Primary Caregiver Retention and Perceptions of Retention Strategies in a 36-Month Prospective Childhood Caries Study.

Introduction/objectives: This paper reports on participant retention from an ongoing prospective, multi-site cohort caries risk study involving parent/infant pairs. The objectives were to: (1) compare the retention rates at each intermediate contact (every 4 months) and dental visit (every 18 months) across the 3 clinical sites, (2) assess primary caregivers' perceptions at the end of the study about the retention efforts used in this longitudinal study, and (3) determine whether primary caregiver baseline demographic characteristics and child's baseline caries experience were associated with retention.

Methods: 1325 primary caregiver-child pairs recruited at the child's first birthday were followed for 36 months at 3 sites.

The effect of periodontal therapy on TNF-alpha, IL-6 and metabolic control in type 2 diabetics.

Purpose: This pilot study investigated if scaling and root planing (S&RP) was an effective intervention in reducing levels of inflammatory markers TNF-alpha and IL-6 in a type 2 diabetic population.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with type 2 diabetes, 18-64 years of age were enrolled having 4 or more sites with pocket depths > or = 5mm and 2 or more sites with attachment loss > or = 3mm. Participants received S&RP following collection of gingival crevicular fluid and serum which were analyzed for TNF-alpha and IL-6.