Botulinum Toxin Injections as an Adjunct to Surgical Lip Repositioning For Gummy Smile Treatment.

BACKGROUND: An attractive smile depends on the proper proportion and arrangement of lip, teeth gingiva scaffold. The ideal smile is the exposure of the entire length of maxillary teeth with 1 mm gingiva. A gingival display exceeding 3 mm is unpleasant and termed ''gummy smile (GS).'' Lip repositioning is a simple surgical procedure intended to minimize the gingival display by removing a strip of mucosa and shortening the vestibular depth. Botulinum toxin injecting overactive muscles with measured quantities results in a reduction of muscle activity, relaxing the lip muscles and decreasing upward pull on the lip. There are some contraindications: patients with short lips and gingival exposures less than 3 mm. PURPOSE: This case report describes the successful management of GS of a young man. CASE REPORT: The procedures were performed and these techniques resulted in shortened vestibule and restricted the muscle pull of the elevator muscles of the lip, reducing gingival display when the patient smiles. Surgical lip repositioning can be a minimally invasive alternative to orthognathic surgery. Botulinum Toxin injections can be a useful adjunct to enhance the esthetics and improve patient satisfaction, being a more conservative and immediate nonsurgical treatment modality available. CONCLUSIONS: In this way, the clinical case report demonstrated that lip repositioning surgery combined to botulinum toxin injections promising outcomes in the GS correction. The effect showed a marked reduction in gingival display at the 4-years follow-up.

Comparison of Two Screw-Retained Free Gingival Grafting Techniques.

Free gingival graft is a predictable technique for increasing the amount of attached gingiva and root coverage; however, its use is limited for cosmetic reasons. To overcome this issue, this study sought to compare 2 free gingival graft techniques that use oral screws to attach grafts. Free gingival graft was performed on teeth 44 to 46 using the traditional technique, while on the opposite side, on teeth 34 to 36, partly epithelialized free gingival grafts were performed. The partly epithelialized free gingival grafts were found to provide better cosmetic results relative to the completely epithelialized free gingival graft, and the use of stabilizing screws was found to be simple and effective.

Zygomatic Implant Subjected to Immediate Loading for Atrophic Maxilla Rehabilitation.

As life expectancy increases, a larger number of elderly people require dental health care attention for implant-supported rehabilitation, with the aim of restoring the function and aesthetics of the oral cavity. Most of these patients have lost their teeth long time ago, causing a severe bone resorption and maxillary sinus pneumatization. Therefore, the current study aims to demonstrate, through the description of the clinical case, the treatment with zygomatic implants as an option for treating severely atrophic maxillas. In this clinical study, the patient presented, in the clinical and image evaluation, severe alveolar bone atrophy, with height and thickness loss, in addition to a high-level pneumatization of the maxillary sinus, bilaterally. The classical zygomatic fixation technique was suggested, with 2 anterior conventional implants and 2 zygomatic implants in the posterior region with the placement of implant-supported prosthesis with immediate loading. The patient was monitored for 7 years and did not present pain complaints, absence of infection, or implant loss. Based on this clinical case study, it was concluded that the zygomatic implants are satisfactory options to aid the implant-supported rehabilitation of atrophic maxillas.

Block bone graft fixation (onlay): a modification of the surgical technique.

Several reconstructive methods of the alveolar ridge have been reported to make possible future rehabilitations with implants. Many of these methods come from studies done in animals, mainly rats. With this clinical practice based on scientific evidence, any experimental procedure that can be undertaken in real life is fundamental. Thus, any research that emulates as closely as possible those techniques used in humans are important. This study describes the modification of the technique for block bone graft fixation (onlay) in rats using the "lag screw"-type technique, normally used in clinical procedures for grafts in humans. The conclusion was that the execution of the described procedures minimizes interference of blood flow in the area because of the maintenance of the muscle insertion in the buckle aspect of the most anterior region of the mandible, providing better stability to the graft and better contact interface of the graft and receptor bed.

Autogenous bone grafts contamination after exposure to the oral cavity.

The purpose of this paper was to analyze specimens of autogenous bone block grafts exposed to the oral cavity after ridge reconstructions. Specimens of chronic suppurative osteomyelitis (CSO) of the jaws were used as comparison for bacterial colonization pattern. For this, 5 specimens of infected autogenous bone grafts were used and 10 specimens of CSO embedded in paraffin were stained with Brown and Brenn technique and analyzed under light microscopy. The results showed a similar colonization pattern in both situations, with the establishment of bacterial biofilm and the predominance of Gram-positive bacteria. The conclusion was that the similarity in bacterial distribution and colonization between autogenous bone grafts and CSO stresses the necessity of more invasive procedures for the treatment of the autogenous bone grafts early exposed to the oral cavity.

Guided implant surgery: what is the influence of this new technique on bone cell viability?

