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  <title>OAR@UM Collection:</title>
  <link rel="alternate" href="https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29945" />
  <subtitle />
  <id>https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/29945</id>
  <updated>2026-04-12T11:06:01Z</updated>
  <dc:date>2026-04-12T11:06:01Z</dc:date>
  <entry>
    <title>An investigation of the giant cell fibroma</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/32580" />
    <author>
      <name />
    </author>
    <id>https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/32580</id>
    <updated>2018-11-13T13:52:30Z</updated>
    <published>2006-01-01T00:00:00Z</published>
    <summary type="text">Title: An investigation of the giant cell fibroma
Abstract: The giant cell fibroma is a reactive fibrous overgrowth of the oral mucosa&#xD;
characterised by the presence of bizarre large stellate mononuclear and&#xD;
multinuclear cells in the lamina propria. Since this lesion had never been reported&#xD;
in Malta, the pathology archives at St Luke's Hospital were searched for possible&#xD;
cases of giant cell fibroma and data on the incidence of this lesion were tabulated&#xD;
and compared with those reported in the literature.&#xD;
&#xD;
Immunohistochemistry was carried out on material retrieved from the pathology&#xD;
archives and identified as cases of giant cell fibroma in order to ascertain the&#xD;
phenotype of the cells which characterize this lesion. The phenotype of these&#xD;
cells was compared to that of histologically similar cells found in the cervix, in&#xD;
fibrous papules of the nose (face) and in one case of allergic nasal polyps. It was&#xD;
concluded that the characteristic cells of the giant cell fibroma and histologically&#xD;
similar cells in fibrous papules of the nose (face) and frequently in the cervix are&#xD;
fibroblasts whilst a subset of similar cells in the cervix and in allergic nasal&#xD;
polyps are myofibroblasts.&#xD;
&#xD;
The expression of the cell proliferation markers Ki67 and proliferating cell&#xD;
nuclear antigen was also investigated in order to test the hypothesis that&#xD;
mutinucleation of the stellate cells is being caused by cell division in the absence&#xD;
of kinesis. Since two reports by previous authors mention that in several lesions&#xD;
and anatomical sites mast cells were noted to be in contact with the large stellate&#xD;
cells, the presence and location of mast cells in giant cell fibromas, cervix,&#xD;
fibrous papules of the nose (face) and in the case of allergic nasal polyps were&#xD;
investigated. It was concluded that the cells under study in all sites and lesions&#xD;
studied are not cycling and that therefore multinucleation is probably achieved by&#xD;
the fusion of mononuclear cells. Furthermore, very few stellate cells were seen to&#xD;
be in contact with or in the immediate vicinity of a mast cell, and so it is unlikely&#xD;
that mast cells are inducing multinucleation in the stellate cells.&#xD;
&#xD;
The final part of this study consisted of the comparison of the distribution of&#xD;
various components of the extracellular matrix of giant cell fibromas, fibrous&#xD;
polyps and epulides of the oral mucosa and denture related fibrous overgrowths&#xD;
in order to ascertain whether any differences exist between giant cell fibromas&#xD;
and other reactive fibrous overgrowths of the oral mucosa. It was concluded that&#xD;
no significant differences between these lesions exist and that these lesions&#xD;
probably form part of the same disease process. Because of this and because of&#xD;
the fact that the atypical stellate cells which characterize the giant cell fibroma&#xD;
are not unique to this lesion but are in fact widely-distributed in many lesions and&#xD;
even in normal mucosa in various anatomical sites, it is proposed that the giant&#xD;
cell fibroma should not he separated out as a discrete disease entity hut should he&#xD;
described as a reactive fibrous polyp or epulis containing large stellate&#xD;
fibroblasts.
