DEPARTMENT OF REVIEWS AND ABSTRACTS

Edited by Alex Jacobson, DMD, MS, PhD Birmingham, AIa. All inquiries regarding information on reviews and abstracts should be directed to the respective authors. For ordering books, contact your local bookstore or write directly to the publishers. Articles or books for review in this department should be addressed to Dr. Alex Jacobson, University of Alabama School of Dentistry, University Station~Birmingham, AL 35295

MY THUMB AND I C.A. Mayer, B.E. Brown, A.C. Brown. Thumbco, Inc., P. O. Box 2702, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, 60138. Illustrated. $18.95

This delightful little booklet by two career mothers and one nine-year-old daughter is a 79-page program that presents 10 positive, easy steps for stopping thumb- or finger-sucking in children ages 6 to 10. Included in the program are a cotton glove, parent guidelines, progress charts, a reward contract, and motivational activities that reinforce the concepts promulgated.

The genesis of the book was a thumb-sucking habit by Ashley Brown, age 8, who was referred by her ortho- dontist to a certified speech pathologist, Carol Mayer, for assistance. The resultant collaborative effort by parent, child, and specialist produced this excellent positive approach to stopping a prevalent behavior.

Having been involved personally in the recognition of the habit, and having studied the damage it can wreak on the dentofacial structures as well as various punitive and nonpunitive methods of control, I find the booklet's pro- gram broad-based, scientifically valid, and easy to implement for both the patient and the parents. It is a clinically proven technique that should be tried before embarking on extensive and expensive therapeutic inter- ception. The book is ideal reading material in the waiting room of all pediatric dentists and orthodontists, and for those select patients with the problem.

T. M. Graber

Thesis Abstracts

Shear bond strength of APC brackets. M. ku, O. Jones, E. Kudlick, F. Eichmiller. Washington, DC: Howard University College of Dentistry, 1995

The advent of APC brackets certainly provided sever- al advantages to the practicing orthodontist and staff, but

the bond strength of the bracket to enamel surface is still the most important criterion in bracket selection. The purpose of this study was to compare the shear bond strength of precoated brackets and manually coated brackets and to examine the effect of storage time and temperature on their bond strengths. Eighty bicuspid teeth were divided into 8 groups of 10 teeth. Each group had brackets bonded with a combination of the following variables: APC or conventional brackets manually coat- ed with Transbond, storage at room or refrigerator tem- perature, storage for 1 week or 6 months. Shear bond strengths were tested using a Universal Testing machine. Results were analyzed using ANOVA and Duncan's mul- tiple comparison. The results of this study showed that the conventional brackets manually coated with Transbond that had been refrigerated for only 1 week had the highest statistically significant bond strength (p < 0.05). The manually coated brackets showed higher bond strengths, Bond strengths were stronger when the bond- ing materials were used within 1 week of shipment and stored at 4 ° C in the refrigerator.

Load-deflection characteristics of heat- treated bi-phasic arch wires. R.A. Norris, F. Eichmiller, and B.T. Vu. Washington, DC : Howard University College of Dentistry, 1995

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the force levels produced by heat-treated bi-phasic arch wires as various malpositioned teeth are brought into the dental arch from two directions. Flexural tests of six 0.016-inch nickel-titanium alloy arch wires engaged in a simulated dental arch (SDA) were performed at the maxillary lat- eral, maxillary second bicuspid, and mandibular central locations. All wires were tested in facio-lingual and inciso-gingival directions. Specimens tested included Sentalloy Light (GAC1), Sentalloy Medium (GACm), Sentalloy Heavy (GACh), NI-TI (ONT) (Ormco Div. of Sybron Corp.), 37 ° C Copper N1-TI (CNT), and Nitino SE (USE) (3M/Unitek). The broad arch forms procured from each manufacturer were virtually indistinguishable

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics/October 1997 469