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Introduction: Knowledge of the facial skeleton and its overlying soft-tissue is essential in determining facial harmony. Additionally, an individual's growth pattern may influence post-treatment facial profiles and needs to be considered during treatment planning. Aim: To evaluate the soft-tissue profile changes in treated Class-II malocclusion patients with varied mandibular growth patterns and to compare these changes with patients having a skeletal Class-I relationship and a balanced facial profile. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional cephalometric study was conducted in the Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dental Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana, India, from June 2021 to December 2022. The study included 210 lateral cephalograms of 120 patients. The cephalograms were divided into four groups based on the Frankfort horizontal Mandibular plane Angle (FMA): Group-1 (control, n=30): skeletal Class-I (FMA=22°-28°); Group-2 (n=30): skeletal Class-II with a horizontal growth pattern (FMA<22°); Group-3 (n=30): skeletal Class-II with an average growth pattern (FMA=22°-28°); and group-4 (n=30): skeletal Class-II with a vertical growth pattern (FMA>28°). All patients in the groups-2,3, and 4 were treated with all first premolar extractions using a 0.022" McLaughlin, Bennett and Trevisi (MBT) appliance. The student's t-test and post-hoc test was used to analyse skeletal, dental and soft-tissue parameters using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 22.00 for Windows; SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). Results: Of the total, 120 patients, 52 were males and 68 females with an age range of 18-28 years. On intergroup analysis, significant changes (p-value<0.05) in the Sella, Nasion and A point (SNA) and Sella, Nasion and B point (SNB) angles were observed in group-3. Clinically insignificant changes were found in the A point, Nasion and B point (ANB) angle across all experimental groups. However, a significant change (p-value<0.001) in the post-treatment ANB angle was observed in group-2, followed by group-3 and 4 when compared with group-1. The soft-tissue profile angle showed a significant change in Group-2 when compared with Group-1 (p-value=0.012). Conclusion: The post-treatment soft-tissue profiles of the experimental groups were comparable to the balanced profile of the control group patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the alveolar cleft volume (ACV) and to study its correlation with the nasomaxillary form in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) Design: Retrospective study. Setting: University Academic Hospital. Patients/Participants: 30 patients with UCLP and 30 non-cleft patients. Interventions: Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans. Results: The Maxillary sinus volume (MSV) and Nasal cavity volume (NCV) were significantly reduced on the affected side in patients with UCLP (P <.001) and also in the cleft group when compared to the noncleft group (P <.01). The septal deviation measured at anterior, mid and posterior nasal spine were increased in the UCLP group significantly when compared to the non-cleft group (P <.01) and maximum deviation was seen at the mid-level. The mean ACV was found to be 0.587 + 0.396 cm3.The nasomaxillary complex was affected in UCLP patients irrespective of cleft size and a statistically significant correlation of ACV was found with septal height only (r value = -0.508). Parameters like septal height, anterior and middle maxillary width were significantly reduced (P <.01) in the cleft group when compared to the non-cleft group. Conclusion: The patients with UCLP showed significant differences among various parameters within the nasomaxillary complex when compared to the control group. Within the cleft group, the MSV and NCV were significantly decreased on the cleft side and also a significant negative correlation of ACV was found with septal height only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human skull is designed to absorb the stress from the chewing forces and trauma to the head region. Teeth transfers the chewing forces to the maxilla and mandible and then to the skull bones. In this study, a skull with a maxillary defect due to surgical treatment of mucormycosis is evaluated for stress distribution from occlusal loading. Finite element model is constructed from a CBCT of an adult male patient with maxillectomy defect. Bilateral occlusal loading was done in the remaining posterior teeth in the asymmetrically present maxillary arch. Stress distribution is visualised and quantified both in frontal and lateral skull views. Results showed more stress on the left side than the right side and varied stress trajectories. Thus, we conclude that reconstruction of the maxillary defect is vital to gain proper morphology and symmetric stress distribution to maintain a functionally healthier craniofacial skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic started by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from China hit different parts of the world and caused till now the first, second and third waves at different time periods from March 2020 to December 2021. Virus variants emerged to cause these waves with altered behaviour and severity of the disease and difficulty in the management of the pandemic. An unexpected upsurge happened during these waves due to social reasons and policies. In this article, we discuss the variations in the waves from a few