The current systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out to compare the diagnostic accuracy of pulp vitality and pulp sensibility tests in assessing pulpal health. PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Open Grey databases were searched and after assessing eligibility criteria the data were extracted. True-positive, false-positive, true-negative, false-negative, sensitivity and specificity values were extracted or calculated if not presented. Quality of studies was evaluated based on the QUADAS 2 tool. Meta-analysis was performed in MetaDTA (v2.0; Shinyapps, RStudio PBC, Boston, MA, USA) and Review Manager 5.3 (RevMan web; The Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK). Ten articles were included for qualitative synthesis and five for meta-analysis. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio for pulse oximeter (PO), electric pulp tester (EPT), cold test (CT) and heat test (HT) was 628.5, 10.75, 17.24 and 3.47, respectively. Pairwise comparison demonstrated a higher pooled mean sensitivity and specificity with PO compared with EPT. Comparison between PO and CT and between PO and HT also demonstrated a higher pooled mean sensitivity and specificity for PO. Summary points on receiver operating characteristic curves confirmed the ability of PO to correctly screen negatives in presenting patients as compared to EPT, CT and HT but no study was rated as good on quality assessment. PO can be considered as the most accurate diagnostic method as compared to EPT, CT and HT. This review provides information about the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of using pulp vitality and sensibility tests for assessing pulp status.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a wide range of clinical conditions, from mild infections to life-threatening nosocomial biofilm-associated diseases, which are particularly severe in susceptible individuals. The aim of this in vitro study was to assess the effects of an Albanian propolis on several virulence-related factors of P. aeruginosa, such as growth ability, biofilm formation, extracellular DNA (eDNA) release and phenazine production. To this end, propolis was processed using three different solvents and the extracted polyphenolic compounds were identified by means of high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) analysis. As assessed by a bioluminescence-based assay, among the three propolis extracts, the ethanol (EtOH) extract was the most effective in inhibiting both microbial growth and biofilm formation, followed by propylene glycol (PG) and polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) propolis extracts. Furthermore, Pseudomonas exposure to propolis EtOH extract caused a decrease in eDNA release and phenazine production. Finally, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) and quercetin decreased upon propolis EtOH extract exposure to bacteria. Overall, our data add new insights on the anti-microbial properties of a natural compound, such as propolis against P. aeruginosa. The potential implications of these findings will be discussed.

Recently, interest has grown by focusing on the evaluation of a molecule already produced in the human body such as hyaluronic acid (HA), as an application to the surface of the titanium implant. Its osteo-conductive characteristics and positive interaction with the progenitor cells responsible for bone formation, consequently, make it responsible for secondary stability. The aim of this work was to analyze the various surface treatments in titanium implants, demonstrating that the topography and surface chemistry of biomaterials can correlate with the host response; also focusing on the addition of HA to the implant surface and assessing the biological implications during early stages of recovery. Used as a coating, HA acts on the migration, adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of cell precursors on titanium implants by improving the connection between implant and bone. Furthermore, the improvement of the bioactivity of the implant surfaces through HA could therefore facilitate the positioning of the dental prosthesis precisely in the early loading phase, thus satisfying the patients’ requests. It is important to note that all the findings should be supported by further experimental studies in animals as well as humans to evaluate and confirm the use of HA in any field of dentistry.

Endodontic biofilm is a microbial community, enclosed in a polymeric matrix of polysaccharide origin where are found pathogens, like bacteria and opportunistic fungi responsible for various endodontic pathologies. As clinical importance is the fact, that biofilm is extremely resistant to common intracanal irrigants, antimicrobial drugs and host immune responses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro efficacy of a Cu/CaOH2-based endodontic paste, against bacteria and fungi, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. We found that such compound significantly reduced microbial replication time and cell growth. Moreover, biofilm formation and persistence were also affected; treated biofilms showed both a reduced number of cells and levels of released pyoverdine. This study provides the first evidence on effectiveness of this endodontic compound against microbial biofilms. Given its wide range of action, its use in prevention and treatment of the main oral biofilm-associated infections will be discussed.

This systematic review aimed to investigate the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid (HA) on the clinical treatment outcomes of patients with gingival recession. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar for studies up to 15 August 2022. Two reviewers separately selected the papers for eligibility after conducting a thorough search. The study includes randomized controlled clinical trials in which participants were given HA in addition to periodontal treatment surgical procedures. The changes following the treatment protocol were evaluated for complete and mean root coverage as a primary outcome and gingival recession gain as the secondary outcome. Three articles met the eligibility criteria out of 557 titles. In periodontal surgery, HA exhibited better results in complete root coverage and mean root coverage when compared to the control group. Gingival recession reduction, clinical attachment level, and keratinized tissue gain were significantly increased compared to the control groups. However, the comparison presented in the following study might show heterogeneity among the studies and risk of bias in general. Given the scope of this analysis, results suggest that adjunctive treatment with HA gel for root coverage could be clinically beneficial.

White spots (WS) are one of the most undesirable side effects in patients undergoing orthodontic therapy and are usually located around bracket bases and even detected under the molar bands. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to evaluate the WS lesion during orthodontic therapy and the correlation between WS and oral hygiene habits. Patients requiring orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance were screened for the inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 74 subjects were finally enrolled. Each patient received three examinations: at T0, the day of the application of the fixed appliance; at T1, three months later; and at T2, six months after treatment start. After calculating descriptive statistics, differences between groups were evaluated with an independent sample t-test. The first type error was set as p ≤ 0.01. The observed prevalence of WS lesions was 59.5% on T1 and 60.8% on T2. The most affected teeth result to be upper molars, lower left first molar, upper right central incisor and upper left lateral incisor, upper right canine, upper left first premolar, and lower right first molar. A higher frequency of daily tooth brushing was accompanied by a lower prevalence of WS. No significant effect of sex was observed.