RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Dental care is provided for high-performance athletes at national and international sports events. Elite athletes may seek care for sports-related injuries and pre-existing oral diseases. Previous studies indicate an association between oral health problems and negative performance impacts in elite athletes. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of the most common oral pathologies in high-performance athletes during the emergency dental care performed at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games (JPL-19). METHODOLOGY: All reports of athletes (≥18 years old, of both sexes, from 41 countries) who received emergency dental care at Pan American Villas during the JPL-19 were included. Injuries and types of oral diseases were classified according to the Injury and Disease Surveillance System proposed by the International Olympic Committee. RESULTS: Of the 6680 participating athletes, 76 (1.14%) presented as dental emergencies, 90.8% (69/76) of the athletes seen presented pre-existing oral pathological conditions, the most frequent were periodontal diseases (34%, 26/76) and dental caries (29%, 22/76). Among the sports with the most cases, there were 22 (29%) in athletics, 6 (8%) in soccer, and 6 (8%) in taekwondo. The most frequent dental emergencies came from Peru, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Grenada, and Venezuela. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existing oral diseases were more frequent than sports-related accidents. The most prevalent diseases were periodontal disease and dental caries disease. It is necessary to implement new care strategies for athletes, based on prevention, before and during sports competitions.
RESUMO
The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in periodontal parameters solely using free gingival grafts during orthodontic treatment without any oral hygiene re-enforcement. METHODS: A total of 19 patients underwent periodontal examination before orthodontic treatment. Patients received oral hygiene instruction and professional hygiene therapy. Where needed; full periodontal treatment was completed. Only periodontally stable patients were included in the study. Periodontal indices and keratinized tissue were recorded at time 0 (T0) (delivery of orthodontic appliances), and at three months (T1) during orthodontic therapy; when surgery was performed. At T1; orthodontically treated sites with minimum keratinized tissue (≤1 mm) received a free gingival graft to enhance the band of keratinized tissue. At three months after surgery (T2), new measurements were recorded. The orthodontics-treated sites after three months (T1) were used as control. The same sites were used as a test three months after mucogingival correction (T2). Between T1 and T2; orthodontics was suspended; no professional oral hygiene was performed; and no additional oral hygiene instructions were given to the patient. No oral hygiene procedures were administered for 15 months (T3), when the final recordings were taken. RESULTS: The results showed that there was a worsening of gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PI) of the treated sites between T0 and T1 during initial orthodontics treatment; whereas there was an improvement of the gingival inflammation at T2 when compared with T1. At T2; there was also a statistically significant improvement in GI and PI compared with T0. A T3 improvement in periodontal parameters was sustained. A non-parametric test (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) was used for statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Augmentation of the width of keratinized gingiva; as the sole treatment; favors the improvement of GI and PI during orthodontic therapy.