http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8349 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:52:45 GMT 2013-06-19T07:52:45Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8596 Prenuptial Dental Extractions in Acadian Women: First Report of a Cultural Tradition Gordon, Sara C.; Kaste, Linda M.; Barasch, Andrei; Safford, Monika M.; Foong, Choong; ElGeneidy, Adry Background: Prenuptial tooth extractions, extractions of all teeth in at least one dental arch before marriage, are not identified in the dental literature. Driven by a professional encounter, the purpose of this study was to confirm the existence of this practice among Acadian women. Methods: An 8-item survey instrument with space for comments was mailed to 182 dentists from traditionally Acadian regions of Canada. The survey was provided in English and French. Results: Ninety dentists responded (50.3%); 8 of them (9%) had been asked to perform prenuptial extractions, and an additional 9 volunteered awareness of this practice. Awareness and requests were associated with dental practice in a county with a ‡ 20% French-speaking population. Conclusions: Prenuptial extractions in this population have been confirmed by the current cohort of dentists. The potential public health, clinical, and systemic health research implications for women who are edentulous for most of their adult life merit further study. Additionally, it is important to determine if interventions are needed to curtail cultural expectations of such practices. This is a copy of an article published in the Journal of Women's Health © 2011 copyright Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Journal of Women's Health is available online at: http://www.liebertonline.com. DOI:10.1089/jwh.2011.3074. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8596 2011-12-01T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8393 Tea Catechin Epigallocatechin gallate inhibits Streptococcus mutans Biofilm Formation by Suppressing gtf Genes Xu, Xin; Zhou, Xue D.; Wu, Christine D. Objective: The anti-cariogenic properties of tea have been suggested for decades. Tea polyphenols, especially Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), have been shown to inhibit dental plaque accumulation, but the exact mechanisms are not clear at present. We hypothesize that EGCG suppresses gtf genes in S. mutans at the transcriptional level disrupting the initial attachment of S. mutans and thus the formation of mature biofilms. Design: In this study, the effect of EGCG on the sucrose-dependent initial attachment of S. mutans UA159 in a chemically defined medium was monitored over 4 h using a chamber slide model. The effects of EGCG on the aggregation and gtf B, C, D gene expression of S. mutans UA159 were also examined. Results: It was found that EGCG (7.8-31.25 μg/ml) exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of the initial attachment of S. mutans UA159. EGCG did not induce cellular aggregation of S. mutans UA159 at concentrations less than 78.125 μg/ml. Analysis of data obtained from real-time PCR showed that EGCG at sub-MIC level (15.6 μg/ml) significantly suppressed the gtf B, C, D genes of S. mutans UA159 compared with the non-treated control (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that EGCG may represent a novel, natural anti-plaque agent that inhibits the specific genes associated with bacterial biofilm formation without necessarily affecting the growth of oral bacteria. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Archives of Oral Biology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Archives of Oral Biology, Vol #, Issue #, (December 2011). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2011.10.021 Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8393 2011-12-01T06:00:00Z