Papers by Author: Toemsak Srikhirin

Abstract: Objective: This study aimed to investigate fluoride release, flexural strength and surface characteristics of three orthodontic acrylic resins (A) blended with (1) sodium fluoride powder (NaF), (2) calcium fluoride powder (CaF2), and (3) glass ionomer cement powder (GIC). Material & Methods: Acrylic resin was blended with NaF, CaF2 , and GIC to make orthodontic acrylic plates. Each sample group was divided into subgroups at fluoride concentrations 5%, 10% and 20%. The acrylic resin was cured in a round stainless steel mold and kept in a bottle with 10 ml. deionized water then kept in an incubator at 37oC. The deionized water, changed every day, was tested for fluoride release up to six mo by Orion machine. For the flexural strength test, the samples were cured in a stainless steel mold, 64 mm. long, 10 mm. wide and 3.3 mm. high according to standard of ISO 20795-2 and testing was done up to 6 mo in deionized water. Scanning electron microscope determined surface characteristics after being blended. Results: Fluoride release was observed from orthodontic acrylic plates blended with NaF, CaF2 and GIC. The results of the A-NaF and the A- CaF2 group decreased fluoride level greatly at day 2, but the A-GIC group was observed at day 7. The A-NaF group and the A-GIC group could not detect fluoride level after mo 4 and 2, respectively. The A-CaF2 group found greater long term fluoride release than the A-NaF and the A-GIC group especially at 20% concentration (up to six mo). Significant differences (p<0.05) of fluoride release level (ppmF) among the A-NaF, A-GIC, and A-CaF2 groups at 5% concentration in every time point from day 1 to the mo 5, but not significant in mo 6 similar to the 10% concentration comparison. Whereas, comparing the 20% concentration among groups, significant differences (p<0.05) were found between groups in all periods of time (from the day 1 to mo 6). When comparing the different concentrations of 5%, 10%, and 20% in each group, significant differences (p<0.05) were found in every concentration at every time period of the A-GIC group from day 1 to mo 2, in the A-CaF2 group from day 1 to mo 6 and in the A-NaF group from day 1 to mo 4. Conclusion: Fluoride release was observed from orthodontic acrylic plates blended with NaF, CaF2 and GIC. The longest duration of fluoride release from orthodontic acrylic plates was found in the CaF2 group followed by the NaF and GIC groups. The flexural strength in every group decreased over time. This result implied that the flexural strength decreased during fluoride release. The acrylic surface was seen to be porous in every period of the fluoride release process.

Abstract: The layer formation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on a poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) (PSMA) surface was investigated by using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique at various pH values. The formation of a BSA surface was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). To study the effect on the layer formation, the pH of solution was varied from 2 to 7.4 while the concentration of BSA was in the range of 0.01 to 5 mg/ml during the layer absorption. It was found that the BSA adsorption strongly depends on the pH of solution, and the concentration of BSA. The absorption layer occurred maximum at the pH value of 3.5 which resulted from the charge of PSMA and BSA molecules. The layer formation reached the saturate value at the concentration higher than 3 mg/ml. The molecular packing of the BSA layer at different pH values was determined by AFM and total mass change of QCM.

Abstract: The surface of polystyrene (PS) thin films in argon plasma was modified to study the hydrophilicity properties. An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system was used to generate the argon plasma. In the experiment, the effect of RF power levels, gas flow rate and treatment time was investigated. The surface morphology of PS films was examined by the atomic force microscopy (AFM), also the contact angle goniometry was used for measuring the wettability of PS films before and after plasma treatment. After the plasma treatment, AFM images of PS revealed the increasing of the surface roughness as increasing the power levels and treatment times. Moreover, after treated with argon plasma, the contact angles of polystyrene films also decrease where the power levels and treatment times were increased. It is clear that the effects of power levels and treatment time improve the wettability of PS films. It can also be observed that by placing the sample in air after plasma treatment, the contact angle gradually increases probably due to moisture absorption in the PS films.