Exposing sound structure of a subgingivally fractured tooth using orthodontic extrusion is considered to be a conservative way to re-establish biologic width without sacrificing esthetics or jeopardizing periodontal support of neighboring teeth. When a misaligned tooth is traumatically involved, a more comprehensive approach combining tooth extrusion and re-alignment may be necessary for a successful restorative outcome. This case report describes a successful esthetic management of a patient with complicated crown-root fracture on the maxillary right central incisor and pre-existing malocclusion in the maxillary anterior region. Forced eruption along with re-alignment of teeth by orthodontic movement seems to allow re-positioning of the fracture line to a favorable position and correction of crowding, providing a better esthetic result.

Maxillary lateral incisors usually exhibit a single root with a single canal. However, maxillary lateral incisor teeth with unusual morphology of root canal system are frequently reported. These cases of variable root canal anatomy can be treated well by nonsurgical endodontic methods. A detailed description of root canal morphology is fundamental for successful endodontic treatment. Treatment using an operating microscope, radiographs from different angles, and cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) can produce more predictable endodontic outcomes.

The objective of this article was to present two nonodontogenic conditions that may mimic odontogenic toothache: trigeminal neuralgia and burning mouth syndrome. Two cases are presented in which one is related to the upper left second premolar and the other is related to the upper left first molar. Both showed pain when chewing. These two cases highlight the complexities involved in diagnosing nonodontogenic toothache. This article demonstrates the importance of having a thorough knowledge of both odontogenic and nonodontogenic toothache, as well as the need for careful evaluation of the nature of the pain and history, clinical and radiographic examinations.

Closure of interdental spaces using proximal build-ups with resin composite is considered to be practical and conservative. However, a comprehensive approach combining two or more treatment modalities may be needed to improve esthetics. This case report describes the management of a patient with multiple diastemas, a peg-shaped lateral incisor and midline deviation in the maxillary anterior area. Direct resin bonding along with orthodontic movement of teeth allows space closure and midline correction, consequently, creating a better esthetic result.

Screw-in effect is one of the unintended phenomena that occurs during the root canal preparation with nickel-titanium rotary files. The aim of this study was to compare the screw-in effect among various nickel-titanium rotary file systems.

Six different nickel-titanium rotary instruments (ISO 20/.06 taper) were used: K3™ (SybronEndo, Glendora, CA, USA), M_two (VDW GmbH, München, Germany), NRT with safe-tip and with active tip (Mani Inc., Shioya-gun, Japan), ProFile® (Dentsply-Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) and ProTaper® (Dentsply-Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland). For ProTaper®, S2 was selected because it has size 20. Root canal instrumentations were done in sixty simulated single-curved resin root canals with a rotational speed of 300 rpm and single pecking motion. A special device was designed to measure the force of screw-in effect. A dynamometer of the device recorded the screw-in force during simulated canal preparation and the recorded data was stored in a computer with designed software (LCV-USE-VS, Lorenz Messtechnik GmbH, Alfdorf, Germany). The data were subjected to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple range test for post-hoc test. P value of less than 0.05 was regarded significant.

ProTaper® produced significantly more screw-in effects than any other instruments in the study (p < 0.001). K3™ produced significantly more screw-in effects than M_two, and ProFile® (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference among M_two, NRT, and ProFile® (p > 0.05), and between NRT with active tip and NRT with safe one neither (p > 0.05).

From the result of the present study, it was concluded, therefore, that there seems significant differences of screw-in effect among the tested nickel-titanium rotary instruments. The radial lands and rake angle of nickel-titanium rotary instrument might be the cause of the difference.

Recently, self-etching adhesive system has been introduced to simplify the clinical bonding procedures. It is less acidic compared to the phosphoric acid, thus there is doubt whether this system has enough bond strength to enamel. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of additional etching on the adhesion of resin composite to enamel.

Ninety extracted bovine permanent anterior teeth were used. The labial surfaces of the crown were ground with 600-grit abrasive paper under wet condition. The teeth were randomly divided into six groups of 15 teeth each. Clearfil SE Bond®, Adper™ Prompt L-Pop and Tyrian SPE™ were used as self-etching primers. Each self-etching primers were applied in both enamel specimens with and without additional etching. For additional etching groups, enamel surface was pretreated with 32% phosphoric acid (UNI-ETCH, Bisco, Inc., Schaumburg, IL, USA). Hybrid resin composite Clearfil AP-X, (Kuraray Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan) was packed into the mold and light-cured for 40 seconds. Twenty-four hours after storage, the specimens were tested in shear bond strength. The data for each group were subjected to independent t - test at p < 0.01 to make comparisons among the groups.

