different sites on healthy incisors and premolars and determine appropriate test sites. Methods: Overall, 47 volunteers aged 20 to 30 years were recruited, and 163 incisors and 140 premolars were tested at several sites with an Electric Pulp Tester. One-way analysis of variance and a Tukey test were used to analyse the threshold values among different tooth types and sites. Results: The lowest threshold value for incisors was identified on the incisal edge. The difference of threshold on the incisal edge and other sites was statistically significant in mandibular incisors. For maxillary premolars and the mandibular second premolar, the lowest response was obtained with the tester tip on the lingual slope of the buccal cusp. For the mandibular first premolar, the response at the lingual slope of the buccal cusp, as the second lowest, was slightly higher than that at the buccal cusp. Conclusion: The incisal edge for incisors and the lingual slope of the buccal cusp for premolars was favoured as the optimal sites for electric pulp test. Keywords: appropriate site, electric pulp test, incisor, premolar, pulp vitality

Supernumerary teeth are hyperdontic variants due to abnormalities during tooth development. Here, we report a case on regeneration of bony defect, which ensued following extraction of two supernumerary teeth in the mandibular premolar region, using a combination of bone grafts and platelet-rich fibrin. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time synergistic use of biomaterials with bone grafts have been used for this type of management. Keywords: bone graft, platelet-rich fibrin, supernumerary teeth