Description: M.PHIL.</summary>
    <dc:date>2006-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>The use of Portland cement and its modified forms as a dental core build-up material</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31830" />
    <author>
      <name />
    </author>
    <id>https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31830</id>
    <updated>2020-11-23T06:07:19Z</updated>
    <published>2006-01-01T00:00:00Z</published>
    <summary type="text">Title: The use of Portland cement and its modified forms as a dental core build-up material
Abstract: The use of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) for various applications in dentistry is&#xD;
difficult due to its long setting time and poor compressive strength. The aim of this&#xD;
research project was to study the properties of MT A, and modify the material in an&#xD;
attempt to make it suitable as a core build-up material.&#xD;
Materials and Methods&#xD;
The chemical constituents of MT A (Dentsply, Tulsa Dental Products, Tulsa UK,&#xD;
USA), Portland cement (CEM 1 45,5N; Italcementi spa, Bergamo, Italy) and other&#xD;
cement prototypes wos determined hy performing both phase and elemental analysis&#xD;
on both un-reacted powders and hydrated cements. The cement properties were&#xD;
improved by addition of calcium aluminate cement to Portland cement, by exclusion&#xD;
of gypsum from the end stage of the manufacturing process and also by using calcium&#xD;
fluoroaluminate (CF A) cement. Fast setting proprietary brands (3) were also tested. In&#xD;
addition, various fillers (3), and micro-silica were added in conjunction with the use&#xD;
of a superplasticizing admixture. DSP (densified with small particles) mortars and&#xD;
composite materials were thus produced. Compressive strength testing was performed&#xD;
using two methods of testing cements namely using cylinders 6 mm in diameter and&#xD;
12 mm high and cubes of side 70.7 mm. Both methods of testing were compared. The&#xD;
method of testing compressive strength was also modified and flexural strength of the&#xD;
composite materials was also measured.&#xD;
Biocompatibility was assessed using a cell culture technique and cell growth and&#xD;
proliferation was evaluated under the scanning electron microscope. The method of&#xD;
testing biocompatibility was also improved upon and assessment of cell activity by a&#xD;
vital dye that measures mitotic dehydrogenase activity was also used. The assessment&#xD;
of cell activity using a vital dye was preferred to scanning electron microscopic&#xD;
assessment of cell proliferation as it avoided material contamination during&#xD;
processing. The cements were tested by placing the cells directly on the cement and&#xD;
cells were also grown on an elution. Other tests performed included pH evaluation,&#xD;
marginal adaptation tested using a fluorescent dye and a confocal microscope and&#xD;
&#xD;
&#xD;
field emission scanning electron microscope, and acid resistance tests performed to&#xD;
check resistance of material to acid attack evaluated using the polarized light&#xD;
microscope, the scanning electron microscope and the confocal microscope. The&#xD;
different testing methods were compared.&#xD;
Results&#xD;
The chemical constituents of MTA (Dentsply, Tulsa Dental Products, Tulsa OK,&#xD;
USA) showed the material to be similar to Portland cement except for the bismuth&#xD;
oxide which is present in MTA. Both MTA and Portland cement were composed of&#xD;
1ri ami rli cakilll11 ~iliootc, which on hydration prodl](~cd eakilll11 silicate hydr11te Klnd&#xD;
calcium hydroxide. The materials were susceptible to contamination by inorganic&#xD;
compounds and other chemicals routinely used to evaluate cell viability under the&#xD;
scanning electron microscope. Calcium hydroxide was not always produced during&#xD;
hydration. Emaco Ultra-rapid, and both calcium sulpho-aluminate (CSA) and calcium&#xD;
fluoro-aluminate (CF A) did not show any release of soluble calcium ions.&#xD;
Combinations of Portland cement (OPC) and high alumina cement (HAC), various&#xD;
proprietary brands of cement, the use of cement clinker interground without the&#xD;
gypsum during the manufacturing process and the use of CSA and CF A cement&#xD;
resulted in a reduced setting time. The setting time was less than 9 minutes for all the&#xD;
cement prototypes tested. Compressive strength testing showed that one fast setting&#xD;
proprietary brand (Emaco Ultra-rapid), and both CSA and CF A had compressive&#xD;
strength values comparable to that reported for glass ionomer cement. The CSA&#xD;
cement was stronger than the CFA cement both in compression and in flexure at all&#xD;
curing times (p &lt; 0.001) except for flexural strength at 1 day where no difference&#xD;
between the two cements was demonstrated (p &gt; 0.05). Addition of granite to the&#xD;
CSA cement resulted in an increase in flexural strength at 28 and 56 days but a&#xD;
reduction in the compressive strength at all ages (p &lt; 0.001). Addition of granite to&#xD;
