Samuel Turesky

The Oxygen Consumption of Healing Gingiva

information regarding the details of gingival repair following gingivectomy. The demonstration of the applicability of the Warburg technic8 for the determination of the oxygen consumption of normal and inflamed gingiva suggested an additional approach to the subject of gingival repair. A correlated study of oxygen consumption and histological changes in the course of gingival healing was undertaken, therefore, in an effort to augment existing knowledge by revealing an additional aspect of the gingival repair process.

A histochemical study of the keratotic process in oral lesions diagnosed clinically as leukoplakia

Abstract The keratotic process was studied microscopically and histochemically in eighty oral lesions diagnosed clinically as leukoplakia. In all lesions the stratum corneum was thickened and presented varied degrees of hyperkeratosis or parakeratosis, separately or in combination. Several histochemical differences between the hyperkeratotic and parakeratotic lesions were noted. Of particular interest was the observation that hyperkeratotic lesions were characterized by an increase in disulfides and a diminution in sulfhydryls in the stratum corneum which did not occur in parakeratotic lesions. An intermittent type of keratosis was also described.

The effect of gravity on initial microbial adhesion

An in vitro study was made of the initial microbial localization and adhesion of cultures of Streptococcus mutans 6715, Escherichia coli KB(ATCC-25922), whole saliva, and feces. Glass coverslips and glass, plastic, and stainless steel cylinders served as substrates. The results demonstrate that gravitational localization of the microbia is of primary importance in the adhesion process that follows.

Histochemical evaluation of gingival healing in experimental animals on adequate and vitamin C deficient diets.

HE effect of vitamin C deficiency on wound healing in areas other than 1the oral cavity has been studied using histochemical techniques.1-3 However, these techniques have not been employed to study gingival healing. Because histochemical staining techniques reveal features of the gingiva which are not detectable by routine staining methods,4 it was felt that the former methods should be applied to the study of normal gingival healing as well as the manner in which it might be affected by acute vitamin C deficiency.

Stress and dental caries in the rat.

The stress of crowding and exposure to inescapable electric shock increased both the incidence and the severity of dental caries in rats housed in a conventional animal facility. Male Osborne-Mendel rats were inoculated intraorally with cariogenic bacteria, fed a high-sucrose diet, and housed in either a conventional or a sheltered facility. Rats in both housing conditions were subdivided into control and stress groups. At the end of the 56-day trial period, stressed rats from conventional housing had a significant increase in both incidence and severity of dental caries in comparison to their controls. In contrast, stressed rats from sheltered housing had a trend toward increased cariogenesis which reached significance in only one of five scores. These rats also failed to gain weight comparable to their controls, making it possible that stress-induced reduction in appetite partially offset stress-induced exacerbation in cariogenesis.

Crystal seeding by salivary calculus and its inhibition in vitro

Abstract A microscopic study was made of the crystallization of calcium phosphate on calculus in vitro and its inhibition by certain chemicals. To induce crystallization, human calculus was smeared on microscopic slides. These were incubated in a physiologic metastable calcifying solution and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Needle and rod shaped crystals formed about central calculus particles after 24 hr and increased in amount during a 6-day experimental period. Octacalcium phosphate was identified in the crystals and the calculus by X-ray diffraction analysis. Neutral solutions of the following were screened for their capacity to inhibit crystal seeding by the calculus: distilled water, magnesium chloride, ammonium oxalate, barium chloride, nickel chloride, sodium stearate, sodium tartrate, glycerine, sodium-β-glycerophosphate, thiamine pyrophosphate, adenosine diphosphate. Crystal seeding by the calculus was inhibited by sodium-β-glycerophosphate, thiamine pyrophosphate, and adenosine diphosphate, when employed both as a pretreatment for 24 hr and as a mixture with the calcifying solution. Crystallization was not affected by pretreatment with the other chemicals.

Alkylamine Salts and Amides: In Vitro Inhibition of S mutans 6715

Our studies with the salts and amides of alkylamines have shown that the undecylenate salts have significant in vitro activity against S mutans No. 6715, suggesting that these agents are worthy of additional evaluation. The attempt to increase activity by combining undecylenic acid with the alkylamines was not successful; however, better attachment to tooth surfaces and/or retention during washing did occur. Our results suggest that the free amino group of alkylamines and the free acid group of undecylenic acid are required for these two classes of agents to demonstrate antibacterial activity.