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36 laser 3 2016 newsinternational Student develops Artificial dental plaque As part of a research project, a dentistry stu- dent from Germany has developed a new for- mula to synthesise dental plaque, which could help facilitate research on oral biofilm signifi- cantly in the future. As the first dental student ever to speak at the congress, she presented her findings at the 94th General Session and Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, which took place from 22 to 25 June in Seoul in South Korea. “Current- ly, researchers have to find study participants who are not allowed to brush their teeth for days,” explained Ann-Kathrin Flad, who is an eighth-semester dental student at Witten/ Herdecke University in Germany and has been involved in the project for three years already. “With the new formula for artifi- cial dental plaque, however, this can be avoided, as it adheres to teeth like natural dental biofilm. It can be coloured in order to measure how much is being removed using manual and electric toothbrushes, as well as other oral hygiene tools.” Alongside her studies, Flad works at the ORMED—Institute for Oral Medicine at the uni- versity, a research and development organisa- tion for scientific services with the focus on oral hygiene, robotic simulation of toothbrushing and medical plaque control. Flad’s trip to Seoul was funded by the Fördergemeinschaft Zahnmedizin, a non-profit association of dentists. Reduced carbohydrates may Alleviate periodontal inflammation Teeth reveal Vitamin D deficiency Aiming to test the hypothesis that diet helps re- duce inflammation lead author Dr Johan Wölber from the University of Freiburg and his colleagues designed a study to investigated the impact of an oral health-optimised diet on periodontal health in a group of patients with a history of gingivitis. Of the 15 participants, ten were asked to follow a list of restricted and recommended foods and meals, such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins C and D, antioxidants and fibre. Five participants continued with their typical eating patterns. Apart from not using interdental cleaners, participants were advised not to change their oral health rou- tines throughout the study period. After four weeks, participants in the low-carb group showed significantly reduced gingival and periodontal inflammation compared with the con- trol group. According to the researchers, reducing carbohydrates in particular led to a significant im- provement in the gingival index, bleeding on prob- ing and the periodontal inflamed surface area. Although the study had its limitations, the results support the assumption that modern Western eating habits, including consumption of refined carbohydrates and a high omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio, promote inflammatory processes. The study, titled “An oral health optimized diet can reduce gingival and periodontal inflammation in humans—A randomized controlled pilot study”, was published online on 26 July in the BMC Oral Health journal. By analysing life traces in the teeth of six individ- uals who died hundreds of years ago, Canadian researchers have now been able to accurate- ly backtrack episodes of vitamin D deficiency during these people’s lifetime. However, these episodes of abnormalities do not disappear in teeth, but are evident in the formation of characteristic interglobular dentin spaces. In the study, researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton examined a total of 12 teeth in indi- viduals with skeletal evidence of a vitamin D de- ficiency. The teeth came from four women buried in a French cemetery between 1225 and 1798 and two people buried in rural Quebec between 1771 and 1860, a child believed to be 3 years old and a 24-year-old man. Based on the defects in the dentin, the analysis showed that all of the subjects had a vitamin D deficiency or rickets, a common childhood disorder caused by the condition that results in weakening of the bone and is often char- acterized by bowed legs and deformed hips. The study, titled “The rachitic tooth: A histological ex- amination,” was published online ahead of print on 30 June in the Journal of Archaeological Science. © grebcha/Shutte r s t o c k . c o m © kaisorn/Shutterstock.com © bitt24/Shutterstock.com 32016