The Influence of Surface Conditioning of Ceramic Restorations before Metal Bracket Bonding

The aim of this study was to compare the shear bond strength and Adhesive Remnant Index of four different veneering ceramic materials to metal brackets. Additionally, it should be examined whether it is possible to overcome the etching method using hydrofluoric acid which is noxious. Instead of this treatment, air particle abrasion with 25 μm aluminium trioxide, silane coupling application and etching with 37.0 per cent orthophosphoric acid as pre-treatment procedures of the veneering ceramics before bonding was investigated. Two surface conditioning methods of four ceramic materials before bonding brackets were examined: in group 1 an air particle abrasion with 25 μm aluminium trioxide (4 seconds at a pressure of 2.5 bars) and subsequently a silane coupling agent (Espe Sil, 3M Unitek, Monrovia, USA) was applicated on one side of each ceramic specimen (10 per group). In group 2 one side of each sample (10 per group) was etched with 37.0 per cent orthophosphoric acid for two minutes and was followed by a silane application (Espe Sil, 3M Unitek, Monrovia, USA). After this procedure the self-ligating metal brackets SmartClip (3M Unitek, Monrovia, USA) brackets were bonded to the ceramic blocks and a thermocycling process started (5°C - 55°C, 6000 cycles). Then, shear bond strength and Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) were measured. To determine statistical differences Oneway-ANOVA and Tukey Post-hoc test were performed. The level of significance was set at α = 0.05. On the basis of the results of the current study, it could be concluded that sandblasting with 25 μm aluminium trioxide and the use of orthophosphoric acid (37.0 per cent) seem to prepare the surface of the ceramic restoration sufficiently before bracket bonding. The found level of shear bond strength values seem be sufficient for bracket bonding. Hydrofluoric acid seems not to be justifiable anymore for preparing the surface of dental ceramic restorations before bracket bonding.

Controversy of silver amalgam as a restorative material

Silver amalgam contains mercury leading to concerns about the potential toxic effects of amalgam on the health of dental patients. The debate over the toxicity of silver amalgam restorations has divided the dental profession for over a century. The use of amalgam restorations for anterior teeth have been declining worldwide due to patient's safety concerns and preference for tooth colored restorations. Nevertheless, amalgam has served the dental profession for decades and benefited hundreds of millions of patients because of its longevity as a dental restorative material. Amalgam is still the World's most widely used restorative material for posterior teeth.

Implementation of a multiple round quantum dense coding using nuclear magnetic resonance

A multiple round quantum dense coding scheme based on the quantum phase estimation algorithm is proposed and implemented in a three qubit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computer. Using an m + 1 qubit system, Bob can transmit one of 2m+1 messages to Alice, through manipulating only one qubit and exchanging it between Alice and Bob for m rounds. The information capacity is enhanced to m + 1 bits as compared to m bits in a classical scheme. The scheme has been demonstrated in NMR system, and the experimental results show a good agreement between theory and experiment.