Siti Fazliah Mohd Noor

Assessment of Patients' Level of Satisfaction With Cleft Treatment Using the Cleft Evaluation Profile

Objectives: Determination of the psychosocial status and assessment of the level of satisfaction in Malaysian cleft palate patients and their parents. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants and Methods: Sixty cleft lip and palate patients (12 to 17 years of age) from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and their parents were selected. The questionnaires used were the Child Interview Schedule, the Parents Interview Schedule, and the Cleft Evaluation Profile (CEP), administered via individual interviews. Results: Patients were teased because of their clefts and felt their self-confidence was affected by the cleft condition. They were frequently teased about cleft-related features such as speech, teeth, and lip appearance. Parents also reported that their children were being teased because of their clefts and that their childrens self-confidence was affected by the clefts. Both showed a significant level of satisfaction with the treatment provided by the cleft team. There was no significant difference between the responses of the patients and their parents. The features that were found to be most important for the patients and their parents, in decreasing order of priority, were teeth, nose, lips, and speech. Conclusions: Cleft lip and/or palate patients were teased because of their clefts, and it affected their self-confidence. The Cleft Evaluation Profile is a reliable and useful tool to assess patients’ level of satisfaction with treatment received for cleft lip and/or palate and can identify the types of cleft-related features that are most important for the patients.

Proliferation rate of stem cells derived from human dental pulp and identification of differentially expressed genes

Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) obtained from the dental pulp of human extracted tooth were cultured and characterized to confirm that these were mesenchymal stem cells. The proliferation rate was assessed using AlamarBlue® cell assay. The differentially expressed genes in SHED and DPSCs were identified using the GeneFishing™ technique. The proliferation rate of SHED (P < 0.05) was significantly higher than DPSCs while SHED had a lower multiplication rate and shorter population doubling time (0.01429, 60.57 h) than DPSCs (0.00286, 472.43 h). Two bands were highly expressed in SHED and three bands in DPSCs. Sequencing analysis showed these to be TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP1), and ribosomal protein s8, (RPS8) in SHED and collagen, type I, alpha 1, (COL1A1), follistatin‐like 1 (FSTL1), lectin, galactoside‐binding, soluble, 1, (LGALS1) in DPSCs. TIMP1 is involved in degradation of the extracellular matrix, cell proliferation and anti‐apoptotic function and RPS8 is involved as a rate‐limiting factor in translational regulation; COL1A1 is involved in the resistance and elasticity of the tissues; FSTL1 is an autoantigen associated with rheumatoid arthritis; LGALS1 is involved in cell growth, differentiation, adhesion, RNA processing, apoptosis and malignant transformation. This, along with further protein expression analysis, holds promise in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Cold spray deposition of hydroxyapatite powder onto magnesium substrates for biomaterial applications

A simple, modified, cold spray process was developed in which hydroxyapatite powder was coated onto pure magnesium substrates preheated to 350 or 550°C and ground to either 240 or 2000 grit surface roughness, with stand-off distances of 20 or 40 mm. The procedure was repeated five and 10 times. The hydroxyapatite coatings did not show any phase changes. Atomic force microscopy revealed a uniform coating topography, and scanning electron microscopy revealed good bonding between the coated layers and the substrates. As the p values were < 0·05, all factors except the number of sprays were considered to be significant. The response optimiser indicated that a 22·7 mm stand-off distance, a 649·2 grit surface roughness and a 496°C substrate heating temperature produced good hydroxyapatite coatings of 46·3 μm thickness, 436·5 MPa nanohardness and 43·9 GPa elastic modulus. The modified cold spray technique with substrate heating showed promising results in terms of product coating thickness and mechanical properties.

Development of New Composition of Bioactive Glass Powder from SiO2-CaO-Na2O-P2O5 System through Melt-Derived Route

In this studies, melt-derived route was employed to fabricate new composition of bioactive glass (BG) from SiO2-CaO-Na2O-P2O5 system. Amorphous glass structure is confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD). Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) confirmed the formation of silica network with the existence of functional groups Si-O-Si (bend), Si-O-Si (tetrahedral) and Si-O-Si (stretch) for all glass composition. The bioactivity of all BG is verified by incubation in Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) for 1h and 24h. Based on XRD pattern, it is confirmed that all glass composition remained in amorphous structure even after 24h of immersion with weak characteristic of carbonate group (C-O) and P-O band detected in FTIR analysis on carbonated hyrdoxyapatite (CHA) formation. Therefore, the objective to develop new composition of BG is achiveable despite the lack of CHA formation.

