A novel lectin was purified from the dorsal spines of the stonefish, Synanceia verrucosa,using a combination of affinity chromatography techniques. A single band was detected on a native PAGE gel with a relative molecular mass of 45 kDa. The agglutination of rab­ bit erythrocytes by the 45 kDa lectin was inhibited most effectively by methyl α­D­ mannoside. The 45 kDa lectin stimulated mitogenesis in murine splenocytes. This is the first study to examine the dorsal lectin of S. verrucosa and one of very few studies on venom lectin from stonefish. These results suggest that the reef stonefish, S. verrucosa may be a novel resource for biologically active substances. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ; 50 : 55-­61)

The purpose of this study was to apply the prediction of soft tissue changes to diagnosis by Arnett analysis, which includes various soft tissue analysis measurements. We evalu­ ated the pre­ and post­treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs of adult female pa­ tients whose treatment required extraction of four premolars. We applied Arnett analysis to calculate the soft­ and hard­tissue changes and their correlation. The extent of mandi­ bular incisor retraction was almost the same as that of lower lip retraction. The upper lip experienced more variation in response to retraction than the lower lip. Our results indi­ cated that lower lip changes that occur as a result of mandibular incisor changes can be partially predicted. Also, we found few significant differences or correlations between hard tissue changes and changes in lip thickness, or in the vertical location of the inci­ sors and the lips. With regard to lip thickness, which is a specific item of Arnett analysis,it was found that the upper lip retracted while there was negligible change in its thick­ ness, and that the lower lip retracted while its thickness increased. Because we found that soft tissue changes included lip thickness, we concluded that Arnett analysis is use­ ful for diagnosis. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 63-­71)

In a questionnaire previously conducted at Osaka Dental University Hospital, it became apparent that many of the dental staff had experienced difficulties in communicating with foreign patients. There have been suggestions that some form of language support be implemented. A relatively low cost and convenient method would be to provide chairside language interpretation using Skype. We conducted a series of simulated patient inter­views to assess the feasibility of chairside Skype interpretation. Questionnaires were answered by both dentists and foreign volunteers who took part in simulated patient­dentist interviews, first without, then with the use of Skype for language interpretation. The re­sults indicated that the patients' initial fears and uncertainties were decreased considerably. Detailed information that could not be obtained without Skype was readily obtained by the dentist when it was used. Though there were minor problems, this method proved an effective way to augment communication between Japanese dentists and foreign pa­tients. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 73­-77)

We investigated the influence of atmospheric­pressure low­temperature plasma treatment on the surface properties of zirconia. After polishing zirconia sections up to #800 with a waterproof abrasive paper, ultrasonic cleaning was performed in acetone and distilled water. Surface treatment was conducted in three groups : non­treated (control), alumina sandblast­treated (Sb), and atmospheric­pressure low­temperature plasma­treated (Ps) groups. The surface properties were examined for surface roughness, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) properties, contact angle, and X­ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) properties. No changes in the surface roughness and SEM observations were noted for Ps. Wet­tability was enhanced by Sb and Ps with respect to the contact angle. Ps showed the lowest contact angle. XPS analysis revealed that Ps remarkably reduced the amount of carbon, allowing removal of contaminants. Atmospheric­pressure low­temperature plasma treatment enables the removal of carbon derived from organic contaminants and improves wettability without increasing the surface roughness of the sample. Therefore,it can be considered a new pre­adhesion treatment method in clinical dental practice. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 79­-84)

There has been a steady increase in demand for dentures as Japan becomes a geriodon­ tological society. The use of thermoplastic synthetic resins for dental prostheses has drawn wide attention, and is now part of the Japanese National Dental Examination. Be­ cause these non­metal clasp dentures are metal­free, they are safe for patients allergic to these materials. However, the reality is that, although non­metal clasp dentures have su­ perior esthetics and comfort, there is little information on their use and design. We sur­ veyed dentists working at Osaka Dental University to ascertain their attitudes toward non ­metal clasp dentures, and examined how their experience treating edentulism with this type of prosthesis affected their attitude toward this treatment. The survey participants were 53 dentists (31 males and 22 females) from the Depart­ ment of Removable Prosthodontics and Occlusion and the Department of Geriatric Den­ tistry of the Osaka Dental University. They were asked to compare characteristics such as esthetics, comfort, odor, modifications to the natural teeth (i.e., the amount of natural tooth structure that needed to be removed), stress on the gingivae (i.e., cleansability of the marginal gingivae), strength, difficulty of denture adjustments, tooth mobility, deterio­ ration of the material, and denture design. In addition, the patients were asked to com­ pare satisfaction with the non­metal clasp dentures compared with conventional remov­ able partial dentures, and were asked whether they would recommend this new treatment modality. Each of the dentists answers was then cross­examined against his or her clini­ cal experience with this new type of dental prosthesis. Of the 53 dentists, 19 had previously made non­metal clasp dentures for their patients (hereinafter referred to as “experienced dentists”) and 34 had not (“inexperienced den­ tists”). In both groups, about 60% of the dentists, regardless of whether they had clinical experience, rated non­metal clasp dentures highly for their esthetics, appropriateness for patients allergic to metal, and the satisfaction of their patients. Since non­metal clasp dentures are appropriate for patients allergic to metal and for those dissatisfied with metal clasps, it can be inferred that both the experienced and inexperienced dentists were in agreement. In contrast, regardless of their clinical experience, most dentists gave non­metal clasp dentures low ratings for their burden on the gingivae, their lack of strength, their difficulty of adjustment, the extent to which they caused tooth mobility,and the rapid degradation of the denture base material. Regardless of their clinical experience, the dentists differed on denture design and their evaluation on the stress on the natural teeth. This suggests that, while both groups of dentists were aware of the shortcomings of non­metal clasp dentures, even the experi­ enced practitioners did not have a clear rationale for design of the prostheses. One find­ing that supports this conclusion is that, in both groups, about 60 percent of the dentists were uncertain as to whether they should recommend non­metal clasp dentures to their patients. Regardless, most participants agreed that there would be increased demand for non­metal clasp dentures. Therefore, further efforts should be made to improve this treat­ ment. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 85­-92)

