Intranasal (IN) COVID-19 vaccines - a breakthrough.

Emerging variants of COVID-19 have threatened the effectiveness of intramuscular (IM) vaccines since that are made to target only the spike protein. Development of Intranasal (IN) vaccination has been proven to provide both the mucosal and systemic immune responses for broader and long lasting protection. Many IN vaccine candidates (virus-vectored vaccines, recombinant subunit vaccines and live attenuated vaccines) are in different phases of clinical trials and in near future many companies would be releasing their vaccines into the drug market. Potential advantages of IN vaccination over IM vaccination makes them ideal to be administered in children and developing populations of the world. This paper focuses on the very recent developments in intranasal vaccination with a spotlight on their safety and efficacy concerns. IN vaccination can prove to be game-changer in handling COVID-19 and potential viral contagious diseases in future.

Treatment of gingival class I or class II recession using subepithelial connective tissue graft and acellular dermal matrix allograft.

The present randomized control was conducted clinically to evaluate the effectiveness of Acellular Dermal Matrix Allograft (ADMA) and Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft (SCTG) in combination with Coronally Positioned Flap (CPF) in the treatment of Miller's class I and II multiple gingival recession in aesthetic areas. A total of 20 patients aged between 18 to 40 years were selected for this study, meeting all the criteria for inclusion. 10 patients were treated with ADMA and 10 patients with SCTG in combination with CPF. Various clinical parameters were assessed viz. probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival recession height (RH) and width of keratinized gingiva (WKG) at baseline and 6 months after surgery. The mean RH at baseline in the control and test groups was 3.05 ±0 .55(mean± SD) and 2.60 ±.99 respectively. At 3 months the mean RH was found to be 1.60±0.74 and 1.05 ± .60 in the control and test group respectively. The mean percentage of root coverage (MRC%) at 6 months in the control and test group was 65.69 ±26.52 (mean± SD) and 65.54 ±.9.16 respectively but no statistically significant difference was seen between the two groups. The results of the study suggest that the combination of both subepithelial connective tissue graft and acellular dermal matrix graft with a coronally positioned flap can produce an equivalent amount of esthetic root coverage.

Data on the effect of sub-epithelial connective tissue graft with hydroxyl-apatite for furcation treatment in Indians.

Grade II furcation defect has a great potential for regeneration. Attempts have been made to regenerate lost periodontium in furcation defects through variety of approaches. A total of 22 patients with Grade II furcation defect were examined. The patients were sequentially grouped into three groups namely, (Group A) subepithelial connective tissue graft as a barrier membrane, (Group B) bovine bone graft material Bio-OssTM and (Group C) with the combination of the two. The treatment modalities show that there was a strong improvement in the resolution of the grade II furcation defects. The reduction in horizontal furcation defect measurement was 20.63% for group A. The change was found to be moderate (p=0.023*). The % change is 20.97% for group B and it is statistically significance (p = 0.001**). The % change was 20.78% in Group C with a good statistical significance (p=0.003**). Complete obliteration of the defect clinically and radio-graphically was observed for grade II furcation defect. Thus, the effect of sub-epithelial connective tissue graft with hydroxyl-apatite for furcation treatment in Indians is documented in this report.