A study on clinical attachment loss and gingival inflammation as etiologic factors in pathologic tooth migration.

BACKGROUND: Several etiologic factors have been listed for pathologic migration of periodontally involved teeth based mainly on clinical observations with scarce scientific evidence. Present study was carried out to find out relationship of clinical attachment loss and gingival inflammation with pathologic tooth migration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 37 patients having 50 pairs of migrated and non-migrated contralateral teeth were taken into consideration. RESULTS: Mean total attachment loss per tooth in migrated and non migrated tooth is 13.32 ± 0.74 S.E. and 8.34 ± 0.58 S.E., respectively (P < 0.001), which reveals a positive correlation. There seems to be an association between frequency of migration and severity of attachment loss since highest percentage of migrations were seen in maximum total attachment loss group. Relationship could not be established between severity of attachment loss and severity of migration for which more data may be required. Also, it was seen that gingival index was significantly higher in migrated group. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that there exists a direct relationship between pathologic migration and clinical attachment loss as well as gingival inflammation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results emphasize the importance of early treatment of periodontitis to curb inflammation, which seems to be more important since it is completely reversible, and attachment loss also in order to prevent unaesthetic complications. Moreover bleeding along with recent change in position of teeth should be considered as important sign of active, moderate to severe periodontal disease by general dentists and hygienists so that they can refer for specialist consultation.

Clinical evaluation of the marginal gingiva as a donor tissue to augment the width of keratinized gingiva: Series of 2 cases with 3-year follow-up.

The indications to increase the width of keratinized gingiva have not been proven beyond doubt; however it becomes indispensable in certain clinical situations. Inspite of frequently encountered complications, palate is considered most preferred area to harvest the free gingival graft (FGG). This procedure aimed at investigating the potential of buccal marginal gingiva as a donor to augment keratinized gingiva. To the best of our knowledge, no such cases have been documented in the literature. FGG harvested from maxillary buccal marginal gingiva was used to augment gingiva in the mandibular anterior region for two patients. This not only improved plaque control but also resulted in acceptable esthetic results over 3 years. Furthermore, gingiva at donor sites gained its normal form and was in harmony with the neighboring teeth. It may be concluded that buccal marginal gingiva may provide a predictable substitute to other donor tissues to augment gingiva.

Unilateral gingival fibromatosis with localized aggressive periodontitis (involving first molars): An unusual case report.

An atypical and rare case report is presented here of a 16 years old female patient who presented with severe, unilateral, gingival enlargement along with aggressive periodontitis around first molars that was confined to the left side of her mouth. A careful recording of the case history and results of clinical examination, laboratory blood analysis, radiological findings, and microbiological and histopathological investigations were noted and a critical review of similar conditions was taken into account to arrive at the said diagnosis.

The minimum sum of absolute errors regression: a robust alternative to the least squares regression.

This paper concerns the minimum sum of absolute errors regression. It is a more robust alternative to the popular least squares regression whenever there are outliers in the values of the response variable, or the errors follow a long tailed distribution, or the loss function is proportional to the absolute errors rather than their squared values. We use data from a study of interstitial lung disease to illustrate the method, interpret the findings, and contrast with least squares regression. We point out some of the problems with the least squares analysis and show how to avoid these with the minimum sum of absolute errors analysis.