Relationship between a self-reported health questionnaire and laboratory tests at initial office visits.

Background: Dental patients routinely complete a medical questionnaire and have an oral interview during their initial visit, but may have undiagnosed systemic problems which can affect their dental treatment.

Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive patients referred for a periodontal evaluation completed a medical questionnaire and an oral interview. They were referred to a hospital laboratory for an urinalysis, complete blood count, and a standard blood chemistry panel.

The time and ease of placement of the chlorhexidine chip local delivery system.

The first local delivery system for an antimicrobial agent was a nondegradable tetracycline-impregnated fiber introduced by Goodson et al in 1979. PerioChip, a biodegradable chip containing chlorhexidine, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adult periodontitis. During several multicenter randomized clinical trials, this product, when used as an adjunct to scaling and root planing, was found to reduce probing depth and improve attachment level significantly more than scaling and root planing alone.