• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2019

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of various protocols and systems for finishing and polishing monolithic zirconia on surface topography, phase transformation, and bacterial adhesion. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Three hundred monolithic zirconia specimens were fabricated and then treated with three finishing and polishing systems (Jota [JO], Meisinger [ME], and Edenta [ED]) using four surface treatment protocols: coarse finishing alone (C); coarse finishing and medium polishing (CM); coarse finishing and fine polishing (CF); and coarse finishing, medium polishing, and fine polishing (CMF). Surface roughness, crystal phase transformation, and bacterial adhesion were evaluated using atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and streptococcal biofilm formation assay, respectively. One-way and two-way analysis of variance with Tukey post hoc tests were used to analyze the results (${\alpha}=.05$). RESULTS. In this study, the surface treatment protocols and systems had significant effects on the resulting roughness. The CMF protocol produced the lowest roughness values, followed by CM and CF. Use of the JO system produced the lowest roughness values and the smallest biofilm mass, while the ME system produced the smallest partial transformation ratio. The ED group exhibited the highest roughness values, biofilm mass, and partial transformation ratio. CONCLUSION. Stepwise surface treatment of monolithic zirconia, combined with careful polishing system selection, is essential to obtaining optimal microstructural and biological surface results.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.40-50
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to develop the KPIs(Key Performance Indices) needed to improve management and strategy in the dental clinic based on the four perspectives of BSC(Balanced Scorecard). The questionnaire was conducted on 52 dentists approved by Dental Managment Research Committee in Seoul National University as a panel. Using the Delphi technique, the top five KPIs for each point of perspective in BSC were extracted from KPI pools. In the third survey, the top five KPIs of all points were compared with each other through AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Process) method, and priority and overall importance rankings were calculated. The biggest difference in the three level AHP results was the customer perspective took priority to others. In the second survey, the financial perspective, which was number one, was pushed back. The overall significance of KPIs was in the order of customer, internal process, finance, learning and growth perspective, with the exception of medical profits (5th of 20) and new patient growth (10th of 20). We were able to overcome the limitations of the Delphi Technique with the AHP method. In general, the financial perspective in BSC is known to be the most important, but we conclude that the customer perspective is more important through the pairwise comparison survey. In the current dental service market, which is a long-term recession, excessive competition, customer satisfaction and customer relationship management seem to be the first goal to pursue in dental clinic.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-56
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• 2009

The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationships between the degree of physical pain and the knowledge and preventive actions of musculoskeletal diseases among dental hygiene students with a potential risk of contracting those diseases and thus to help them prevent them. A survey was taken among 207 sophomores and juniors specializing in dental hygiene at S1 and S2, Gyeonggi Province in the area of physical pain, knowledge of musculoskeletal diseases, and preventive actions against them. The findings were as follows: 1. The mean scores of the sophomore in the knowledge of musculoskeletal diseases were $6.20{\pm}2.21$, and those of the juniors were $6.72{\pm}2.29$. The mean scores of the sophomores and juniors in the preventive actions against musculoskeletal diseases were $22.50{\pm}2.37$ and $22.29{\pm}3.01$, respectively. 2. The subjects displayed severe physical pain in the lower back, shoulder, and neck in the descending order and medium physical pain in the neck, shoulder, and lower back in the descending order. 3. The higher level knowledge of musculoskeletal diseases they had, the less physical pain they felt. And there were significant differences among the shoulder, lower back, hip, ankle, and foot. 4. There were relationships between physical pain and the preventive actions against musculoskeletal diseases in "placing the hands at the height of the elbows during treatment", "reducing such positions as bending and extending during treatment", "narrowing the distance with the patient", "taking regular breaks during treatment for recovery", "trying not to incline the neck, back, arm, and wrist as much as possible", and "trying to keep the torso in the neutral position." 5. As for the education about musculoskeletal diseases, 74 sophomores(88.10%) and 102 juniors(89.74%) answered they received no such education. The results suggest that there should be some instructions to help dental hygiene students practice the preventive actions against musculoskeletal diseases and further prevention programs against those diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.235-240
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• 2010

