Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download

DTUS0413

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | February 2012XX XXXXX Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | April 2013A2 NEWS Publisher & Chairman Torsten Oemus t.oemus@dental-tribune.com Chief OPerating OffiCer Eric Seid e.seid@dental-tribune.com grOuP editOr Robin Goodman r.goodman@dental-tribune.com editOr in Chief dental tribune Dr. David L. Hoexter feedback@dental-tribune.com managing editOr u.s. and Canada editiOns Robert Selleck r.selleck@dental-tribune.com managing editOr Fred Michmershuizen f.michmershuizen@dental-tribune.com managing editOr Sierra Rendon s.rendon@dental-tribune.com managing editOr shOw dailies Kristine Colker k.colker@dental-tribune.com PrOduCt/aCCOunt manager Mara Zimmerman m.zimmerman@dental-tribune.com PrOduCt/aCCOunt manager Charles Serra c.serra@dental-tribune.com marketing direCtOr Anna Kataoka-Wlodarczyk a.wlodarczyk@dental-tribune.com eduCatiOn direCtOr Christiane Ferret c.ferret@dtstudyclub.com aCCOunting COOrdinatOr Nirmala Singh n.singh@dental-tribune.com Tribune America, LLC 116 West 23rd St., Ste. #500 New York, N.Y. 10011 (212) 244-7181 Published by Tribune America © 2013 Tribune America, LLC All rights reserved. Dental Tribune strives to maintain the utmost accu- racy in its news and clinical reports. If you find a fac- tual error or content that requires clarification, please contact Managing Editor Robert Selleck at r.selleck@ dental-tribune.com. Dental Tribune cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. The publisher also does not assume responsibility for product names or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Tribune America. editOrial bOard Dr. Joel Berg Dr. L. Stephen Buchanan Dr. Arnaldo Castellucci Dr. Gorden Christensen Dr. Rella Christensen Dr. William Dickerson Hugh Doherty Dr. James Doundoulakis Dr. David Garber Dr. Fay Goldstep Dr. Howard Glazer Dr. Harold Heymann Dr. Karl Leinfelder Dr. Roger Levin Dr. Carl E. Misch Dr. Dan Nathanson Dr. Chester Redhead Dr. Irwin Smigel Dr. Jon Suzuki Dr. Dennis Tartakow Dr. Dan Ward Tell us what you think! Do you have general comments or criti- cism you would like to share? Is there a particular topic you would like to see articles about in Dental Tribune? Let us know by e-mailing feedback@dental- tribune.com. We look forward to hear- ing from you! If you would like to make any change to your subscription (name, address or to opt out) please send us an e-mail at database@dental-tribune.com and be sure to include which publica- tion you are referring to. Also, please note that subscription changes can take up to six weeks to process. DENTAL TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Newspaper · US EditionDental clues assist in effort to identify USS Monitor remains The goal is creation of a viable root that would be integrated into the jaw as if it was the recipient’s natural tooth. There’s no need for the crown of the tooth to match the bite, because technology ex- ists to create a man-made alternative that integrates appropriately into the bite and appearance — and functions comparably to a natural crown. The King’s College London Dental Insti- tute reports that previous efforts to pro- duce bioengineered teeth (bioteeth) have focused primarily on the generation of immature teeth (teeth primordia) that mimic those in the embryo. Such teeth could be transplanted as small cell ”pel- lets” into the adult jaw to develop into functional teeth. It has been demonstrat- ed that embryonic teeth primordia can develop normally in the adult mouth, so if suitable cells can be identified and combined in such a way to produce an immature tooth, there is a realistic pros- pect that bioteeth can become a clinical reality. Subsequent studies have largely fo- cused on the use of embryonic cells; and although it is clear that embryonic tooth primordia cells can readily form imma- ture teeth following dissociation into single cell populations and subsequent recombination, such cell sources are con- sidered impractical to use in a general therapy. Sharpe, an expert in craniofacial de- velopment and stem cell biology, said, “What is required is the identification of adult sources of human epithelial and mesenchymal cells that can be obtained in sufficient numbers to make biotooth formation a viable alternative to dental implants. … Epithelial cells derived from adult human gum tissue are capable of responding to tooth-inducing signals from embryonic tooth mesenchyme in an appropriate way to contribute to tooth crown and root formation and give rise to relevant differentiated cell types, following in vitro culture. These easily accessible