CF A increased the flexural strength up to 28 days (p &lt; 0.01) but the flexural strengths&#xD;
of the cement and the cement composite were the same at 56 days (p &gt; 0.05). The&#xD;
mixtures of OPCIHAC and the other proprietary brands showed very low strengths.&#xD;
The cement clinker had low initial strengths. Addition of bismuth oxide affected the&#xD;
material adversely with marked reduction in compressive strengths. The fast-setting&#xD;
DSP mortars had a lower compressive strength at 1 day (p &lt; 0.005), but there was no&#xD;
difference between the cements and DSP mortars at later curing times. Vacuum&#xD;
mixing did not improve the compressive strength of the prototype cements at any age.&#xD;
Wet curing improved the compressive strength of Portland cement at all ages (p &lt;&#xD;
0.05) in comparison to the prototype cement where compressive strength at 1 day&#xD;
(35.98 Nmm-2&#xD;
&#xD;
, p = 0.011) and 7 days (44.08 Nmm-2&#xD;
&#xD;
, p = 0.025) was reduced by&#xD;
immersion in water. The filler replaced cement prototypes were more stable and less&#xD;
susscebtable to changes in less compressive strength by varifying the curing method (p &gt;0.05).&#xD;
The compressive strength of Portland cement was different between the two methods&#xD;
namely the testing of cubes and that of cylinders (p &lt; 0.001). All the fast-setting&#xD;
cements tested showed no difference in compressive strength regardless of the&#xD;
method of testing at 1 and 7 days (p &gt; 0.05), but the cylinders showed a lower&#xD;
compressive strength at 28 days (p &lt; 0.05). Thus, specimen size and shape seemed to&#xD;
affect the compressive strength testing results.&#xD;
The pH was alkaline for all the cements tested. Storage solutions also demonstrated a&#xD;
high pH. Prototype materials took up more water than glass ionomer cement. Curing&#xD;
at 100% humidity resulted in a net loss of weight for all the materials tested. Glass&#xD;
ionomer cement restorations showed marginal leakage along their walls and along the&#xD;
restoration floor. The changes caused by acid contact were different for the CSA and&#xD;
CF A cements compared with glass ionomer cement. These cements exhibited&#xD;
changes in their internal chemistry with no changes in surface characteristics while&#xD;
the glass ionomer cement showed erosion of the cement matrix early after acid&#xD;
contact. No changes were observed in the cement composite based on calcium&#xD;
sulpho-aluminate.&#xD;
&#xD;
&#xD;
Biocompatibility testing of the cements showed that cell proliferation was enhanced&#xD;
only in cements which produced soluble calcium ions as a by-product of cement&#xD;
hydration (MTA, cement clinker and Portland cement). Indirect studies of the eluants&#xD;
showed an increase in cell activity after 24 hours compared with the control in culture&#xD;
medium (p &lt; 0.05). Direct cell contact with the cements resulted in a fall in cell&#xD;
viability for all time points studied (p &lt; 0.001). Emaco Ultra-rapid, and both CSA and&#xD;
CF A cements did not encourage cell growth similar to glass ionomer cement. The&#xD;
addition of bismuth oxide did not interfere with the biocompatibility of the cements.&#xD;
Conclusions&#xD;
MTA (Dentsply, Tulsa Dental Products, Tulsa OK, USA) and Portland cement (CEM&#xD;
1 45,5N; Italcementi spa, Bergamo, Italy) were composed primarily of tricalcium&#xD;
silicate and calcium hydroxide was produced as a reaction by-product on hydration.&#xD;
The setting time of MTA could be reduced by addition of calcium aluminate cement.&#xD;
In excess of gypsum the cement produced showed both a reduction in setting time and&#xD;
good compressive strengths. Similar results were obtained for CF A and a brand of&#xD;
fast setting cement. Exclusion of gypsum from the cement at the end of the&#xD;
manufacturing process reduced the setting time but initial strengths were low. The&#xD;
compressive strength of these prototype materials was enhanced by the use of a&#xD;
superplasticizing admixture that allowed the reduction of the water/cement r(ltio at the&#xD;
same rheology. Addition of an inert material to the cement increased the flexural&#xD;
strength.&#xD;
Most standard testing procedures used to test dental cements did not seem suitable for&#xD;
testing cements based on Portland cement. Processing for scanning electron&#xD;
microscopy reacted with the cement hydration by-products; the cements were even&#xD;
susceptible to changes in size of specimen when tested in compression and use of&#xD;
acidic dyes which are used routinely for evaluation of marginal adaptation of&#xD;
materials affected the cement. Materials which had calcium hydroxide produced&#xD;
during hydration encouraged cell proliferation. In fact cells grew preferentially on the&#xD;
material elution rather than directly on the cement surface.
Description: PH.D.DENTAL SURGERY</summary>
    <dc:date>2006-01-01T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
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