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) functionally expressed in salivary epithelial cells, but their roles remain elusive. Among TLRs family, TLR3 is activated by dsRNA, a byproduct of viral infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of TLR3 in the inflammatory immune responses using HSG cells. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR and ELISA were performed to identify expression of TLRs and TLR3-mediated chemokine inductions. The chemotaxis assay of activated T lymphocytes was also performed. Treatment of HSG cells with polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) significantly increased interferon-$\gamma$-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), interferoninducible T-cell $\alpha$ chemoattractant (I-TAC), and regulated on activation, normal T-cells expressed and secreted (RANTES) gene expressions in a concentration-dependent manner. Anti-TLR3 antibody blocked the increases of IP-10 and I-TAC genes. Poly(I:C)-induced increases of IP-10 and I-TAC were also confirmed at protein levels from cell lysates, but their release into extracellular medium was detected only in IP-10. We found that the culture media from HSG cells stimulated with poly(I:C) significantly increases T lymphocyte migration. Our results suggest that TLR3 plays an important role in chemokine induction, particularly IP-10, in salivary epithelial cells.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the accuracy of single crowns based on the type of occlusal surface. Methods: A single crown wax pattern was fabricated in three types of occlusal surface. The prepared wax pattern was replicated with silicone, and stone was injected to create a stone model. The prepared specimens were scanned using a model scanner. Scans were classified into three groups, and each scan was performed six times to analyze the trueness and precision of a single crown. In addition, only the occlusal surface area was analyzed for trueness and precision. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H test, a nonparametric test (α=0.05). Results: With regard to the trueness value of the occlusal scan area, the no occlusal tooth attrition (NA) group showed the largest error of 3.5 ㎛, and the complete occlusal tooth attrition (CA) group showed the lowest value of 3.1 ㎛. The NA group had the greatest precision, and the medium occlusal tooth attrition (MA) group and CA group showed a low precision value of 3.2 ㎛; the difference between the groups was statistically significant (α=0.05). In the color difference map, the CA group showed a lower error than the NA group. Conclusion: The occlusal surface with severe attrition had excellent accuracy, but the accuracy of the group without attrition was low. There were significant differences between groups, but clinically acceptable values were shown.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2011

Purpose: Nitric oxide (NO) has been known as an important regulator of osteoblasts and periodontal ligament cell activity. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between NO-mediated cell death of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDLFs) and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist (+)-5-methyl-10, 11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5, 10-imine hydrogen maleate (MK801). Methods: Human PDLFs were treated with various concentrations (0 to 4 mM) of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) with or without $200\;{\mu}M$ MK801 in culture media for 16 hours and the cell medium was then removed and replaced by fresh medium containing MTS reagent for cell proliferation assay. Western blot analysis was performed to investigate the effects of SNP on the expression of Bax, cytochrome c, and caspase-3 proteins. The differences for each value among the sample groups were compared using analysis of variance with 95% confidence intervals. Results: In the case of SNP treatment, as a NO donor, cell viability was significantly decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, a synergistic effect was shown when both SNP and NMDA receptor antagonist was added to the medium. SNP treated PDLFs exhibited a round shape in culture conditions and were dramatically reduced in cell number. SNP treatment also increased levels of apoptotic marker protein, such as Bax and cytochrome c, and reduced caspase-3 in PDLFs. Mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling was activated by treatment of SNP and NMDA receptor antagonist. Conclusions: These results suggest that excessive production of NO may induce apoptosis and that NMDA receptor may modulate NO-induced apoptosis in PDLFs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 1996

Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as primary causative agents of dental caries by insoluble glucan (IG) in human and experimental animals. An attempt was made to search for the ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase that degrades IG produced by S. mutans. ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase was detected in the culture supernatant of microorganisms, which are isolated from soils on agar medium containing IG as a sole carbon source. This Streptomyces sp. hydrolysed IG produced by immobilized S. mutans and was named as Y9373. This enzyme required ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucan (IG) as an inducer. The optimum conditions for enzyme production were studied. The enzyme was purified by 30~70% $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ precipitation, anion exchange chroma tography on DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration on Sepadex G-75. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 7840.0 U/mg protein giving 32.1-fold purification and final yield of 0.53%. The molecular weight was estimated to be about 22.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme reaction were 6.5 and 37$^{\circ}C$, respectively and the enzyme was relatively stable at the temperature below 60$^{\circ}C$. The activity of purified enzyme was enhanced by adding $Co^{2+},\;Mn^{2+}\;and\;Mg^{2+}$ into the medium, whereas inhibited by adding $Hg^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}$ and SDS. The $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ value of ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase for IG were estimated to be 2.50 mM and 0.0431 mM/min, respectively. The thin layer chromatographic analysis of hydrolysates from IG with ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase showed that glucose was the main product of reaction. This enzyme activity was about 14 times higher than marketing dextranase as preventive agent against artificial dental caries by S. mutans in TH medium including 5% sucrose after 30 minutes.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2008