In Clearfil SE Bond®, shear bond strength of additional etching group was higher than no additional etching group (p < 0.01). In Adper™ Prompt L-Pop and Tyrian SPE, there were no significant difference between additional etching and non-etching groups (p > 0.01).

In conclusion, self-etching adhesive system with weak acid seems to have higher bond strength to enamel with additional etching, while self-etching adhesive system with strong acid seems not.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of the AH-26 root canal sealer on the shear bond strength of composite resin to dentin.

One hundred and forty four (144) extracted, sound human molars were used. After embedding in a cylindrical mold, the occlusal part of the anatomical crown was cut away and trimmed in order to create a flat dentin surface. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups; the AH-26 sealer was applied to the AH-26 group, and zinc-oxide eugenol (ZOE) paste was applied to the ZOE group. The dentin surface of the control group did not receive any sealer.

A mount jig was placed against the surface of the teeth and the One-step dentin bonding agent was applied after acid etching. Charisma composite resin was packed into the mold and light cured. After polymerization, the alignment tube and mold were removed and the specimens were placed in distilled water at 37℃ for twenty four hours. The shear bond strength was measured by an Instron testing machine. The data for each group were subjected to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's studentized rank test so as to make comparisons between the groups.

The AH-26 group and the control group showed significantly higher shear bond strength than the ZOE group (p < 0.05).

There were no significant differences between the AH-26 group and the control one (p > 0.05).

Under the conditions of this study, the AH-26 root canal sealer did not seem to affect the shear bond strength of the composite resin to dentin while the ZOE sealer did. Therefore, there may be no decrease in bond strength when the composite resin core is built up immediately after a canal filling with AH-26 as a root canal sealer.

To evaluate the effect of vital tooth bleaching agent and alcohol pretreatment on dentin bonding, flat dentin windows were produced on the buccal side of the crowns of fifty-five extracted, human premolars. A bleaching gel, Opalescence® with 10% of carbamide peroxide (Ultradent Product, USA) was daily applied on the teeth of three experimental groups for six hours for 10 consecutive days, while teeth of a control group were not bleached. After 6 hours of bleaching gel application, the specimens were washed and stored in saline until the next day application. After application of One-step® dentin bonding agent (Bisco, USA), Z-250® resin (3M-ESPE, USA) was bonded to dentin with a mount jig. Shear bond strength was measured with an Instron machine (Type 4202, Instron Corp., USA) after 24 hours. The results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test at p < 0.05.

Immediate bonding group showed significantly lower bond strength than un-bleached control group (p < 0.05).

Ethanol-treated group showed significantly higher bond strength compared to immediate bonding group (p < 0.05). However, the bond strength of the ethanol treatment group was lower than that of the un-bleached control group (p < 0.05).

There were no significant difference in shear bond strength between the 2-week delayed bonding group and the ethanol-treated group (p > 0.05) and between delayed bonding group and un-bleached control group (p > 0.05).

In the condition of the present study, it seems that alcohol pretreatment after bleaching procedure can reduce the adverse effect of vital bleaching agent on dentin bonding.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the function of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in regulatory mechanism of pulpal microcirculation with the aim of elucidating neurogenic inflammation.

Experiments were performed on twelve cats under general anesthesia. CGRP was administered through the femoral vein to see the systemic influence and through the external carotid artery to see the local effect. Sympathetic nerve to the dental pulp was stimulated electrically and pulpal blood flow (PBF) was measured with a laser Doppler flowmeter on the canine teeth to the drug administration. The paired variables of control and experimental data were compared by paired t-test and differences with p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Systemic administration of CGRP (0.3 μg/kg) exerted decreases in systemic blood pressure and caused changes in PBF with an initial increase followed by decrease and a more marked second increase and decrease.

Close intra-arterial (i.a.) injection of CGRP (0.03 μ/kg) resulted in slight PBF increase. The effect of CGRP resulted in no significant increase in PBF in the presence of CGRP_8-37.

