Dent. J., Volume 5, Issue 3 (September 2017) – 3 articles

A poor quality diet may be a common risk factor for both obesity and dental problems such as caries. The aim of this paper is to use classification tree analysis (CTA) to identify predictors of dental problems in a nationally representative cohort of Irish pre-school children. CTA was used to classify variables and describe interactions between multiple variables including socio-demographics, dietary intake, health-related behaviour, body mass index (BMI) and a dental problem. Data were derived from the second (2010/2011) wave of the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study (GUI) infant cohort at 3 years, n = 9793. The prevalence of dental problems was 5.0% (n = 493). The CTA model showed a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 58.5% and overall correctly classified 59% of children. Ethnicity was the most significant predictor of dental problems followed by longstanding illness or disability, mother’s BMI and household income. The highest prevalence of dental problems was among children who were obese or underweight with a longstanding illness and an overweight mother. Frequency of intake of some foods showed interactions with the target variable. Results from this research highlight the interconnectedness of weight status, dental problems and general health and reinforce the importance of adopting a common risk factor approach when dealing with prevention of these diseases. Full article

(1) Background: The importance of the Icelandic Sagas as a source of information about diet habits in medieval Iceland, and possibly other Nordic countries, is obvious. Extensive tooth wear in archaeological material worldwide has revealed that the main cause of this wear is believed to have been a coarse diet. Near the volcano Hekla, 66 skeletons dated from before 1104 were excavated, and 49 skulls could be evaluated for tooth wear. The purpose of this study was to determine the main causes of tooth wear in light of diet and beverage consumption described in the Sagas; (2) Materials and methods: Two methods were used to evaluate tooth wear and seven for age estimation; (3) Results: Extensive tooth wear was seen in all of the groups, increasing with age. The first molars had the highest score, with no difference between sexes. These had all the similarities seen in wear from a coarse diet, but also presented with characteristics that are seen in erosion in modern Icelanders, through consuming excessive amounts of soft drinks. According to the Sagas, acidic whey was a daily drink and was used for the preservation of food in Iceland, until fairly recently; (4) Conclusions: It is postulated that the consumption of acidic drinks and food, in addition to a coarse and rough diet, played a significant role in the dental wear seen in ancient Icelanders. Full article

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) of two different resin cements (Panavia F 2.0 (Kuraray Medical Inc, Okayama, Japan) and Variolink N (Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein)) to 112 zirconia specimens with airborne-particle abrasion and 20%, 30%, or 40% hydrofluoric acid (HF) for 1 or 2 h. A total of eight specimens were used to observe the phase transformation after surface treatments. Six specimens were treated only with HF etching and the average surface roughness (Ra) was analyzed. A one-way ANOVA test was applied for SBS and the effect of HF concentration on Ra. An independent t-test was performed for the comparison of Panavia F 2.0 and Variolink N, and the influence of the HF application time on Ra. A higher HF solution increased SBS and Ra. HF etching produced a lower rate of monoclinic phase transformation. Panavia F 2.0 showed a higher SBS than Variolink N. Full article