Relationship Between Periodontal Screening and Recording Index Scores and Need for Periodontal Access Surgery.

Background: The validity of using pretreatment Periodontal Screening and Recording (PSR) index sextant scores to estimate periodontal access surgery needs is evaluated in patients with chronic periodontitis before and after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy.

Methods: In 110 adults, pretreatment probing data identified 486 sextants with PSR scores of 4 and 125 sextants with PSR scores of 3. Periodontal access surgery needs for all sextants were determined prior to treatment and after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy for 213 sextants in 38 patients by two experienced periodontist examiners.

Using chlorhexidine varnish to prevent early childhood caries in American Indian children.

Objectives: To test the efficacy of 10% chlorhexidine (CHX) dental varnish applied to the mothers' dentition in preventing caries in American Indian children.

Methods: This was a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Mother-child pairs were enrolled when the child was 4.

Bacterial and salivary biomarkers predict the gingival inflammatory profile.

Background: The aim of this human investigation is to explore the relationship of gingivitis with salivary biomarkers, periodontal pathogens, and interleukin (IL)-1 polymorphism after a transient inflammatory burden.

Methods: Thirty healthy human participants were randomized by IL-1 genotype status to control for potential influences of this particular single nucleotide polymorphism on the inflammatory profile. Oral hygiene practices ceased for 21 days to induce gingivitis (induction), after which home care was reinstated until 35 days (resolution).

Issues of recruitment and rationale for conducting clinical trials on mutans streptococci suppression in mothers.

The aims of this study are (1) to describe issues related to recruitment of mothers participating in a clinical trial of transmission of mutans streptococci (MS) from mother to child in Bauru, Brazil and (2) to perform cross-cultural and temporal comparisons of levels of infection of the MS in mothers of Bauru. A total of 1422 mothers were visited at their domiciles. Cutoff levels for the MS were established at ≥10(5) CFU/mL saliva.

Periodontal disease activity measured by the benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide test is associated with preterm births.

Background: Infection is a risk factor for preterm birth. This study was conducted in the field and addressed the link between periodontal pathogens measured with the benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide (BANA) test and preterm birth.

Methods: This prospective study was performed in Changhua, Taiwan.

Anaerobic dental flora and the acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: Evidence exists that coronary heart disease is influenced by anaerobic bacterial flora and gingival inflammation. We assessed the association of periodontal bacteria, coronary artery disease, and acute coronary events.

Methods: The benzoyl-DL-arginine naphthylamide test, which detects several periodontal pathogens, and the papillary bleeding score were used to quantify gingival health.

The transmission of BANA-positive periodontal bacterial species from caregivers to children.

Background: The purpose of the authors' study was to use the N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-2-naphthy-lamide (BANA) test (BANAMet LLC, Ann Arbor, Mich.) to obtain information regarding the prevalence of an enzyme unique to certain periodontal pathogens in plaque samples of children, as well as the potential transmission of these pathogens from caregivers to children.

Methods: The authors tested 218 subjects (3 to 10 years old) and 195 care-givers at four pediatric dentistry clinics in Taipei, Taiwan.

On the Acquisition of Periodontopathic Bacteria by Children from Mothers: A Randomized Double-Masked Placebo-Controlled Trial in Bauru, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to determine the effects of mechanical and chemical modalities treatments on periodontal clinical and microbiological parameters of mothers; and 2) to determine the subsequent colonization of periodontal pathogens in tongue samples from their infants. DESIGN: A total of 168 mothers met inclusion criteria to participate in a randomized double-masked placebo-controlled clinical trial. Of those, 121 mothers (and their infants) of 158 seen at baseline provided complete data during study protocols from when their infants were 3 months old until the infants were about 2 years old.

Compliance with Xylitol and Sorbitol Chewing Gum Regimens in Clinical Trials.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate compliance of long-term xylitol and sorbitol chewing gum regimens in adult women participating in a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. DESIGN: The participants included 122 mothers (age range: 16-35 years) residing in the city of Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. Compliance with the xylitol and sorbitol chewing gum regimens was assessed by weighing, with a precision balance, all used gums returned in zip-lock bags during the study period of 33 months.

The nonsurgical treatment of patients with periodontal disease: results after 6.4 years.

In a previous study involving patients at the dental clinic of the Detroit Receiving Hospital, 87% of teeth that initially had been recommended for surgery or extraction were spared either treatment through a combination of debridement and short-term usage of antimicrobial agents. The object of the present study was to determine what changes occurred to these teeth after 6.4 years in the maintenance phase of treatment.

Microbiology and Treatment of Halitosis.

The many thousands of individuals who experience oral malodor that stems from the overgrowth of proteolytic, anaerobic bacteria on their tongue surfaces can be successfully treated by a regimen that includes tongue brushing and tooth brushing, often in combination with a mouthrinse containing an antibacterial agent. Several candidate mouthrinses containing essential oils (Listerine; Warner-Lambert, Morris Plains, NJ), ZnCl(2), chlorine dioxide, or an oil:water-cetylpyridium chloride mouthrinse have reduced the organoleptic scores of individuals with moderate levels of oral malodor in the absence of tongue brushing. Very little long-term data beyond 6 weeks of use are available.

Microbiology and treatment of halitosis.

The prevalence of oral malodor is probably high in the United States, although precise epidemiological data are missing. The many thousands of individuals who experience oral malodor from the overgrowth of proteolytic, anaerobic bacteria on their tongue surfaces can be successfully treated by a regimen that includes tongue brushing, toothbrushing and possibly the usage of mouthrinses containing various agents. Several candidate mouthrinses containing essential oils (Listerine), ZnCl2, or an oil, water and cetylpyridum chloride mouthrinse have reduced the organoleptic scores of individuals with moderate levels of oral malodor in the absence of tongue brushing.

Preventing the transfer of Streptococcus mutans from primary molars to permanent first molars using chlorhexidine.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the application of 1% chlorhexidine-containing wax on primary molars during the period of eruption of the first permanent molars could prevent the transfer of certain oral flora, namely Streptococcus mutans, to the permanent molars.

Methods: Fourteen children with a mean age of 6.5 years (7 males and 7 females) were assigned into two groups: a chlorhexidine group (n=9) in which 1% chlorhexidine-containing wax was painted on primary molars on one side of the mouth; and a placebo wax group (n=5) in which a similar wax, but without chlorhexidine, was painted on primary molars on the other side of the mouth.

The nonsurgical treatment of patients with periodontal disease: results after five years.

Background: In a previous study involving patients seen at the dental clinic of the Detroit Receiving Hospital, the authors found that 87 percent of teeth initially recommended for surgery or extraction were spared those treatments by a combination of debridement and short-term usage of antimicrobial agents. The objective of the present study was to determine how long the surgery-sparing benefits of less invasive treatment would persist.

Methods: Ninety of these patients were scheduled for maintenance therapy at three-month intervals over a five-year period.

DNA Probe and Enzyme Analysis in Periodontal Diagnostics.

Recent research in periodontology has indicated that a finite number of bacterial species are associated with periodontal disease. This has generated the hypothesis that periodontal disease is essentially an infection due to one or more of the putative periodontopathogens; i.e.