Background: Rehabilitation of atrophic posterior jaws is often challenging due to anatomical limitations, frequently requiring bone augmentation procedures or the use of short implants. Expandable short implants are characterized by an expansion mechanism whose potential contribution to primary stability remains to be fully established. This ex vivo study compared the primary stability of expandable and conventional short implants in porcine rib bone of low and intermediate CBCT-defined density (corresponding approximately to Misch D4 and D3). Methods: A total of 68 implants were placed in 17 fresh porcine ribs, using a randomized complete block design: 34 expandable short implants (ESI; Pyramidion, Ø4.1 × 5 mm) and 34 conventional short implants (CSI; Osstem TS III, Ø4 × 7 mm), equally distributed between two CBCT-defined density strata (D3 and D4, operationally defined). Peak insertion torque (PIT), resonance frequency analysis (ISQ; before and after apical expansion for the ESI group), peak removal torque (PRT), and expansion torque (ESI group only) were recorded. Data were analyzed using a two-way ANOVA (implant group × bone density) with a Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold (α = 0.025) for the two primary outcomes, ISQ and PRT. Results: PIT did not differ significantly between groups in D3 bone, while CSI showed higher PIT in D4 bone (p = 0.0005). ISQ increased significantly following apical expansion in the ESI group (mean + 4.91, 95% CI 3.60 to 6.22; p = 0.0004), more markedly in D4 than D3 bone; final ISQ did not differ significantly between groups at either bone density. PRT was higher in the ESI group in both density strata (p = 0.0004 in D3 and p = 0.0003 in D4), with no significant implant group × bone density interaction. Incomplete apical expansion occurred in 3 of 34 ESI implants, all in D3 bone. Conclusions: In this ex vivo model, no statistically significant difference in final ISQ was detected between the expandable and conventional short implants, and removal torque was higher for the expandable implant across both bone densities; equivalence was not tested. These findings refer to the initial mechanical behaviour under the tested ex vivo conditions, without implying superiority over conventional implant designs; further studies are warranted.
Background/Objectives: Mentorship is widely recognized as essential to professional identity formation, clinical competency, and faculty pipeline development in dental education. Despite this consensus, the conditions of modern academic dentistry—faculty burnout, role multiplicity, and escalating clinical production demands—have made sustained mentorship increasingly difficult to deliver. This review proposes a “Mentorship Paradox” as a conceptual framework connecting these conditions, differentiates mentorship from coaching as distinct developmental interventions, and examines the structural and methodological gaps in the literature that bear on this framework. Methods: This narrative review is based on a structured, documented search of PubMed/MEDLINE and ERIC (search date 19 September 2026) for peer-reviewed literature published 2005–2026, combining mentorship/coaching/advising terms with dental-, health-profession-, and higher-education terms. Records were deduplicated and screened against defined eligibility criteria by a single reviewer, and the authors then selected the sources used in the synthesis. No protocol was registered, and no formal risk-of-bias assessment or structured data extraction was performed. Results: Database searching identified 1404 records (PubMed n = 1329; ERIC n = 75); after removing 21 records outside the date range and 20 duplicates, 1363 records were screened by title and abstract, of which 792 were excluded and 571 were retained for abstract-level assessment, leaving 136 dental-education-specific records; the authors drew on this pool, together with background and adjacent-field sources, to select the 59 references cited in the narrative synthesis. Drawing on the literature identified to date, this review organizes existing findings around a proposed three-stage cycle—faculty emotional depletion, mentee pipeline deterrence, and vacancy solidification—that individual cross-sectional studies document in fragments but that has not yet been tested as a connected, longitudinal phenomenon. Four specific gaps are named: the absence of a dose–response metric defining the faculty-to-student ratio at which mentorship becomes difficult to sustain (the Dose–Response problem); the failure of workload models to account for the affective labor mentorship demands (the Invisible Load problem); the scarcity of longitudinal outcome studies identified in this search (the Longitudinal Void); and the field’s reliance on satisfaction surveys that may measure comfort rather than developmental impact (the Satisfaction Trap). Conclusions: Dental schools cannot resolve the Mentorship Paradox by exhorting overburdened faculty to mentor more. Resolution requires institutional frameworks that treat mentor capacity as a finite, measurable resource alongside a shift toward longitudinal, outcome-validated research designs capable of testing whether mentorship in dental education produces the professional and academic outcomes the field assumes it does.
