The Effect of Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Periodontal Status among Dental Students.

OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of the current study is to relate oral health knowledge, attitude, and oral hygiene practice with the periodontal condition of both undergraduate and postgraduate dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected through a combination of self-reported questionnaire and clinical examination. The estimated sample size was 246. Probing depths and clinical attachment loss were measured in interproximal sites, whereas the gingival index was calculated based on Ramfjord teeth. The Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Periodontology classification was used for periodontal diagnosis. The subjects were divided into three groups. Group 1 was composed of undergraduate, preclinical dental students, group 2 consisted of undergraduate clinical-year dental students, whereas group 3 included postgraduate residents. RESULTS: A total of 296 dental students participated in this study. Significant differences were found among the groups in their oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice scores. Gingival disease was detected among most of the participants (99.2-100%) with significant differences between different educational levels (group 1 = 1.13, group 2 = 1.16, group 3 = 0.96, p-value = 0.001). Sixty percent of dental students were diagnosed with periodontal disease regardless of its severity. A positive correlation was established between oral health knowledge and attitude and oral hygiene practice. In addition, gingival inflammation severity and the severity of periodontal disease showed a positive correlation. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the need to improve the oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice of dental students. Gingival and periodontal inflammation was highly prevalent among participants.

Effect of 0.8% Hyaluronic Acid in Conventional Treatment of Moderate to Severe Chronic Periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the subgingival application of 0.8% hyaluronic acid (HA) gel (GENGIGEL®) as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) on clinical parameters and expression of human beta defensin-2 (hBD-2) in patients with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized, split mouth design study, 24 participants with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were evaluated after full mouth SRP. In the test sites 1 mL of 0.8% hyaluronan gel was applied subgingivally after SRP at baseline and 1 week post therapy. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), papillary bleeding index (PBI), periodontal probing depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were recorded and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected at baseline, after 6 and 12 weeks. Expression of human beta defensin-2 (hBD-2) was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: At baseline, there were no statistical differences between test and control sites in all clinical parameters and hBD-2 expression. An improvement of PI, GI, PBI, PPD, and CAL was observed at 6 and 12 weeks (p < 0.05) in both groups. Clinically, it was noticed that all indices except CAL had more statistically significant reduction in test sites than control sites at 6 and 12 weeks. The hBD-2 levels were significantly higher in the test sites than in the control sites at 6 and 12 weeks. CONCLUSION: The local application of 0.8% hyaluronan gel with SRP have a positive effect on periodontal health of moderate to severe chronic periodontitis patients after 6 and 12 weeks. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Subgingival application of 0.8% HA gel following SRP has shown anti-inflammatory effect and has a beneficial effect on clinical parameters in moderate to severe chronic periodontitis patients.

Association of Orthodontic Clear Aligners with Root Resorption Using Three-dimension Measurements: A Systematic Review.

AIM: This paper aims to assess the evidence in the literature reporting orthodontically induced inflammatory root resorption (OIIRR) in treatment with orthodontic clear aligners using 3D measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following preferred reporting Items for systematic reviews (PRISMA) statement, eight electronic databases were searched for relevant published and unpublished records. Data collected according to restricted inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 236 articles were identified as relevant to our topic. Duplicates were excluded resulting in 226 papers, out of which 31 papers were relevant after screening titles and abstracts. Only 2 high-level evidence papers out of the 31 met the inclusion criteria for the qualitative synthesis. CONCLUSION: Based on the available studies with high level of evidence in the literature, we conclude that orthodontic clear aligners are non-inferior to light-force fixed orthodontic appliances, and superior to heavy-force fixed orthodontic appliances in terms of the risk for developing apical root resorption. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Orthodontists can be more assured about the low-risk of OIIRR associated with clear aligners compared to other orthodontic treatment modalities, and it remains up to the practitioner's assessment to select the appropriate treatment on a case by case basis.