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This study compared plaque accumulation on glazed and nonglazed metal ceramic porcelain surfaces with shaded and nonshaded Dicor cast ceramic surfaces. Plaque accumulation on natural teeth was also measured at 4, 12, 24, and 48 hours. Bacterial cultures were prepared from each sample to establish the aerobic and anaerobic charge. Plaque accumulation between 12 and 24 hours was measured on different materials. No significant differences were discovered between the plaque-retaining capacities of metal ceramic porcelain and Dicor ceramic surfaces. There was less plaque accumulation on glazed surfaces than on nonglazed surfaces.

The aim of the present study was to analyse under SEM the ultrastructural alterations in tubular content and peri- and intertubular dentin in teeth subject to active carious lesions. The samples used were teeth with grade 2 active carious lesions without signs of abrasion, wear, erosion and conservative reconstruction. The coronal fragments obtained by fracture were fixated, dehydrated and metallized before SEM analysis. The study was performed by analysing samples of amelo-dentinal junctions towards the pulpo-dentinal edge. By correlating histopathological lesions to their topographical distribution and to the physiopathological mechanisms involved, it was possible to subdivide dentin underlying a carious lesion into three main zones: demineralisation zone, sclerosis zone, subsclerotic dentin zone. The individualization of these sectors was based on the identification of basic lesions linked to changes in tubular lumen and peri and intertubular dentin. The demineralisation zone was in fact characterised by: dentinal infection and reversal of normal tissue morphology in the outermost layers; the fibrous appearance of intertubular dentin and disappearance of peritubular dentin; modifications in the tubular content secondary to demineralisation, such as sheaths, hollow rods and intratubular crystals. The sclerosis zone was characterised by: fully occluded tubules, tubules fully occluded by rods, tubules partially occluded by hollow rods and by thickening of peritubular dentin. The third zone was the result of tissue-forming activity on the pulpodentinal edge in response to carious lesions and was represented by regular and irregular tertiary dentin. From an analysis of all data collected it is possible to hypothesize that changes in the demineralisation zone are the results of a passive tissue response exclusively linked to physicochemical mechanisms; whereas those in the sclerosis zone are due to the realisation of a lithogenic environment of multifactorial genesis at a intratubular level. The site in which there is the greatest probability of observing a cellular response is the subsclerotic dentinal zone.

By means of a review of the most recent literature, the authors report on "state of the art" about etiology and pathogenesis of cleft palate. Epithelial-mesenchymal interactions regulating growth and orientation of palatal shelves, as well as teratogenic effects on such ultrastructural development control by endogenous and exogenous substances, are described.

Even if mechanical bonding to enamel utilizing the acid-etch technique has been very successful, adhesion to dentin is still a challenge to researchers and clinicians. Dentin is a vital tissue and differs in composition from enamel: acid-etching does not enhance the bond strength of composite resins to dentin and may elicit a severe pulpal response. For an effective bond to occur, a dentin bonding system has to be used. The first generation of methacrylate-based dentin adhesives was capable of chemical bonding to the inorganic phase of dentin. The chemical basis for this resin-dentin adhesive was the interaction between a phosphate group attached to the methacrylate and the calcium ions on the dentin surface. This system yielded rather low bond strengths which were clinically unsatisfying. The second generation of dentin adhesives became available to the profession recently. Each of these new bonding systems use similar chemical composition for the same purpose of bonding with physicochemical interaction to the hard tooth tissues. All these systems contain a mild acid dentin conditioner to remove the smear layer and an aqueous resin containing primer to improve monomer penetration into the hydrophilic dentin surface. The second generation dentin bonding systems are extremely sensitive to variations upon the completeness of instructions and how accurately these are followed by dental practitioners.

Many researches agree in maintaining that all the membraneous structure visible in the most external parts of the dental tubules must be considered not ad cytoplasmatic membranes of the odontoblastic processes but as an extracellular organic matrix which in certain conditions may appear detached from the internal wall of the tubule and simulated a superimposable aspect like that of an odontoblastic extension. The aim of this study was to examine at the SEM the state of this organic component in normal conditions and after demineralization with citric acid. Therefore the entire teeth of young people were fixed in formalin and dissected by fracturing. Some of the samples were demineralized with a citric acid solution. All the samples were dehydrated and metallized for the observation at SEM. Demineralization made the peritubular dentine disappear and expose inside every tubule a sheet-like structure which extended all along the tubules. The samples which were not demineralized did not demonstrate a similar structure because of their tight adhesion to the internal wall surface. This kind of formation which other researchers calls "lamina limitans" because of its high content of glycosaminoglycans might be a key factor in controlling the formation of peritubular dentine and tubular sclerosis and it will surely lead to further interesting research.

The intercellular substance of the pulp of fully erupted, healthy, human permanent premolar teeth was studied by light microscopy. Histological and histochemical methods were applied to sections from whole, decalcified teeth and isolated, undecalcified pulps, fixed with phosphate-buffered formalin and embedded in paraplast. Fibres were mainly collagen; they formed a meshwork progressively more dense from the crown to the root apex; in the crown the fibre meshwork was denser at the periphery than in the center of the pulp. Coarse bundles of collagen fibres were found in the apical part of the pulp of about one every third teeth. Glycoproteins, recognized thanks to their P.A.S. positivity, were abundant in the basal membranes of vessels and nerve fibres and between odontoblasts, but scarce in the remaining pulp tissue. Glycosaminoglycans, recognized thanks to their alcianophilia, were more abundant in the vessel wall and in the areas with coarse bundles of collagen fibres than elsewhere in the pulp; also, they were more abundant at the periphery than in the center of the pulp. As judged by staining with alcian blue at critical electrolyte concentration, glycosaminoglycans were mostly hyaluronate, with low amounts of condroitinsulphate and dermatansulphate; some heparansulphate or keratansulphate was present only in the regions with coarse bundles of collagen fibres. The morphological and histochemical differences found among different regions of each pulp and among different pulps as well provide a basis to recognize and interpret inter-regional and inter-individual variations in the pulp response to physiological and pathological modifications affecting the hard tissues of the teeth.