A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Prenatal Oral Hygiene Education in Pregnancy-Associated Gingivitis.

Introduction: Research shows there is a significant increase in gingival inflammation during pregnancy. This study was conducted to determine if an oral health intervention (OHI), including oral hygiene education delivered by nurse-led staff and an advanced over-the-counter (OTC) oral home care regimen, improved gingival inflammation in pregnant women with moderate-to-severe gingivitis compared with a standard oral hygiene control group.

Methods: This was a multicenter, randomized, controlled, single-masked, parallel group clinical trial conducted in obstetrics clinics of 2 medical centers.

Impact of periodontal therapy on general health: evidence from insurance data for five systemic conditions.

Background: Treatment of periodontal (gum) disease may lessen the adverse consequences of some chronic systemic conditions.

Purpose: To estimate the effects of periodontal therapy on medical costs and hospitalizations among individuals with diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D); coronary artery disease (CAD); cerebral vascular disease (CVD); rheumatoid arthritis (RA); and pregnancy in a retrospective observational cohort study.

Methods: Insurance claims data from 338,891 individuals with both medical and dental insurance coverage were analyzed in 2011-2013.

Association of a common genetic factor, PTGER3, with outcome of periodontal therapy and preterm birth.

Background: Clinical evidence suggests an association between preterm birth and periodontal disease. This study explores whether specific genetic polymorphisms are associated with success of periodontal therapy in pregnant women with periodontal disease and, further, whether any of these same polymorphisms are also associated with spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB).

Methods: One hundred sixty high-risk pregnant women (6 to 20 weeks of gestation) with periodontal disease (≥ 3 sites with attachment loss ≥ 4 mm) were studied.

Adverse events and intravenous versus oral bisphosphonate use in patients with osteoporosis and cancer in the U.S.

This observational study utilized a patient-level database of more than 55 million patients and 70 U.S.-based health plans compiled from 2000-2006.

Evidence of a gene-environment interaction that predisposes to spontaneous preterm birth: a role for asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis and DNA variants in genes that control the inflammatory response.

Objective: We determined whether an environmental exposure to bacterial vaginosis (BV) modified genetic susceptibilities for spontaneous preterm delivery within genes that regulate the inflammatory response.

Study Design: Maternal DNA samples and vaginal smears for Gram staining were collected from 743 women (68 preterm births). We used a 1536-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) custom chip to study associations between genotype distributions and preterm birth.

Periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes: is there an association?

Objective: We assessed the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth [PTB], preeclampsia [PRE], fetal growth restriction [FGR], or perinatal death) in women with periodontal disease (PD) compared to those without.

Study Design: A multicenter prospective cohort study enrolled women from 3 sites between 6 and 20 weeks' gestation. The presence of PD was defined as periodontal attachment loss > or = to 3 mm on 3 or more teeth.

A meta-analytic approach to determine the state of the science on implant dentistry.

Meta-analyses have been widely used to estimate treatment effects in evidence-based dentistry. Few conferences, however, have used a systems approach to assure coherent data management and analysis. The purpose of this section is to describe the data management and statistical analysis for the State of the Science of Implant Dentistry (SSID) conference.

Efficacy of bisphosphonates for the control of alveolar bone loss in periodontitis.

Periodontal disease is characterized by periodontal bone loss. For this reason, we conducted a study to test the effect of alendronate (ALN), an inhibitor of bone resorption, on alveolar bone mass. A total of 335 patients with periodontal disease (men = 162, women = 173), aged 30 to 79, were randomized to either placebo or ALN 70 mg once weekly.

Expected estimating equations for missing data, measurement error, and misclassification, with application to longitudinal nonignorable missing data.

Missing data, measurement error, and misclassification are three important problems in many research fields, such as epidemiological studies. It is well known that missing data and measurement error in covariates may lead to biased estimation. Misclassification may be considered as a special type of measurement error, for categorical data.

Periodontal disease and pregnancy outcomes: exposure, risk and intervention.

Despite the many advances in medicine, the rate of preterm birth has not significantly decreased in the United States over the past several decades. In fact, the rate rose in 2003 to more than 12% of all births in the United States. This equates to over half a million premature births in the United States alone.

Safety of oral bisphosphonates: controlled studies on alveolar bone.

Purpose: Osteoporosis and osteopenia are characterized by reductions in bone mass and may lead to skeletal fragility and fracture. The latest generation of oral bisphosphonate drugs, including alendronate and risendronate, has been approved for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. These medications are chemically absorbed into bone, decreasing osteoclast number and activity and thereby decreasing bone resorption.

Osteoporosis and periodontal bone loss.

Osteoporosis and osteopenia are characterized by reductions in bone mass, and may lead to skeletal fragility and fracture. Until the advent and widespread use of such methodology to measure bone density, such as dual energy X-ray absorption (DXA), the definition of osteoporosis was usually made using the clinical signs of a fracture. In 1994 the World Health Organization defined osteoporosis as a bone mineral density level more than 2.

Quantification and analysis of pain in nonsurgical scaling and/or root planing.

Background: Three efficacy studies, comprising a database of 337 subjects, were conducted as part of the clinical evaluation of the noninjectable anesthetic gel Oraqix (AstraZeneca, Södertälje, Sweden). The authors discuss some of the challenges encountered when they interpreted the results of the clinical studies and present the results from an alternative analysis of the anesthetic efficacy.

Methods: The three multicenter studies were double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled.

Periodontal disease and upper genital tract inflammation in early spontaneous preterm birth.

Objective: To estimate the relationship between maternal periodontal disease and both early spontaneous preterm birth and selected markers of upper genital tract inflammation.

Methods: In this case-control study, periodontal assessment was performed in 59 women who experienced an early spontaneous preterm birth at less than 32 weeks of gestation, in a control population of 36 women who experienced an early indicated preterm birth at less than 32 weeks of gestation, and in 44 women with an uncomplicated birth at term (>or = 37 weeks). Periodontal disease was defined by the degree of attachment loss.

Comparison between subtraction radiography and conventional radiographic interpretation during long-term evaluation of periodontal therapy in Class II furcation defects.

Background: Limited information comparing digital subtraction radiographic assessment with conventional radiographic interpretation is available from longitudinal clinical trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability to detect periodontal bone changes during the long-term maintenance of Class II furcation defects by conventional radiographic interpretation compared to interpretation of digital subtraction images.

Methods: Standardized radiographs of 18 Class II furcation defects in mandibular molars were taken at baseline and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after non-resective periodontal surgery.