Targeted enamel remineralization with mineral-loaded starch particles.

Background: Noninvasive caries treatments work topically, which may limit efficacy. The authors hypothesized that an alternative approach using mineral-loaded particles designed to target the subsurface of noncavitated caries lesions could be advantageous. This study shows in vitro proof-of-concept.

Evidence-based approaches and considerations for nonrestorative treatments within modern caries management: Integrating science into practice.

Background: A high level of scientific evidence supports several nonrestorative strategies for the control of caries, with the goal of reducing progression of mineral loss and arresting existing lesions. The authors provide an overview of evidence for nonrestorative caries control and considerations in the decision making for selecting nonrestorative options.

Types Of Studies Reviewed: The authors discuss findings from existing reviews, systematic reviews, and evidence-based guidelines (particularly from the American Dental Association) describing the effectiveness of nonrestorative strategies available in the US market for remineralization and arrest of caries lesions.

Enhancing Intraoral Fluoride Retention in Older Adults: A Randomized Crossover Study.

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that a calcium prerinse can increase intraoral fluoride retention from a fluoride rinse. To explore the potential of this approach to control root caries, we assessed intraoral fluoride bioavailability after a calcium prerinse in older adults with normal to low salivary flow rates.

Methods: In a 2-period crossover trial (NCT04239872), 20 participants (65-80 y old), with low or normal salivary flow rate, rinsed for 1 min with a 0.

A Randomized Clinical Trial to Assess Caries Arrest by Using Silver Diamine Fluoride in U.S. Children: Interim Findings.

To assess the effectiveness of 38 percent silver diamine fluoride (SDF) in arresting cavitated caries lesions in young U.S. children.

Dental Hygienists' Familiarity, Utilization, and Barriers to Using Advanced Instruments during Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy.

Non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) is considered to be fundamental in the treatment of periodontal disease. Advanced area specific instruments were designed to increase the clinician's ability to effectively access root furcation areas during NSPT. The purpose of this study was to explore clinical dental hygienists' familiarity, utilization, and perceived efficacy of advanced instruments in root furcation areas during NSPT.

Evidence-based clinical practice guideline on restorative treatments for caries lesions: A report from the American Dental Association.

Background: An expert panel convened by the American Dental Association (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs together with the ADA Science and Research Institute's program for Clinical and Translational Research conducted a systematic review and developed recommendations for the treatment of moderate and advanced cavitated caries lesions in patients with vital, nonendodontically treated primary and permanent teeth.

Types Of Studies Reviewed: The authors searched for systematic reviews comparing carious tissue removal (CTR) approaches in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Trip Medical Database. The authors also conducted a systematic search for randomized controlled trials comparing direct restorative materials in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.

Targeting Cariogenic in Oral Biofilms with Charge-Switching Smart Antimicrobial Polymers.

Cariogenic biofilms produce strong acidic microenvironments, which is the primary cause of dental caries. is a dominant species in cariogenic biofilms. Herein, we report a pH-responsive, charge-switching smart copolymer to selectively target and eradicate bacteria in cariogenic biofilms.

Convolution Neural Networks and Targeted Fluorescent Nanoparticles to Detect and ICDAS Score Caries.

Previous work has shown targeted fluorescent starch nanoparticles (TFSNs) can label the subsurface of carious lesions and assist dental professionals in the diagnostic process. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and score carious lesions using ICDAS in combination with fluorescent imaging following application of TFSNs on teeth with a range of lesion severities, using ICDAS-labeled images as the reference standard. A total of 130 extracted human teeth with ICDAS scores from 0 to 6 were selected by a calibrated cariologist.

Early occlusal caries detection using targeted fluorescent starch nanoparticles.

Objectives: We have previously shown fluorescent cationic starch nanoparticles (FCSNs) penetrate enamel surface porosity of active carious lesions, potentially aiding their detection. Here, we evaluate the in vitro diagnostic accuracy of FCSNs in detecting occlusal caries compared to histologic reference standard.

Methods: 100 extracted human teeth were selected with sound (50), or either non-cavitated (25) or cavitated (25) lesions.

Unsweetened and sucrose-sweetened black and green tea modifies the architecture of in vitro oral biofilms.

Objective: It is unclear whether tea infusions with or without sucrose supplementation alter oral biofilm development, so we evaluated the effect of unsweetened and sucrose-sweetened black and green tea infusions on in vitro saliva-derived biofilms.

Design: Biofilms were developed from human saliva for 20 h in cell-free 25% human saliva within static glass-bottom microplates. During biofilm development, biofilms were treated with either (i) unsweetened black tea, (ii) unsweetened green tea, (iii) 10% sucrose-sweetened black tea, (iv) 10% sucrose-sweetened green tea (v) deionized water (negative control), or (vi) 10% sucrose (positive control).

Tooth Age Impact on Dental Erosion Susceptibility and Treatment Efficacy.

This laboratory study investigated the impact of tooth age on dental erosion susceptibility and preventive treatment efficacy. Extracted human premolars were selected and had their age estimated (∼10-100 years old) using established dental forensic methods. Enamel and root dentin slabs were prepared, embedded in acrylic blocks, flattened, and polished.

In vitro model systems for exploring oral biofilms: From single-species populations to complex multi-species communities.