Background: Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD), encompassing Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic immune-mediated disorder with a steadily increasing global incidence. Oral manifestations, from nonspecific findings such as recurrent aphthous ulceration to disease-specific features such as cobblestoning, may precede gastrointestinal symptoms, although their diagnostic utility for early IBD detection remains unestablished. Increasing evidence also suggests an association between PIBD and impaired periodontal health. This review aimed to evaluate the current evidence regarding oral manifestations and periodontal health in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease and to assess their potential clinical implications. Methods: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. Electronic searches were performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Observational studies assessing oral manifestations and periodontal outcomes in patients aged 0–18 years with a confirmed diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease were included. Study selection, data extraction, and risk-of-bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Results: Thirty-one observational studies were included, comprising 5249 reported participants; after accounting for overlapping populations and applying the predefined eligibility criteria, 4609 participants contributed to the analytical dataset. Crohn’s disease exhibited the highest reported prevalence and broadest spectrum of oral manifestations, particularly mucogingivitis, recurrent aphthous ulcers, orofacial granulomatosis, lip swelling, cobblestoning of the oral mucosa, and mucosal tags. Oral manifestations associated with ulcerative colitis were less frequent and generally nonspecific. Several studies reported oral manifestations preceding the diagnosis of intestinal disease, although their utility as early clinical indicators remains uncertain. Across heterogeneous study populations, children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease were generally reported to have poorer periodontal parameters than healthy controls, including greater gingival inflammation, bleeding, and periodontal treatment needs, although findings were not uniformly consistent across studies. Some studies reported improvement in oral and periodontal findings following control of intestinal inflammation, whereas associations with disease activity indices and inflammatory biomarkers remained inconsistent. Conclusions: Oral and periodontal manifestations have been frequently reported in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, particularly in Crohn’s disease, and may provide clinical clues to underlying intestinal pathology. Routine oral and periodontal assessment may be valuable as part of multidisciplinary care for pediatric patients with IBD. Further studies are needed to clarify the potential role of these findings as biomarkers for early diagnosis and disease monitoring.
Background/Objectives: Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is increasingly used to arrest dentin caries; however, direct laboratory comparisons with sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish in primary dentin remain limited. This study compared treatment-associated mineral and lesion-depth changes following application of 38% SDF and 5% NaF varnish to artificial dentin caries-like lesions in primary molars. Methods: Twenty-eight sound extracted or naturally exfoliated primary molars were included. Standardized 4 × 4 mm dentin windows were subjected to 14 days of pH cycling and sectioned buccolingually to produce paired treated and untreated specimens. Fourteen teeth were assigned to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for calcium and phosphorus assessment, and 14 were assigned to polarized light microscopy (PLM) for lesion-depth measurement and qualitative evaluation. Within each analytical group, seven teeth received SDF and seven received NaF. Group differences were assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, followed by Dunn’s pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni adjustment. Additional lesion-depth analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for treated–control comparisons and the Mann–Whitney U test for comparisons of treatment-associated lesion-depth changes between SDF and NaF. Results: Median phosphorus values were 23.13% and 44.15% in NaF-associated controls and NaF-treated specimens and 46.74% and 70.25% in SDF-associated controls and SDF-treated specimens, respectively. Corresponding calcium medians were 43.28%, 76.59%, 48.53%, and 85.00%. Mean lesion depth was 0.819 ± 0.331 mm in controls, 0.563 ± 0.418 mm after NaF, and 0.195 ± 0.074 mm after SDF. In pooled-control EDX comparisons, SDF differed from controls for phosphorus and calcium (both adjusted p < 0.001), whereas NaF differed from pooled controls for calcium (adjusted p = 0.012) but not phosphorus. For lesion depth, SDF differed from untreated controls (adjusted p = 0.003). Differences between SDF and NaF were not statistically significant (all adjusted p > 0.05). PLM showed a more continuous birefringent surface zone after SDF, whereas NaF produced more heterogeneous and predominantly superficial changes. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, 38% SDF was associated with significantly higher calcium and phosphorus values and reduced lesion depth compared with untreated controls in the reported analyses. Although SDF showed numerically more favorable outcomes than 5% NaF varnish, the between-treatment differences were not statistically significant.
Background/Objectives: In the injection moulding technique, the restoration is shaped by a clear silicone index, which is itself an impression of a 3D-printed working model. The printed surface may, therefore, be the primary source of the relief seen on the finished restoration—a chain that has received little attention. This exploratory pilot study followed the surface relief along that chain. Methods: Three printed objects made from a single model resin were studied: two flat specimens differing only in layer thickness (50 µm and 150 µm) and one anatomically shaped arch model printed at 100 µm. One clear silicone index and one injection-moulded composite replica were produced from each object. Surfaces were examined by optical 3D profilometry (Zeta-20, ×20 objective), recording Sa, Sq, Sz, Ssk and Sku according to ISO 25178-2 over the whole scanned field (476 × 357 µm2) and over sub-areas of 120 × 80 µm2, three scans per flat surface and one scan per morphological field on the anatomical pair. The heights of individual layer steps were read from the instrument markers. Results: The specimen printed at 150 µm was rougher than the one printed at 50 µm (Sa 2.68 vs. 1.30 µm; Sz 45.01 vs. 25.00 µm), with non-overlapping ranges; on their replicas, this ranking was reversed. Kurtosis fell from the printed surface to its replica wherever the measurement field contained no layer step. On the anatomically shaped model, a field containing only a terrace gave almost identical values on model and replica (Sa 2.08 vs. 2.19 µm), whereas a field crossing a layer step gave Sa 22.83 vs. 33.70 µm. Two successive layer steps measured 101.5 and 104.4 µm on the model and 98.9 and 104.3 µm on the replica, each close to the nominal 100 µm layer thickness. Conclusions: These preliminary observations, obtained on one object per condition and without statistical testing, suggest that the stair-step relief of the printed working model reaches the injection-moulded composite with its height largely intact, while finer isolated features are attenuated. They are hypothesis-generating and require confirmation on replicated specimens.