Tongue coating as an oral biofilm is responsible for 60% of all halitosis cases. It also in­ terferes with gustatory perception, and is associated with periodontal disease and pneu­ monia. As it is difficult to remove, the development of new cleaning methods is being promoted. We studied tablets containing actinidin, a cysteine protease, which has been reported to effectively remove this coating on the tongue. As tablets placed in the oral cavity are usually abraded by the tongue and palate to promote their dissolution, their ef­ fect in the elderly is likely to be reduced because of decreased motor function of the tongue. However, there is no literature discussing this effect in the elderly or comparing tablets with tongue brushes. To evaluate the efficacy of tablets containing actinidin on reducing the bacterial load on the tongue, we compared the effect of tablets, tongue brushes, and a combination of both on reduction of the bacterial load on the tongue. Tongue cleaning was performed for elderly individuals requiring assistance or care (the elderly group) and healthy young adults (the young group) using three methods : two tablets containing actinidin (the tablet method), brushing with a tongue brush (the brush­ ing method), and the combined use of both (the combined method). The bacterial load on the tongue dorsum was measured before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 1 and 2 hours after treatment. With the brushing method, neither the elderly nor young groups showed significant changes in the bacterial load until 2 hours after treatment. In contrast, a marked decrease in the bacterial load was observed in both groups immedi­ ately after treatment using the tablets, and immediately after and at 2 hours after treat­ ment using the combined method. The tablets were particularly effective for the young group, and decreases in the bacterial load were observed immediately and at 1 hour after treatment when they were administered alone or in combination with the tongue brush. Furthermore, in the young group, the bacterial load immediately after and at 1 hour after treatment varied between the tablet and brushing methods. In contrast, in the elderly group, although the bacterial load was significantly reduced with the tablet method, this decrease was not observed when treatment was combined with the tongue brush. In both groups, the decrease in the bacterial load was more marked even at 2 hours after treatment when the combined use was compared with the brushing method alone. These results demonstrated that tablets containing cysteine pro­ tease are more effective than tongue brushes for reduction of the bacterial load, and that the effect lasts longer when the two methods are combined. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ; 50 : 93-­101)

We conducted a clinicostatistical examination of odontogenic tumors based on the WHO histological classification of 2005 using 367 cases examined at the Second Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Osaka Dental University Hospital from January 1995 to December 2014. Of these cases, 3 (0.8%) were malignant and 364 (99.2%) were benign. The most frequent benign tumor was the keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT, 44.4%). The second most common tumor was ameloblastoma which included four subtypes (18.8%), followed by odontoma which included two subtypes (10.9%). These three lesions accounted for 75% of the benign tumors. The subjects were 187 males and 180 females. The age of the patients at diagnosis ranged from 4 to 84 years with a mean of 33 years,and peaked during the second decade (86 cases, 23.4%). Of all the benign cases, 278 (75.7%) of the odontogenic tumors were located in the mandible. The mandible to maxilla ratio was 3.23 : 1. Various surgical treatments were done. In general, there are two differ­ ent surgical approaches : conservative and radical. The former includes marsupializa­ tion, enucleation alone or enucleation with adjacent bony curettage and trimming. The latter includes marginal resection or segmental resection of the jaw. Among 163 cases of KCOT, there were 9 (5.5%) recurrences after the first surgery, and among the 69 cases of ameloblastoma, there were also 9 (13%) recurrences after treatment. In our previous study, ameloblastoma was the most common odontogenic tumor (52.8%), odontoma was the second most common (16.8%), and cemento­osseous fibroma was the third most common (10.3%). These three accounted for 80% of all the tumors. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 103­-109)

We evaluated the accuracy of linear measurements in dental CBCT­based images for various sites in the field of view (FOV). We used a phantom of 30 stacked commercially available CD­R disks. The phantom was scanned with two cone­beam computed tomogra­ phy (CBCT) units, a Kyocera Prevista Uni­3D MultiOS and a Morita 3D Accuitomo F 17,and linear measurements were obtained with a digital caliper. The error characteristics were different for each device. There were similar errors on the edges of the FOV at 90 kV. Measurement errors in the upper and lower regions of the FOV tended to be slightly larger than in the middle. It is important to understand that the accuracy of linear meas­ urements in CBCT images varies depending on their location in the FOV. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 ;50 : 111­-116)