Numerous in vitro biofilm model systems are available to study oral biofilms. Over the past several decades, increased understanding of oral biology and advances in technology have facilitated more accurate simulation of intraoral conditions and have allowed for the increased generalizability of in vitro oral biofilm studies. The integration of contemporary systems with confocal microscopy and 16S rRNA community profiling has enhanced the capabilities of in vitro biofilm model systems to quantify biofilm architecture and analyse microbial community composition.

Minimum intervention dentistry in the US: an update from a cariology perspective.

Despite evidence strongly supporting use of non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures in caries management, there is still a large gap between evidence-based recommendations and application of these concepts in practice, with the practice of dentistry still largely dominated by invasive procedures in the US. This paper describes efforts in education and clinical practice in the US in the last decade to promote evidence-based cariology strategies, which support a minimum intervention dentistry (MID) philosophy. These include, for example: a competency-based core cariology curriculum framework which has been developed and disseminated.

Monitoring of simulated occlusal tooth wear by objective outcome measures.

Objectives: This in vitro study explored quantitative outcome measures as clinical indicators of simulated occlusal tooth wear progression.

Methods: Ten sound, extracted human premolars were selected and submitted to occlusal tooth wear simulation in 0.5-mm steps (0/0.

In vitro longitudinal evaluation of enamel wear by cross-polarization optical coherence tomography.

Objectives: Enamel thickness determination by Cross-Polarization Optical Coherence Tomography (CP-OCT) is a promising approach for quantitative monitoring of tooth wear progression. This study evaluated the ability of CP-OCT to quantify the thickness of natural enamel before, during and after tooth wear simulation.

Materials And Methods: Natural, unpolished human dental enamel slabs were submitted to five wear stages (Wear 1: to level the surfaces; Wear 2 to Wear 5: 0.

Primary teeth microhardness and lead (Pb) levels.

Objectives: Lead (Pb) exposure is associated with dental caries. Whether Pb affects tooth microhardness, is unclear. Our objective was to assess whether Pb concentration is associated with microhardness.

Introducing BAIT (Biofilm Architecture Inference Tool): a software program to evaluate the architecture of oral multi-species biofilms.

Biofilm model systems are used to study biofilm growth and predict the effects of anti-biofilm interventions within the human oral cavity. Many in vitro biofilm model systems use a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) in conjunction with image analysis tools to study biofilms. The aim of this study was to evaluate an in-house developed image analysis software program that we call BAIT (Biofilm Architecture Inference Tool) to quantify the architecture of oral multi-species biofilms following anti-biofilm interventions using a microfluidic biofilm system.

Impact of surface micromorphology and demineralization severity on enamel loss measurements by cross-polarization optical coherence tomography.

Objectives: Optical Coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising clinical imaging technology for quantitative and objective assessment of dental erosion. We aimed to determine the influence of enamel surface roughness and demineralization severity (by erosive challenge) on dental surface loss measurements by cross-polarization OCT (CP-OCT).

Materials And Methods: Human enamel specimens were prepared with three surface roughness levels (very rough, rough and polished; n = 10 each).

Dental bleaching efficacy and impact on demineralization susceptibility of simulated stained-remineralized caries lesions.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of different bleaching systems on artificially created stained-remineralized caries lesions; and to assess the susceptibility of the bleached lesions to further demineralization.

Methods: Human enamel specimens were sectioned, polished, demineralized, and randomly divided into six groups (n = 21) to create stained-remineralized lesions, either non-metallic (non-Met: G1, G2 and G3) or metallic (Met: G4, G5 and G6). G1 and G4 received no bleaching treatment, while G2 and G5 were treated with 15% carbamide peroxide (at-home bleaching protocol; 4 h/d×7), and G3 and G6 with 40% hydrogen peroxide (in-office bleaching protocol; 20min × 3).

Evidence-Based Dentistry Caries Risk Assessment and Disease Management.

The objective of this article was to provide a summary of evidence-based recommendations for the assessment of caries risk and management of dental caries. The goal is to help clinicians manage the caries disease process using personalized interventions supported by the best available evidence, taking into account the clinician's expertise and the patient's needs and preferences, to maintain health and preserve tooth structure.

Bleaching of simulated stained-remineralized caries lesions in vitro.

Objective: Non-invasive esthetic treatment options for stained arrested caries lesions have not been explored. This study aimed to develop laboratory models to create stained-remineralized caries-like lesions (s-RCLs) and to test the efficacy of bleaching on their esthetic treatment.

Materials And Methods: One hundred twelve enamel/dentin specimens were prepared from human molars, embedded, and had their color measured spectrophotometrically at baseline and after demineralization.

A Sensitive Thresholding Method for Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope Image Stacks of Microbial Biofilms.

Biofilms are surface-attached microbial communities whose architecture can be captured with confocal microscopy. Manual or automatic thresholding of acquired images is often needed to help distinguish biofilm biomass from background noise. However, manual thresholding is subjective and current automatic thresholding methods can lead to loss of meaningful data.

European Organization for Caries Research Workshop: Methodology for Determination of Potentially Available Fluoride in Toothpastes.

Toothpastes are the most universally accepted form of fluoride delivery for caries prevention. To provide anti-caries benefits, they must be able to release fluoride during the time of tooth brushing or post brushing into the oral cavity. However, there is no standard accepted procedure to measure how much fluoride in a toothpaste may be (bio) available for release.