# CLINICAL AIDS

## Oral Hygiene Aid for bonded appliances (J.Cannon)

Since the advent of bonded brackets many orthodontists have been concerned about the adherence of plaque around the margins of the brackets. This occurs in spite of removal of all excess adhesive and average to good cleaning by the patient. Recently one of my adult patients with excellent oral hygiene was asked what she used to clean her teeth and she informed me it was *bicarbonate of soda*. There is not a trace of plaque in her mouth. The very next day a leading dentist from Houston, Texas, sent some samples of a tooth powder which he highly recommended.* This contained sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride magnesium, dibasic ammonium, urea and flavouring. I used this on several patients in the chair and the results were truly amazing. Apart from the sodium bicarbonate mixture removing the plaque the abrasive effect of the magnesium made the brackets much cleaner.

Sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride were widely used as dentifrices before the introduction of modern toothpaste. In 1905 Carlsbad salt was used in Europe for the inhibition of some gingival flora. (Hermann,

1905) In 1916 Herrick proposed that a saturated solution of sodium bicarbonate be used before retiring to cleanse the mouth. (Herrick, 1916)

In more recent years sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride and magnesium sulphate have been used in the treatment of periodontal disease (Goldberg and Enslein, 1979, and Newbrun et al, 1984). The modern Prophy Jet and other air abrasive units used intra-orally, make use of a fine powder of bicarbonate of soda.

Clinically it is clear that sodium bicarbonate mixture powders have a definite place in the maintenance of good oral hygiene.

## REFERENCES

GOLDBERG, H.J.V. and ENSLEIN, K. (1979)

Effects of an experimental sodium bicarbonate dentifrice on gingivitis and plaque formation.

Clinical Preventive Dentistry 1(5):12-16

HERMANN, K. (1905)

Franiek'sche buchdruckerei

Karlsbad.

HERRICK, W.P. (1916)

Sodium bicarbonate. Old and new uses, especially its adjuvant action

N.Y. Med. J. 103:646

NEWBRUN, E., HOOVER, C.I. and RYDER, M. (1984)

Bactericidal action of bicarbonate ion on selected periodontal pathogenic microorganisms

J. Periodontology 55(11): 658-667.

# RESEARCH AIDS

## M.D.Sc. RESEARCH AIDS

### Common problems encountered in drafts for theses and journal articles are:

1. Change of tense: Normally past tense is used for what was done, and present tense for what is now accepted as theory or fact.

2. Person: Where possible avoid first and second person. This frequently means changing to a passive verb, but in other sentences try to use active verbs.

3. Numbers: Spell numbers out in full if at the beginning of a sentence or less than ten. Above ten, figures may be used.

4. Periods: Full stops (periods) are not needed in abbreviations where the final letter is the final letter of the word; e.g. 'Pty Ltd', nor at the end of headings.

Units: In general, conform to AS1000 — SI units.

Avoid 'cm' — change to 'mm'.

Avoid 'Angstrom Unit' — change to 'nanometre' or 'nm'.

Avoid 'micron' — change to 'micrometre' or 'µm'.
Watch for correct prefixes e.g. M = 10⁶ while m = 10⁻³

K = degrees Kelvin, while k = 10⁻³.

Use 'Celsius' not 'Centigrade'.

6. Check for under- or over-punctuation, and follow precisely the format for titles, authors' qualifications and references as laid down by the department or journal. Try to use short sentences.

7. References: As well as following the format defined by precedent, ensure that all references alluded to in the text are to be found in the list of references, except personal communications.

8. Use of 'ise' or 'ize'. 'The use of -ise, -ising, -isation as verbal suffixes is preferred to -ize in the spelling of such words as realise (not realize), organising (not organizing) etc. But -ize is needed in the following words, in which it is not a suffix: capsize, prize, size, seize. '(from 'Typing for publication' Aust. Govt Printing Service, 1984). Corrections for these are easily made with a word processor by means of the 'search and replace' function.

It should be pointed out that not all references or journals agree with this 'ise/ize' usage which is recommended for Australian publications.
(The basis for the above guidelines is that given to M.D.Sc. students in the Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Melbourne. They are *printed with the kind permission of Dr John Harcourt, Chairman of the department*).

For further reference, see those publications reviewed in Aust.Orthod.J.(1985),9:3(Mar)p201 and those recommended in 'Information for Contributors' at the front of this Journal. For the research for the thesis, see 'Suggested Protocol for MDSc Research' in the Editor's Newsletter (1984), Aust.Orthod.J.8:3(Mar)104-105.

<footnote>* Blue-Bottle tooth powder, from Continental Chemicals Incorporated of Dallas, Texas. ±</footnote>