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of implant osteotomy on immediate bone cell viability, comparing guided surgery for implant placement with the classic drilling procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this study, 20 rabbits were used. The animals were divided into a guided surgery group (GG) and a control group (CG) and were then divided into 4 subgroups--subgroups 1, 2, 3, and 4--corresponding to drills used 10, 20, 30, and 40 times, respectively. All animals received 5 osteotomies in each tibia, by use of the classic drilling procedure in one tibia and guided surgery in the other tibia. The osteotomized areas were removed and processed immunohistochemically for detection of osteocalcin, receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), and caspase 3. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical analysis showed that osteocalcin expression was initially higher in the CG and remained constant after drill reutilization. Although the expressions of RANKL and OPG were not statistically different for the GG and CG, the RANKL/OPG ratio tended to be higher for the GG. Moreover, caspase 3 expression was elevated in the GG, proportionally to the number of osteotomies, indicating an increase in the apoptosis index in the GG. CONCLUSIONS: The classic drilling procedure is more favorable to cell viability than guided surgery.

Incomplete mandibular fracture after lateralization of the inferior alveolar nerve for implant placement.

PURPOSE: The present case describes an inferior alveolar nerve lateralization for implant placement that caused mandible fracture a few days after surgery. CLINICAL REPORT: In this case, a 56-year-old female patient who had a severely atrophied jaw and showing bone height less than 7 mm from the bone crest and the mandibular canal was submitted to surgery lateralization of the inferior alveolar conducted with piezzo. Even with all postoperative care, the patient suffered an incomplete fracture of the mandible a few days after lateralization of the inferior alveolar nerve for implant placement. The patient was treated with soft diet and medications for pain and antibiotics, besides removing the implant associated with the fracture. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that this procedure may be conducted in 2 operative periods: firstly, the lateralization of the inferior alveolar; and secondly, after a period of 3 months, the implant placement in a situation of more bone stability.

Effectiveness of Hyaluronic Acid Injection for Interdental Papillae Recovery in Esthetic Areas: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid (HA) injections used to reduce defects in the gingival papillae in esthetic areas. This randomized study included six patients requiring black triangle treatment in 19 defective papillae. After local anesthesia, less than 0.2 mL of HA was injected 2 to 3 mm into the tip of the deficient papilla in the apical direction. Analysis of the target regions with standardized photographs and 3D intraoral scanning (CEREC 4.5 software with RST files, Dentsply Sirona) was performed at baseline (T0) and at 1 month (T1), 2 months (T2), 3 months (T3), and 4 months (T4) after the initial application of HA. At each time period, the photographic analysis showed no statistically significant differences in linear tissue gain after HA gel application. The 3D analysis showed improvements in the vertical papillae tissue recovery at T3 (0.41 ± 0.21 mm) and T4 (0.38 ± 0.21 mm) when compared to T1 (0.13 ± 0.08 mm; P < .0001). Regarding the reconstruction of the interdental papillae, the general dimensions of the tissue in the black triangle areas showed a significant increase in size percentage at T3 (58% ± 32.9%) compared to T1 (30.41% ± 23.4%; P = .0054). Thus, the application of injectable HA was effective for filling papillae in the esthetic area. Int J Periodontics Restorative Dent 2023;43:e73-e80. doi: 10.11607/prd.5814.

Periodontal and prosthetic biologic considerations to restore biological width in posterior teeth.

The biologic width is an essential dental space that always needs to be maintained to ensure periodontal health in any dental prosthetic restorations. An iatrogenic partial fixed prosthesis constructed in lower posterior teeth predisposed the development of subgingival caries, which induced violation of the biologic width in involved teeth, resulting in an uncontrolled inflammatory process and periodontal tissue destruction. This clinical report describes a periodontal surgical technique to recover a violated biologic width in lower posterior teeth, by crown lengthening procedure associated with free gingival graft procedure, to ensure the possibility to place a modified partial fixed prosthesis in treated area. The procedure applied to recover the biologic width was crown lengthening with some modifications, associated with modified partial fixed prosthesis to achieve health in treated area. The modified techniques in both surgical and prosthetic procedures were applied to compensate the contraindications to recover biologic width by osteotomy in lower posterior teeth. The result, after 4 years under periodic control, seems to achieve the projected goal. Treating a dental diseased area is necessary to diagnose, eliminate, or control all etiologic factors involved in the process. When the traditional methods are not effective to recover destructed tissues, an alternative, compensatory, and adaptive procedure may be applied to restore the sequelae of the disease, applying a restorative method that respects the biology of involved tissues.

Maxillary bone defect reconstruction using porous polyethylene implants.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the bone repair process in the maxillary sinus in monkeys treated with high-density porous polyethylene (Medpor) METHODS: Four capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were submitted to bilateral horizontal osteotomies in the anterior wall of the maxillary sinus and divided into 2 groups: control group, left side with no implants, and porous polyethylene group, right side with Medpor. After a period of 145 days after implant placement, the maxillae were removed for histologic and histometric analyses. RESULTS: Bone repair in osteotomized areas took place by connective tissue in 58.5% and 58.7% in the control group and the porous polyethylene group, respectively. In the contact surface with Medpor, bone repair occurred in 41.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Medpor was not reabsorbed within the period of this study and allowed bone repair surrounding it. The porous polyethylene constitutes a feasible alternative for bone defect reconstruction.