The electrical stimulation of the sympathetic nerve alone resulted in PBF decreases. The i.a. administration of CGRP following the electrical stimulation of the sympathetic nerve compensated the decreased PBF. Therefore, CGRP effectively blocked the sympathetic nerve stimulation-induced PBF decrease.

Results of the present study have provided evidences that even though the local vasodilatory function of CGRP are weak, CGRP is effectively involved in blocking the vasoconstriction caused by sympathetic nerve stimulation in the feline dental pulp.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of NK1 receptor antagonists on the pulpal blood flow (PBF) when applied iontophoretically through the dentinal cavity of the teeth in order to understand whether iontophoretically applied NK1 receptor antagonists can control the pulpal inflammation.

Eleven cats were anesthetized with alpha-chloralose and urethane, and substance P (SP) was administered to the dental pulp through the catheterized lingual artery in doses that caused PBF change without the influence of systemic blood pressure. NK1 receptor antagonists were applied iontophoretically to the prepared dentinal cavity of ipsilateral canine teeth of the drug administration, and PBF was monitored. Data were analyzed statistically with paired t-test.

PBF increase after iontophoretic application of the NK1 receptor antagonists followed by the intra-arterial administration of SP was significantly less than PBF increase after iontophoretic application of the 0.9% saline followed by the intra-arterial administration of SP as a control (p < 0.05).

Iontophoretic application of the NK1 receptor antagonists (0.2~3.4 mM) following the intra-arterial administration of SP resulted in less increase of PBF than the iontophoretic application of the 0.9% saline following the intra-arterial administration of SP as a control (p < 0.05).

Therefore, the results of the present study provide evidences that the iontophoretic application is an effective method to deliver drugs to the dental pulp, and that iontophoretically applied NK1 receptor antagonists block SP-induced vasodilation effectively. The above results show the possibility that the iontophoretical application of NK1 receptor antagonists can control the neurogenic inflammation in the dental pulp.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of plugger penetration depth on the apical extrusion of root canal sealer during root canal obturation with Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique.

Root canals of forty extracted human teeth were divided into four groups and were prepared up to size 40 of 0.06 taper with ProFile. After drying, canals of three groups were filled with Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique with System B™ and different plugger penetration depths of 3, 5, and 7 mm from the apex. Canals of one group were filled with cold lateral compaction technique as a control. Canals were filled with non-standardized master gutta-percha cones and 0.02 mL of Sealapex. Apical extruded sealer was collected in a container and weighed. Data was analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. 3 and 5 mm penetration depth groups in Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique showed significantly more extrusion of root canal sealer than 7 mm penetration depth group (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between 7 mm depth group in Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique and cold lateral compaction group (p < 0.05).

The result of this study demonstrates that deeper plugger penetration depth causes more extrusion of root canal sealer in root canal obturation by Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique. Therefore, special caution is needed when plugger penetration is deeper in the canal in Continuous Wave of Condensation Technique to minimize the amount of sealer extrusion beyond apex.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a small molecule (mol. wt. 30 Da) and oxidative free radical. It is uncharged and can therefore diffuse freely within and between cells across membrane. Such characteristics make it a biologically important messenger in physiologic processes such as neurotransmission and the control of vascular tone. NO is also highly toxic and is known to acts as a mediator of cytotoxicity during host defense.

NO is synthesized by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) through L-arginine/nitric oxide pathway which is a dioxygenation process. NO synthesis involves several participants, three co-substrates, five electrons, five co-factors and two prosthetic groups.

Under normal condition, low levels of NO are synthesized by type I and III NOS for a short period of time and mediates many physiologic processes. Under condition of oxidant stress, high levels of NO are synthesized by type II NOS and inhibits a variety of metabolic processes and can also cause direct damage to DNA. Such interaction result in cytostasis, energy depletion and ultimately cell death. NO has the potential to interact with a variety of intercellular targets producing diverse array of metabolic effects.

It is known that NO is involved in hemodynamic regulation, neurogenic inflammation, re-innervation, management of dentin hypersensitivity on teeth. Under basal condition of pulpal blood flow, NO provides constant vasodilator tone acting against sympathetic vasoconstriction. Substance P, a well known vasodilator, was reported to be mediated partly by NO, while calcitonin-gene related peptide has provided no evidence of its relation with NO.

This review describes the roles of NO in dental pulp in addition to the known general roles of it.