Analysis of consonant /s/ and syllables in Malay language using electropalatography

During articulation and speech, tongue is in contact with hard palate. This contact can be measured using an Electropalatography (EPG). EPG is widely used for speech therapy among subjects having cleft palate, congenital aglossia, and phonemic paraphasic disorder, and also for language analysis and therapy. This study aims to analyse the production of /s/ and syllables by a Malay adult speaker using the Reading EPG palate with 62 electrodes that are built to match the tongue-palate contact. The vowel used in this study are /a/, /i/ and /u/. Data was analysed using Articulate Assist 1.18 software. There are four parts of palate zones, namely alveolar, post-alveolar, palatal and velar. In this study, there are three normal Malay-speaking adults with age ranging from 30 to 35 years old (mean age of 32 years). In the production of /s/, the percentage contact for subject 1 is 16% at the left side and 32% at the right side. For subject 2, there is 39% in the left side and 32% in the right side. Subject 3 has 13...

Mechanical Properties of Hydroxyapatite Reinforced 45S5

Hydroxyapatite (HA) has similar constituent with natural bone mineral and is able to evoke apatite formation on the bone interface. Similarly, bioactive glass (BG) such as 45S5 has the ability to induce bone formation when exposed to physiological environment. However, both materials have drawbacks in mechanical properties such as brittleness and low compressive strength. Hence, HA-BG composite has potential for enhance properties. The current work aims to assess the effects of BG addition in HA system focusing on mechanical properties.

Contact Pattern of /b/ and /p/ in Malay Language Using Electropalatography

This article highlights the use of Electropalatography (EPG) to analyse the pattern of consonants /b/ and /p/ production. These plosive consonants occur when the upper and lower lips are brought together bringing the soft palate close to the posterior wall of the throat. This condition causes the air from the lung to be trapped in the mouth and voice channel. Once air is released, two phenomenon occurs. Firstly, if the air vibrates the vocal cord upon release, plosive consonant (/b/) is produced. Secondly, if the air do not vibrate the vocal cord, voiceless plosive consonant (/p/) is produced. This study aimed to observe the differences between the plosive production of /b/ and /p/ among three Malay adults aged from 24 to 52 years old. The subjects were required to wear the Reading EPG palate with 62 electrodes for monitoring their tongue-palate contact. Data were analysed using Articulate Assist 1.18 software. The results highlighted that the contact patterns for /b/ and /p/ productions were almost similar during the articulation. The contact patterns for the production of /p/ and /b/ occurred at the velar zone. However, significant difference was observed on the contact pattern of S1 due to higher upper arch depth.

Hypoxia-mimicking bioactive glass regenerative effects on dental stem cells

Vascularization is an important aspect of tissue regeneration. Hypoxia, low oxygen concentration, is a known stimulus for the release of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) which play important roles in vascularization. The current study aimed to assess the effect of a cobalt-containing bioactive glass (BG) in stimulating hypoxia and promoting vascularization. To incorporate cobalt into BG, 1 mol% of calcium was substituting with cobalt, and this formulation was compared to the one without cobalt. Both BGs were processed via melt-derived method. The BG powders with particle size less than 38 µm were incubated with cell culture medium for 4 hours at 37°C on continuous rolling, and then the medium was filtered using 0.22 µm syringe filters. Prior to use, the BG-conditioned media were supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum and 1% (v/v) antibiotic-antimycotic, and were allowed to equilibrate overnight inside a CO2 incubator. The conditioned media were used on human dental stem cells (stem cells...

Knowledge, attitude and practice of tooth wear among adults in Bertam, Penang

Tooth wear is an oral lesion with multifactorial causes. The prevalence is increasing with an increasing age. Knowledge of tooth wear is part of oral health and essential requirements are needed to modify health related behaviors. This study was aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of tooth wear and to compare with the socio-demographic factors. A cross-sectional study using a modified version of self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 390 adults (aged more than 18 years old) from three government institutions in Bertam, Penang. A total of 349 (89.5%) subjects had participated in this study with 55.3% were males and majority of the subjects were Malays. About 58.2% had low level of knowledge with mean score at 20.8. Meanwhile, 93.4% subjects had a positive attitude and 84.2% had poor level of practice on oral hygiene. The low mean score of knowledge among subjects was not necessary an indicator that attitude and practice were affected. However, identification of etiologica...

Development of sol-gel bioactive glass for hard tissue regeneration

The regeneration of hard tissues requires various contributing factors such as cells, scaffolds and growth factors. Bioactive glasses are known for its properties to stimulate hard tissue regeneration. In this study, sol-gel bioactive glasses (BG) were prepared and characterized. Sol-gel BG powders having particle size less than 25 µm were incubated with cell culture medium for 4 hours at 37°C on continuous rolling, and then the medium was filtered using 0.22 µm syringe filters. Prior to use, the SGBG-conditioned media were supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum and 1% (v/v) antibiotic-antimycotic, and were allowed to equilibrate overnight inside a CO2 incubator. The human dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) were incubated with the BG-conditioned media and their viability and proliferation were assessed at day 1, 2, 4 and 7 using Alamar Blue and MTT assays. The results showed that BG at various powders to liquid ratio concentrations promoted DPSC growth. The BG have potential to be used for hard tissue ...