Dentin dysplasia, type II: report of 2 new families and review of the literature.

Dentin dysplasia, type II, is an inherited autosomal dominant disorder in which primary teeth are amber and translucent, with pulp chambers obliterated by abnormal dentin. The permanent teeth have a normal coronal morphologic character and coloration but exhibit "thistle tube"-shaped pulp chambers as well as numerous pulpal calcifications. The disorder has traditionally been thought to be somewhat rare; however, this article presents 2 new families in which several generations with the disorder were reported to the authors within a 1-year period.

Response of associated oral soft tissues when exposed to Argon laser during polymerization of dental resins.

Background And Objective: Polymerization of dental resins with Argon laser produces restorations with improved physical properties when compared to conventional visible-light polymerization techniques. However, the possibility of damaging adjacent soft tissues has not been addressed.

Study Design/materials And Methods: In this study, Argon laser (488/514 nm) was used for the polymerization of composite resins to determine effects on the parakeratinized gingiva adjacent to both restored and unrestored teeth in six dogs, using 10-, 20-, and 30-second polymerization exposures.

Chronic pain associated with a foreign body left under the soft tissue flap during periapical surgery.

A case is reported of a patient who requested treatment for chronic pain of 7 yr duration. After several unsuccessful endodontic procedures, a cotton pellet was discovered under the soft tissue near the apex of the left maxillary cuspid. It was theorized that the cotton was left under the tissue flap during a previous apicoectomy procedure.