Determination of toral antioxidant capacity of saliva in sickle cell anemic patients - A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell anemia is a congenital hemoglobinopathy characterized by deformed red blood cells. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of sickle cell anaemia as it destroys free radicals, and thereby depleting the protective mechanisms such as antioxidants in serum. These antioxidants are essential to protect against harmful oxidation-reduction reactions preventing oxidative damage to the cells. AIM: To evaluate and compare the Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of serum and saliva in sickle cell anemia patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 150 children aged 4-12 yrs were selected and divided into two equal groups: Children suffering from sickle cell anemia and healthy controls. Blood and saliva samples were collected aseptically from both groups and were subjected to phosphomolybdenum method. Absorbance was read spectrophotometrically at 695 nm. The concentration of total antioxidants was obtained by plotting absorbance of the test against the standard graph. RESULTS: TAC levels in serum (0.29±0.19) and saliva (0.29±0.14) of sickle cell anaemic patients was reduced when compared with serum (0.32+ 0.18) and saliva (0.33+ 0.16) of the healthy children. The correlation between levels of TAC in saliva and serum was found to be statistically significant in sickle cell anaemic patients. CONCLUSION: A significant correlation of the TAC was found in saliva and serum of the patients with SCA suggests that saliva could be used as a non invasive alternative for assessing the antioxidant status in patients with SCA.

Surgical Management of Large Radicular Cyst Associated with Mandibular Deciduous Molar Using Platelet-rich Fibrin Augmentation: A Rare Case Report.

Radicular cysts arising from deciduous teeth are rare and usually cause a large bony defect. Autologous platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is an easily available healing biomaterial in oral surgical defect with the new perspective of accelerated healing of a large bony defect. The present case is of unusually large radicular associated with neglected carious mandibular deciduous second molar in 10-year-old girl and its surgical management with PRF augmentation as a healing biomaterial in the bony defect. One-year follow-up showed uneventful healing and eruption of succedaneous tooth. Healing was relatively faster and facilitated by PRF placement. Furthermore, the importance of anticipatory guidance about the treatment of diseased primary teeth and their preservation gets highlighted.

Estimation of salivary nitric oxide levels in children with congenital heart diseases.

INTRODUCTION: Oral health problems, especially dental caries are known to be common in children with severe heart disease, especially at early ages. The role of nitric oxide (NO) in protection against oral diseases owing to its strong antimicrobial action has been a topic of interest. OBJECTIVE: The current study was carried out to estimate the NO levels in the salivary samples of children diagnosed with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) and to determine whether salivary NO can serve as a potential biomarker for the evaluation of dental caries-risk. METHODOLOGY: This prospective study was performed on 50 children suffering from CHDs who reported to the department of pediatrics and the levels were compared with those of 50 healthy caries-free children. NO levels in the collected salivary levels were determined spectrophotometrically using the Griess reaction method. RESULTS: Subjects between the age group of 6 and 12 years had maximum decayed teeth (20.95%). The mean NO level in children in study group (60.63) was decreased in comparison to the control group (132.40), which was statistically significant (P value of 0.001). The mean age of the subjects in the study group was 7.24 and the salivary NO levels decreased with age, which was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Children are suffering from medically compromising conditions such as CHDs are at a higher risk for dental caries and decreased salivary NO levels in these patients may prove as a critical indicator of the same. Saliva can be further utilized as an important biomarker for the determination of the relationship between salivary NO levels and development of dental caries.