Maria Teresa de Andrade Goldner

Estudo comparativo entre as diferentes cores de ligaduras elásticas

AIM: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the different colors of molded elastomerics ligatures from Morelli trademark. METHODS: the ligatures were stretched over stainless dowels with a circumference approximating that of upper central incisor bracket. They were immersed in a synthetic saliva bath at 37oC and had force levels measured at initial (0h) and after 24 hours of immersion. The results were obtained from a computer connected to a traction machine and were submitted to statistical analysis (ANOVA e Tuckey) with p<0.05. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: the medium values were md=0.3792KgF for 0h and md=0.1286KgF for 24h and the percentage of force decay were 66.07% ± 2.31%. The results revealed statically differences between forces delivered in 0h and 24h. At 0h, there were differences statistically significance between some colors of ligatures before the action of the time and the immersion in artificial saliva bath, with higher values for the pearl (md=0.4024KgF) and minors values for the slight green (md=0.3511KgF). At 24h, it was also find differences statistically significances between some colors, but the distribution was different than the observed at 0h. The slight green, red, yellow and white colors had the minor percentage of force decay, in which slight green showed the best behavior (62.60%). However, the pearl, silver and gray had the highest percentage of force decay, with pearl showing the worst behavior (69.23%).

Craniofacial characteristics of patients with heart disease.

INTRODUCTION Children with congenital heart disease commonly experience delayed growth. Studies comparing growth and development of these children generally found that they have decreased height and weight, but with no information on craniofacial growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the craniofacial characteristics of patients with heart disease. METHODS We used lateral head cephalograms of 131 patients, aged 8 to 12, attending the Department of Pediatrics of the Hospital of the State University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on a routine basis. The study group comprised 50 boys and 38 girls with congenital heart disease. The control group included 20 boys and 23 girls with no heart disease. The skeletal, dental, growth, esthetic, and vertical patterns were analyzed with several cephalometric measurements. The chi-square test was applied to verify a possible association between sex and heart disease, and the Student t test was used to verify differences between the groups of patients with and without heart disease. RESULTS Heart disease is not sex-related (chi-square = 0.267). But some measurements had sex differences in the groups with and without heart diseases. The Student t test showed significant differences between the groups in the SNA angle measurement in male patients (P = 0.032), and in ANB angle (P = 0.002) and the relationship of the lower lip to the Steiner line (P = 0.034) in the girls. CONCLUSIONS Skeletal patterns were characterized by maxillary protrusion in the boys with heart disease and by increased ANB angles in the girls without heart disease. The esthetic pattern showed a more pronounced lower lip in the girls without heart disease. However, from a clinical point of view, these were slight and irrelevant alterations. The results suggest that patients suffering from heart disease have similar craniofacial characteristics to those without this condition.