Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
Short Communication selected from the Oral Presentations of the 56th Congress of the Groupèment International pour la Recherche Scientifique en Stomatologie et Odontologie, Peñafiel (Portugal) May 2012.
The incorporation of technological advancements in higher education has started to bridge the gap in local, national and global delivery of dental courses. This gap, including the global decrease in senior clinical academics, has influenced the development of new teaching and learning techniques. Institutional virtual learning environments (VLE) and other e-learning resources are now in higher demand. This paper describes how one such innovative solutions has been IVIDENT (International Virtual Dental School), has enabled secure and seamless access to high quality e-content and tools through an innovative, universal flexible learning platform. IVIDENT, now UDENTE (Universal Dental E-learning) has been shown to offer new learning experiences for students of dentistry, but its approach can apply across all educational domains. UDENTE also benefits staff as it allows them to contribute and access resources through peer reviewed publishing processes, which ensure the highest quality in education. UDENTE was developed thanks to a £2.3 million grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department of Health. http://www.udente.org. This academically led educational research project involved dental schools in seven countries. An initially scoping of requirements was followed by elaboration of the tools needed. Pilot testing of the tools, systems and learning resources in particular and the impact of the UDENTE in general were carried out. The pilots revealed evidence of positive impact of a space for learning, teaching, development and communication, with tools for planning of electives and administrative support. The results of these initial pilots have been positive and encouraging, describing UDENTE as an accessible, user friendly platform providing tools that otherwise would be difficult to access in a single space. However, attention to supporting faculty to embrace these new learning domains is essential if such technology enhanced learning (TEL) is to be viewed as a golden opportunity in Higher Education.
Recently introduced FIB/SEM analysis in microscopy seems to provide a high-resolution characterization of the samples by 3D (FIB) cross-sectioning and (SEM) high resolution imaging. The aim of this study was to apply the FIB/SEM and SEM/EDS analysis to the interfaces of a metal-ceramic vs. two zirconia-ceramic systems. Plate samples of three different prosthetic systems were prepared in the dental lab following the manufacturers' instructions, where metal-ceramic was the result of a ceramic veneering (porcelain-fused-to-metal) and the two zirconia-ceramic systems were produced by the dedicated CAD-CAM procedures of the zirconia cores (both with final sintering) and then veneered by layered or heat pressed ceramics. In a FIB/SEM equipment (also called DualBeam), a thin layer of platinum (1 μm) was deposited on samples surface crossing the interfaces, in order to protect them during milling. Then, increasingly deeper trenches were milled by a focused ion beam, first using a relatively higher and later using a lower ion current (from 9 nA to 0.28 nA, 30KV). Finally, FEG-SEM (5KV) micrographs (1000-50,000X) were acquired. In a SEM the analysis of the morphology and internal microstructure was performed by 13KV secondary and backscattered electrons signals (in all the samples). The compositional maps were then performed by EDS probe only in the metal-ceramic system (20kV). Despite the presence of many voids in all the ceramic layers, it was possible to identify: (1) the grain structures of the metallic and zirconia substrates, (2) the thin oxide layer at the metal-ceramic interface and its interactions with the first ceramic layer (wash technique), (3) the roughness of the two different zirconia cores and their interactions with the ceramic interface, where the presence of zirconia grains in the ceramic layer was reported in two system possibly due to sandblasting before ceramic firing.