Objective: To compare the stain resistance of three types of clear elastomeric modules exposed to several common dietary substances through the assessment of the perception of a group of dentists to discoloration using visual analog scale (VAS). Materials and Methods: Elastomeric modules from Unitek (AU), Ormco (OR), and dentaurum (DE) were immersed in the following food substances: Coffee, black tea, chocolate, energy drink, ketchup, and Coca-Cola for 72 h. VAS was used to reflect the module staining severity. Results: Significant difference was found among the three types of modules examined in this study. OR modules showed the least mean staining ratings by the examiners. There was no statistical difference in the staining properties between AU and DE modules. Coffee and tea showed higher staining potential as compared to all staining media. Furthermore, there was no difference in the staining characteristics of coffee and black tea. Conclusions: Coffee and tea are strong staining media that should be avoided by patients who opted to have esthetic appliances for their orthodontic treatment. Elastomeric modules manufactured by AU showed higher staining optical properties as compared to the other two companies, which could be related to the manufacturing processing of these modules.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of moments and the combination of forces and moments on the mechanical properties of a bracket type miniscrew, resembling engagement of a rectangular wire by three-dimensional (3D) finite element study. Materials and Methods: By solid work software (Dassaunlt systems solid works, concord, Mass), a 3D miniscrew model of 6, 8, 10 mm lengths was designed and inserted in the osseous block, consisted of the cortical, and cancellous bones. The stress distributions, maximum stresses, and deflections of the miniscrew were evaluated for all parts using ANSYS (Work Bench, 2014). Results: As the magnitudes of the load increased from 100 to 200, 400 and 800 grf-mm, the peak of stresses in the 6 mm long miniscrew were increased from 7.7 to 61.5 Mpa. The maximum values of Von Mises in the cancellous bone were tremendously lower in comparison to the cortical bone by one hundredth. As the length of the miniscrew in contact with the bone was increased, the amounts and patterns of stress distribution in the cortical bone and the miniscrew did not change significantly. Conclusions: As the moment magnitude increased, the pick stresses increased linearly. The existence of cancellous bone was not significantly responsible for the stress distribution. The pattern of stress distribution did not change by the length of the miniscrew.

Objectives: Facial Aesthetics, a major consideration in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, may not be judged correctly and completely by simply analyzing dental occlusion or osseous structures. Despite this importance, there is no index to guarantee availability of treatment or prioritize patients based on their soft tissue treatment needs. Individuals having well-aligned teeth but unaesthetic convex profiles do not get included for treatment as per current malocclusion indices. The aim of this investigation is to develop an aesthetic index based on facial profiles which could be used as an additional tool with malocclusion indices. Materials and Methods: A chart showing typical facial profile changes due to underlying malocclusions was generated by soft tissue manipulations of standardized profile photographs of a well-balanced male and female face. A panel of 62 orthodontists judged the profile photographs of 100 patients with different soft tissue patterns for assessing profile variations and treatment need. The index was later tested in a cross-section of school population. Statistical analysis was done using "irr" package of R environment version 2.15.1. Results: The index exhibited very good reliability in determining profile variations (Fleiss kappa 0.866, P < 0.001), excellent reproducibility (kappa 0.9078), high sensitivity, and specificity (95.7%). Testing in population yielded excellent agreement among orthodontists (kappa 0.9286). Conclusions: A new Facial Aesthetic index, based on patient's soft tissue profile requirements is proposed, which can complement existing indices to ensure treatment to those in need.

Objectives: To compare the levels of pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in patients undergoing orthodontic canine retraction with active tieback and nickel titanium (NiTi) coil spring. Materials and Methods: Fifteen patients of the age group 15-25 years with first premolar extraction undergoing canine retraction were selected. One month after placement of 0.019" × 0.025" stainless steel wire, canine retraction was started with active tieback (150 g force) on upper right quadrant and NiTi coil spring (150 g force) on upper left quadrant. GCF samples were collected 1 h before commencement of canine retraction and thereafter at intervals of 1 h, 1 day, 1 week, and 2 weeks after application of force. The collected GCF was eluted from the microcapillary pipette in 100 μl phosphate-buffered saline (pH 5-7.2). The samples were analyzed for PTX-3 levels by the ELISA technique. Results: The mean levels of PTX-3 at 1 h before canine retraction (baseline) was 1.30 ± 0.22 ng/ml and at 1 h 1.66 ± 0.33 ng/ml, 1 day 2.65 ± 0.09 ng/ml, 1 week 1.96 ± 0.15 ng/ml, and 2 weeks 1.37 ± 0.18 ng/ml in active tieback group. The mean levels of PTX-3 at 1 h before canine retraction was 1.32 ± 0.30 ng/ml, and at 1 h 1.71 ± 0.39 ng/ml, 1 day 2.78 ± 0.12 ng/ml, 1 week 2.52 ± 0.18 ng/ml, and 2 weeks 2.12 ± 0.17 ng/ml in NiTi coil spring group. A significant difference of P < 0.001 was found in PTX-3 levels in GCF during canine retraction between active tieback and NiTi coil spring at 1 day, 1 week, and 2 weeks. Conclusion: The results showed that PTX-3 levels increased from 1 h after application of orthodontic force and reached peak at 1 day, followed by a gradual decrease at 1 week and 2 weeks in both active tie back and NiTi coil spring groups.

Objective: To evaluate esthetics perception and satisfaction of the facial profile among Iranian male adolescents and adults. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, male subjects referred to Orthodontic Department of Mashhad Dental School were enrolled (n = 84) and were divided into two groups: Adolescents (n = 39), and adults (n = 45). They were also assigned to straight, convex, or concave profile groups based on the facial profile angle (G-Sn-Pog'). An ideal silhouette of the lower facial profile was designed in Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 software (Kansas, USA). Then, eight other silhouettes representing different relations of the maxilla and mandible were constructed. Patients were asked to use numbers 1-10 to rank the facial profiles in the order of the attractiveness, and choose a silhouette that best closely resembled their own profile. Moreover, using a questionnaire patients were asked to rank their satisfaction with their profile, and asked to assign a number (1-5) to each question as follows; one represented the least satisfaction, while five reflected the highest satisfaction. Results: Adult and adolescent subjects with straight (adults: 12.0 ± 1.9, adolescents: 12.8 ± 1.05) and concave (adults: 10.0 ± 2.14, adolescents: 10.0 ± 2.08) profile showed the highest and the least satisfaction with their own profile, respectively. Both adult and adolescent group selected "retrognathic maxilla, prognathic mandible" as the least attractive profile. Overall, "straight" and "bimaxillary dentoalveolar retrusion" were chosen as the most attractive silhouettes in adolescent and adults, respectively. In comparison to a professional opinion (clinician ranking), 42.9% of adolescents and 22% of adults were able to correctly diagnose their own profiles type. Conclusion: Most of the male adolescents and especially adults diagnosis of their own profile differed with a professional assessment.