Dental Materials Blog: Year 1

It has been a year since I started writing on this blog. During this first year, nearly 6700 visits and 12000 pageviews have been made by more than 5300 unique visitors. The average number of visits per day has been increasing constantly and currently is 17.70. What I am particularly proud is that one fifth of all visitors have returned and visited the blog more than once. Another important figure is that visitors come from more than 120 countries in the world (Figure 1.). The importance of this information is not so much related to the blog itself, but shows that in almost every corner of the Earth people search for dental information and want to expand their knowledge.

Figure 1. Map overlay

The most frequently visited posts are related to MTA in endodontics and the list of free full texts, self-adhering composite Vertise Flow and nano-filled, resin-modified glass ionomer Ketac N100. Likewise, the most frequently used keywords are "dental materials", ""MTA dental material", ""MTA dental", "mineral trioxide aggregate",  "Vertise Flow"...

Comments were disabled for most of the year, because I haven't noticed there was a problem, but a visitor drew my attention to it. Comments are now fixed and those received so far are all very positive.

I would like to encourage fellow researchers and clinicians to contribute to the Dental Materials Blog with their own posts, it is free and the choice of topics is entirely up to the authors.

Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry gets its first impact factor

A Miletic et al. study among the top 5 cited papers

In the latest list of SCI Journal Impact Factors 2009 published by Thomson Reuters, Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry is listed with the impact factor of 0.797. The Journal thanks all authors, reviewers and readers and allows free access to the top cited articles. Easy online submissions through ScholarOne Manuscripts are encouraged as this speeds up the review process. Hopefully, the Journal will maintain a growing influence in the scientific literature and increase its impact factor in the future.


It was a pleasure to see that one of the papers I did with my colleagues at the University of Belgrade School of Dentistry was among the top 5 cited articles in the Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry.

Miletic V, Ivanovic V, Dzeletovic B, Lezaja M.
Temperature Changes in Silorane-, Ormocer-, and Dimethacrylate-Based Composites and Pulp Chamber Roof during Light-Curing.

I look forward to submitting the results of my current studies to the Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry.

Recent books on dental materials II

The previous "Recent books" list on this blog is updated with, according to some scholars, the best book in this field.

Now in its ninth edition, Materials Science for Dentistry by Professor Brian W. Darvell (2009, 688 pages) continues its reputation as the most authoritative available reference for students of dentistry. It is also a valuable resource for academics and practitioners in the field. 

For more information about the book and the author, please visit publisher's website. 

News from jobs.ac.uk

Research Fellow

University of Birmingham - School of Dentistry

Fixed Term for 12 months

The main purpose of the post will be to undertake a series of activities that have been identified which will contribute to the creation of a mechanistic understanding of how polymer adhesives interact with ceramic surface defects and confer reinforcement. Innovative steps will be made to optimise ceramic reinforcement ultimately leading to novel solutions to prevent the fracture of dental ceramic restorations in service.

The candidate should have a degree in Materials Science, Engineering or Chemical Engineering and hold a PhD or be near completion of a PhD.

Salary from £27,319 to £35,646 a year, with potential progression to £37,839 a year. Maximum starting salary £27,319 a year

Closing date: 10th September 2010

Tooth bleaching techniques - clinical steps

Take a look at the clinical steps of tooth bleaching presented by my dear colleague and friend, Tatjana Savic Stankovic BDS, MSc from University of Belgrade School of Dentistry. For more information, contact Dr Savic Stankovic by email tanjeze@gmail.com

If you can't see this presentation, you should download Adobe Flash Player. It's free. Click here.

88th IADR General Session (Barcelona, 2010)

Effect of Preparation and Storage on Adhesive Monomer Conversion

V. MILETIC,  University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia,  
A. SANTINI, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Objectives: To study the effect of sample preparation and storage conditions on the degree of conversion (DC) of two adhesive systems using micro-Raman spectroscopy.  
Methods: Sixty samples each of an etch-and-rinse (Excite) and a self-etch (Clearfil 3S) adhesive were prepared on glass slides and allocated to groups G1-G6 (n=10). Thirty samples of each adhesive were prepared on dentine discs according to manufacturer's instructions and allocated to groups D1-D6 (n=5). In groups G1 and D1, each sample was covered with a Mylar strip and cured for 10 s with a bluephase LED unit. In groups G2 and D2, samples were cured without the Mylar strip. Micro-Raman spectra were taken 5 min post-curing. Groups G3-G6 and D3-D6 were covered with Mylar strips, cured according to the same protocol and stored for 24 h: G3 and D3 at 22±2ºC and 45±3% humidity; G4 and D4 at 37±1ºC and 90±2% humidity; G5 and D5 in distilled water at 37±1ºC; G6 and D6 in buffered incubation medium at 37±1ºC. Micro-Raman spectra were taken 5 min post-curing and after storage. Data were analyzed using t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA and the level of significance was α=0.05.
Results: Higher DC values were found on dentine than glass for both adhesives (p<0.05). Higher DC values were found for both adhesives when cured on dentine with than without Mylar strips (p<0.05). Higher DC values were found for Excite cured on glass with than without Mylar strips (p<0.05), but there was no difference for Clearfil 3S (p>0.05). Both adhesives cured on dentine gave higher DC after 24 h storage irrespective of the medium (p<0.05). Excite G3 group and Clearfil 3S G3 and G4 groups showed higher DC values after storage (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Sample preparation methods and storage conditions significantly affected the DC of Excite and Clearfil 3S.

IADR 2010

If you can't see this presentation, you should download Adobe Flash Player. It's free. Click here.

Current status of visible light activation units and the curing of light-activated resin-based composite materials - review by professor Ario Santini in Dental Update

Abstract
Light activation units are standard items of equipment in dental practice. It is essential to understand the many factors which affect the polymerization of light-activated resin composite materials and the choice of a light curing unit. In this respect, the development of high-intensity halogen and light-emitting diode (LED) light curing units (LCUs), many with multiple curing modes, has revolutionized light curing techniques. This article reviews visible light activation unit design and development. Factors influencing the effective use of LCUs and polymerization of resin-based composite materials are discussed, as are the steps which should be taken to maintain the efficiency of units in clinical use.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Many LCUs produce lower output intensities than stated by the manufacturer. Newer high power LEDs may present as much of a heat problem as high power quartz tungsten halogen lamps (QTHs). The manufacturer's data should be followed to ensure that the emission spectra of the unit are compatible with the photo-initiator in the resin-based composite material.

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Professor Ario Santini is the Director for Biomaterials Research at the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute, Chair Research at Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK), Professor at Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Sassari (Italy), Visiting Professor at the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and Fellow of the Academy of Dental Materials. Professor Santini's research interests are dental material sciences, dental resin-based composites and adhesives, Raman spectroscopy, high performance liquid chromatography, pulp biology and research methodology. He has published numerous articles in international, peer-reviewed journals indexed in Thomson's Science Citation Index. Browse for more articles by professor Santini at http://www.santinimiletic.com/

Dental Update is the leading dental journal of continuing professional development (CPD) in the United Kingdom. By reading the appropriate peer reviewed articles and then answering the questions in each issue of the journal, one can earn up to 40 hours of verifiable CPD per year.