The natural products are used to be development of new antibacterial substances against human pathogenic bacteria. Adherence to the tooth surface by S. mutans is an important step in initiation of dental caries. This study was to examine antibacterial activity and anti-adhesive effect of Scutellaria baicalensis extract against S. mutans. Extracts of S. baicalensis were tested for antimicrobial activities by paper disc methods and radial diffusion assay methods, and bacterial adherence assay using 3 type of hydroxyapatite. The antibacterial level of ethyl acetate extract, IPK-3 on the growth of S. mutans was 125 mg/ml of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The maximum growth of S. mutans in medium added with IPK-3 extract (50 mg/ml) was delayed to 30 hr, while the highest at 24 hr in control medium. The pH values of the control medium was 5.63 at 18 hr, but the media supplemented with IPK-3 extract was pH 6.50 at 12 hr. In adhesive inhibition assay, S. mutans was labelled with the fluorescent indicator DAPI and measured with fluorescence microscope. Adhesion of S. mutans on hydroxyapatite beads was inhibited by IPK-3 extracts. These results suggest that S. baicalensis extract can be used as an effective material for antibacterial activity and adhesive inhibition against S. mutans.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.127-131
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• 2004

This study was to study the antibacterial effect of Lignum sappan extract on S. mutans growth. The antibacterial activities of Lignum sappan's crude extract was measured 17.3 mm at 20 mg/ml concentration. The growth of S. mutans in control medium was the highest at 8hr, while the media of Lignum sappan extract added-medium (2 mg/ml) showed maximum growth at 16hr. The pH values of the control media was 5.08 at 8hr, but the media supplemented with Lignum sappan extract was 6.69 at 8hr. The amounts of total carbohydrate of the control media was 0.81 mg/ml at 8hr, but the media supplemented with Lignum sappan extract was 2.06 mg/ml at 8hr. In the protein change of culture medium, the control culture broth and the cultures supplemented with Lignum sappan extract was 8.39 mg/ml and 12.3 mg/ml at 8hr, respectively. The S. mutans polysaccharide contents of the control media and the media supplemented with Lignum sappan extract was 300 mg/100ml and 60 mg/100ml at 8hr, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.290-295
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• 2017

Objectives: Dental plaque emits red fluorescence under a visible blue light near the ultra-violet end of the light spectrum. The fluorescence characteristics of each microorganism have been reported in several studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in red fluorescence of oral microorganisms that is affected by blood in the culture media. Methods: The gram-positive Actinomyces naeslundii (AN, KCTC 5525) and Lactobacillus casei (LC, KCTC 3109) and gram negative Prevotella intermedia (PI, KCTC 3692) that are known to emit red fluorescence were used in this study. Each bacterium was activated in broth and cultivated in different agar media at $37^{\circ}C$ for 7 days. Tryptic soy agar with hemin and vitamin $K_3$ (TSA), TSA with sheep blood (TSAB), basal medium mucin (BMM) medium, and BMM with sheep blood (BMMB) were used in this study. Fluorescence due to bacterial growth was observed under 405-nm wavelength blue light using the quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D) device. The red, green, and blue fluorescence values of colonies were obtained using image-analysis software and the red to green ratio (R/G value) and red to total RGB ratio (R/RGB value) were calculated for quantitative comparison. Results: The QLF-D images of the AN, LC, and PI colonies showed red fluorescence in all media, but the fluorescence of all bacteria was reduced in TSA and BMM media, compared with in TSAB and BMMB media. Both the R/G and the R/RGB values of all bacteria were significantly reduced in growth media without blood (P<0.001). Conclusions: Based on this in vitro study, it can be concluded that red fluorescence of oral bacteria can be affected by growth components, especially blood. Blood-containing medium could be a significant factor influencing red fluorescence of oral bacteria. It can be further hypothesized that bleeding in the oral cavity can increase the red fluorescence of dental plaque.