epithelial cells are thus consid- ered a realistic source for consideration in human biotooth formation. The next major challenge is to identify a way to culture adult human mesenchymal cells to be tooth-inducing, as at the moment we can only make embryonic mesenchy- mal cells do this.” Sharpe’s findings were published in the Journal of Dental Research. The team’s efforts were funded by the National In- stitute for Health Research (NIHR) Bio- medical Research Centre at Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, United Kingdom. The research report became available online in early March at jdr.sagepub.com. Categorized under “Research Reports – Biological,” the article is titled, “Adult Hu- man Gingival Epithelial Cells as a Source for Whole-tooth Bioengineering.” (Source: Dental Institute at King’s College London) “ BIOTEETH, page A1 T he remains of two sailors discov- ered during the 2002 recovery of the gun turret of the Civil War-era ironclad ship USS Moni- tor were interred at Arlington National Cemetery March 8. At the time of the in- terment ceremony the sailors remained unidentified, but thanks in part to den- tal clues, researchers are closer to pos- sibly identifying the two men by name, and perhaps ultimately even identifying them in photographs from the era. The remains of the two sailors are the only remains to be discovered of 16 sail- ors lost when the Monitor sank during a storm on Dec. 31, 1862, off Cape Hatteras, N.C. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), Joint Base Pearl Har- bor-Hickam, conducted forensic analysis on the remains in an effort to identify the two sailors who lost their lives more than 150 years. JPAC staff members who took part in the identification process included a den- tist who analyzed the teeth from the re- mains, with the intent to cross reference them with any dental records that they might be able to find. To date, no such re- cords have emerged, but the sailors’ teeth have revealed other clues that brought JPAC staff members closer to their goal of identifying the sailors by name. Forensic anthropologist Robert Mann, director of the Forensic Science Academy for JPAC, was assigned to do the skeletal analysis. ”The Monitor sailors were re- ally very unusual for us; water recoveries first of all are not that common for us,” said Mann. ”To recover remains from the bottom of the ocean that sat there for 150 years is really phenomenal. ”There are a lot of challenges when you are trying to identify someone, especial- ly when you're just dealing with skeletal remains. If you think about how you rec- ognize somebody, and how we identify people, they identify them by visual ex- aminations,” said Mann. ”Look at the face or finger prints, well we don't have finger prints after 150 years. We don't have fac- es, we have bones and teeth.” One of the challenges faced was the amount of available records from the Civil War-era and when the Monitor sank in 1862. ”We're talking 150 years and from the Civil War. The records are not that good and we don't have the dental x-rays. We don't have DNA samples from everybody missing and family members missing, we don't have all 16 individuals who are missing, this really is a difficult job,” ex- plained Mann. Due to the conditions and elements the remains were exposed to during the last 150 years, Mann and other JPAC staff members were faced with more chal- lenges in their attempts to identify the two sailors. The first major step in identifying the remains was a desalination process, which removed the salt from the bones. The remains were also covered in rust, coal and sediments from the ocean, all of which have to be removed before the identification process can begin. This process alone lasted several months. Once the bones were cleaned, Mann was able to examine the remains and establish biological profiles of the two sailors. ”From the bones and teeth, we exam- ine them visually. I can tell the individ- uals age, their race, their sex, how tall they were, any kind of injuries they may have had during their life time, their oral health and any kind of distinguish- ing features they may have,” said Mann. ”Those are the things that can help us identify them.” Medical-grade models show exact replicas of the remains of the two sailors recovered from the Civil War-era ironclad USS Monitor and archived at Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. The unknown sailors and 14 shipmates were lost when the Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., on Dec. 31, 1862. Dental analysis is being used to attempt to identify the sailors. U.S. Navy photo/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jon Dasbach ” See MONITOR, page A3