Journal of Dental Medicine

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Background and Aim: Geographic tongue (GT) is a relatively common lesion which is usually asymptomatic and found during routine examinations. Lesions may be single or multiple and frequently are confined to the dorsal surface and lateral borders of the tongue. Although the cause is unknown, zinc deficiency has been suggested as a possible etiologic factor. The purpose of the present study was to determine the therapeutic effect of zinc sulfate in patients with geographic tongue.

Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized double blind clinical trial performed on 40 cases. 20 patients in experimental group were given zinc sulfate and 20 patients in control group took placebo. Slides were taken at the first day and healing was recorded after 10 days. Data were analyzed using chi-square test with P<0.05 as the limit of significance.

Results: In 16 cases of the experimental group and in 3 cases of the control group signs of healing were observed.

Conclusion: Regarding the role of zinc in epithelial tissues health and development of filliform papillas and in spite of the positive effect of zinc sulfate in treatment of geographic tongue, further investigations concerning its effects on other mucosal conditions are recommended.

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Taurodontism is a rare dental anomaly in which the involved tooth has enlarged and elongated body and pulp chamber with apical displacement of the pulpal floor. Endodontic treatment of these teeth is challenging because it requires identifying the number of root canals. A case of bilateral involvement of maxillary first molar teeth is presented. Endodontic treatment of the right maxillary first molar with taurodontism was indicated due to irreversible pulpitis. In this article, we described the procedure of root canal therapy for this case.

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Background and Aim: Contaminated dental handpieces have the potential to transfer infection to patients. New generation of autoclavable turbines have to some extent overcome the problem however, in clinic sometimes it is necessary to use chemical to disinfect handpieces. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial effect of some routinely used disinfectant solutions on dental contaminated handpieces.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 35 turbines were sterilized. The turbines' heads were inserted into microbial suspension containing staphylococcus, pseudomonas and candida and then exposed to the disinfectant solutions. Inoculations into culture medium were made at different intervals. All medium was incubated for 24 hours at 37^oC followed by spectrophotometer inspection for detection of microbial growth. Serial dilutions of disinfectant agents were used to determine the highest dilution in which there was no microbial growth. Kruskal wallis test was used for statistical analysis and p<0.05 was considered as the level significance.

Results: Ethanol had antimicrobial effect on all of the tested microorganisms at dilution of 1:4. Betadine at dilution of 1:64 caused inhibition of all of the microbes except pseudomonas. Micro 10 had antimicrobial effect up to dilution of 1:256 but could not inhibit microbial growth at higher dilution. Sodium hypochlorite inhibited growth of the three microoganisms up to dilution of 1:1024.

Conclusion: Based of on the results of this study sodium hypochlorite was found to be the most effective antimicrobial agent among those used in this study, inhibiting microbial growth at the highest dilution.