geographic locations which will give us a better understanding of regional effects and precautions needed for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Torque in orthodontics is an important factor in refining teeth position. Rectangular archwire induced torque forces transferred through the bracket angulates the teeth root/crown to a stable position. The objective of this study was to experimentally measure the generated torque in commonly used stainless steel (SS), Heat activated NiTi (HANT), super elastic nickel titanium (SENT) and beta-titanium (Beta-Ti) archwires for an applied angle of archwire twist. A specially designed fixture was fabricated and mounted in the spine tester to measure the archwire torque upto 30° angle of twist in increments of 5°. For 30° angle of twist, the archwire torque were 37 Nmm, 31.5 Nmm, 28 Nmm, and 20 Nmm in SS, Beta-Ti, HANT and SENT respectively. The SS archwires generated more torque compared with Beta-Ti, HANT and SENT archwires. Clinically required torque were reached within 25° angle of twist in SS and HANT archwires whereas it was reached at 20° and 30° angle of twist in Beta-Ti and SENT archwires respectively. Our experimental study revealed the torque generated from the commonly used archwires which would help clinicians during fixed appliance therapy in torque prediction and archwire selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthodontic molar bands are persistent for a longer period of time in the posterior part of the mouth and thus might be prone for microbial adhesion and colonization. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microbial adhesion on Orthodontic stainless steel molar band material under in-vitro conditions. Microbial (Candida albicans) adhesion and growth on molar band material was assessed based on optical density (OD), biomass, metabolic activity and cell viability. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was carried out to visualize the candida adhesion. Growth OD measurements made at 600 nm upon removing the cells from the band material an OD of 0.18 compared to nil in the medium alone. Similarly, higher metabolic activity was demonstrated by the cells retrieved from band material. With regard to biomass measured, the total fresh biomass was measured as 0.90 mg/ml and the dry biomass was measured as 0.14 mg/ml. Scanning electron microscopic analysis of band materials revealed, actively dividing candidal cells. Thus, its concluded that Candidal cells adhere and colonise liberally on the orthodontic band materials. Hence, clinicians should be aware of this and instruct patients accordingly for oral hygiene maintainence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric biomaterials are emerging rapidly for tissue grafting and tissue engineering applications. The complexities of biomaterial synthesis, characterization and conducting the in-vitro and in-vivo studies are time consuming and expensive. New approaches in biomaterials research are beneficial to achieve faster solutions. In Polymeric biomaterials, techniques like the combinatorial and computational approaches where parallel synthesis of polymers, rapid screening assays for bioresponses to the polymers and semiempirical modeling techniques through machine learning are performed. In this article we review such alternate approaches available which could accelerate polymeric biomaterial research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frictional forces are critical for the teeth movement during sliding mechanics in fixed appliance therapy. The ligating material plays a vital role in altering the frictional forces within the bracket-archwire combination. Titanium Molybdenum alloy (TMA) archwires are commonly used during canine/anterior teeth retraction. So, this study evaluated TMA archwires ligated in Stainless steel (SS) brackets with elastomeric modules and SS ligatures under wet and dry conditions. Results showed least friction was in TMA-SS ligature (wet condition), ascending through TMASS (dry), TMA-Elastic (wet) and TMA-Elastic (dry). Thus, we conclude that TMA archwires with SS ligatures are more beneficial for clinicians for retraction during sliding mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In orthodontics, brackets, archwire and ligatures are used to treat the malocclusion of teeth. Archwires are the force applying component in the fixed appliances by engagement inside the bracket slot. Friction in the archwire-bracket is an important parameter affecting the magnitude of force transfer on teeth. The objective of this study was to experimentally measure the frictional forces in Stainless Steel (SS) bracket with SS, Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) superelastic, Heat activated NiTi (HANT) and Beta-Titanium (Beta-Ti) archwires. A specially designed fixture was fabricated to engage the orthodontic bracket-archwire simulating the tipping movement. For experimentation, pin on disc tribometer was used to measure the frictional forces generated by the archwires within the SS bracket. The results showed that there is increasing order of the frictional forces from the SS, NiTi superelastic, Beta-Ti to HANT archwires. Both SS bracket - archwire combinations are the best to reduce the frictional forces during up-righting and tipping during space closure. The results of this study would help clinicians to predict the frictional force of commonly used metallic archwire materials in orthodontic brackets during tipping in the fixed appliance therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]