Diode laser-assisted management of intraoral soft tissue overgrowth: a case series.

The conventional method of managing intraoral soft tissue overgrowth involves surgical excision using a scalpel under local anesthesia. These procedures are often associated with excessive bleeding that leads to complications. Now, minimally invasive methods such as laser excision are available for the management of intraoral soft tissue lesions. The objective of the present case series is to describe the use of a 980-nm diode laser to treat 4 cases of soft tissue enlargement of the oral cavity. Two women and 2 men with an age range of 21-73 years presented with chief complaints of intraoral swelling. The overgrowth was located on the tongue in 2 patients and in the gingival region in 2 patients. In all 4 patients, the overgrown tissues were excised with a 980-nm gallium-arsenide diode laser at a power of 1.0-4.0 W in continuous-wave contact mode. Excised tissues were sent for histopathologic examination to confirm the clinical diagnosis. Each lesion was excised with adequate hemostasis in 15-20 minutes. At the recall examination after 10 days, patients did not report any postoperative complications. There was no sign of recurrence in any patient at the 3-month follow-up. Based on the histopathologic reports, 2 lesions were diagnosed as pyogenic granuloma, 1 as capillary hemangioma (a form of pyogenic granuloma), and 1 as peripheral ossifying fibroma. The results of this limited case series suggest that a 980-nm diode laser may be an advantageous surgical modality for treating benign proliferative lesions of the oral mucosa with negligible postoperative adverse sequelae.

Root resection - Exploring ways beyond extraction.

One of the crucial challenges that any present-day general dentist confronts is the treatment determination between extracting a tooth and placement of a dental implant or by conserving the natural tooth with an interdisciplinary approach. The rising concern amongst the patients towards preserving their dentition has driven the clinicians towards providing treatment options that are more appropriate and conservative and at the same time does not hamper its functional needs. This report highlights one such way of preserving the periodontally compromised natural tooth with just resecting the diseased part of it and also conserving the proprioceptive capacity of the tooth. One-year of regular follow up and maintenance paving way to a healthy periodontium and complete resolution of mobility concerning the affected tooth is described. This report also provides information on root resection in a mandibular molar as a viable and a definitive treatment modality, providing better access to the remaining tooth structure and thereby enabling successive prosthetic rehabilitation.

Assessment of Pyrexia and Associated Sickness Behavior in Patients with Chronic Periodontitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess pyrexia and sickness behavior such as anxiety, depression, lethargy, and weight loss in subjects with chronic periodontitis, and evaluate inflammatory mediators such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the patients with fever. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that consisted of 150 chronic periodontitis and 150 healthy subjects. Sublingual and subgingival temperatures were assessed using a digital temperature probe. Associated sickness behavior was assessed for all the subjects. Pathological tests, i.e., ESR and CRP were done for subjects with fever. RESULTS: Evaluating the presence of fever with the severity of periodontal disease, 66.7% of the subjects with fever were in the group diagnosed with severe periodontitis, 20.4% had with moderate periodontitis, and 5.3% were in the healthy group. Subjects diagnosed with periodontitis comprised 66.2% of the subjects with higher (i.e., > 36.3°C) subgingival temperatures and healthy subjects made up the remaining 33.8% (p < 0.001). A correlation between the sublingual and subgingival temperature with the Pearson ρ correlation coefficient of 0.227 (p < 0.001) was observed. A statistically significant mean value of 37.05 ± 11.24 of ESR and 1.59 ± 1.11 mg/L of CRP was reported amongst the subjects with fever (p < 0.001). The association of sickness behavior with the severity of periodontitis was found to be significant: depression 40.006, anxiety 50.857, reported weight loss 76.463, and lethargy 141.581 (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that there is a significant increase in the sublingual temperature amongst patients with severe chronic periodontitis. The subgingival temperature has a positive correlation with the sublingual temperature. There was a linear trend of an association of sickness behavior with the severity of chronic periodontitis. A significant increase in the circulating inflammatory mediators, CRP and ESR, were noticed in subjects with elevated body temperature.

Use of a mandibular torus for autogenous grafting: a case report.

Conventional treatment for the management of 2- to 3-walled intrabony defects is the use of allograft or alloplasts. Autogenous grafts are the gold standard because of their osteogenic potential. Mandibular tori are an ideal site for harvesting bone because their excision causes no structural, esthetic, or functional compromise to the patient. This case report describes the use of an autogenous graft obtained from a mandibular torus. The graft was utilized, in particulate form, to fill an intrabony defect at the mandibular right central incisor. The mandibular torus provided sufficient graft material and eliminated the need for a second surgical site. A follow-up at 1 year revealed reduction in clinical attachment loss and complete resolution of tooth mobility.

Effect of cadmium on chlorophyll biosynthesis and enzymes of nitrogen assimilation in greening maize leaf segments: role of 2-oxoglutarate.

Supply of cadmium chloride (0.5 mM) inhibited chlorophyll formation in greening maize leaf segments, while lower concentration of Cd (0.01 mM) slightly enhanced it. Inclusion of 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG, 0.1-10 mM) in the incubation mixture increased chlorophyll content in the absence as well as presence of Cd. Substantial inhibition of chlorophyll formation by Cd was observed at longer treatment both in the absence and presence of 2-OG. When the tissue was pre-incubated with 2-OG or Cd, the inhibition (%) of chlorophyll formation by Cd was lowered in the presence of 2-OG. Treatment with Cd inhibited ALAD activity and ALA formation and the inhibition (%) of ALA formation by Cd was strongly reduced in the presence of 2-OG. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity was increased by the supply of Cd both in the absence as well as presence of 2-OG. In the presence of 2-OG, Cd supply significantly increased glutamate synthase (GOGAT) activity and reduced inhibition (%) of glutamine synthetase (GS) activity. The results suggested the involvement of the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase (GS/GOGAT) pathway of ammonia assimilation to provide the precursor, glutamate, for ALA synthesis under Cd toxicity and 2-OG supplementation.