A Novel Approach for Immediate Implant-Based Oral Rehabilitation in a Sjögren's Syndrome Patient Using Virtual Surgical and Prosthetic Planning.

Patients with Sjögren syndrome (SS) experience difficulties in wearing conventional dentures. After removal of all teeth, the oral rehabilitation is challenging and time consuming using conventional treatment protocols. Although implant-retained overdentures are beneficial for this specific patient group, the average total oral rehabilitation time (TORT) usually takes at least 9 months and needs to be reduced to increase patients' quality of life (QoL). In this paper, we report on a new treatment concept for immediate implant-based oral rehabilitation in a 77-year-old patient with partial edentulous SS. Because of persistent pain, discomfort, and retention problems with the conventional prosthetic devices, full clearance of the remaining mandibular dentition and immediate oral rehabilitation with an implant-retained overdenture were suggested. The treatment protocol included virtual surgical planning (VSP), combining a guided bone reduction of the mandibular alveolar process, immediate dental implant placement, and restoration using a prefabricated bar and placement of the overdenture. This method demands the use of ionizing 3D imaging optionally combined with an optical dental scan or a conventional impression. Furthermore, one needs to gain experience using VSP software. This novel treatment concept for immediate implant-based oral rehabilitation using VSP proved to be feasible and safe in a patient with SS, resulting in a significantly reduced TORT and improved QoL. Further research is needed to what extent this treatment concept could be beneficial to other patient groups, such as patients with head and neck cancer.

Tooth loss in Sjögren's syndrome patients compared to age and gender matched controls

BACKGROUND: To analyze the prevalence and location of tooth loss in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients and compare them with an age- and gender-matched control group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dental charts and x-rays of 108 (SS) patients were retrieved from an academic dental center and special care dentistry department. For each SS patient, an age- and gender-matched non-SS patient was randomly selected. Medication, number of extractions and date and location of extractions were assessed. Differences between SS and non-SS patients were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests, Chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: Significantly more SS patients were edentulous compared to the non-SS group (14.8% versus 1.9%, p= 0.001). SS patients had a 61% higher risk to have experienced one or more extractions than control patients. In the SS group, there was a non-significant tendency for more maxillary teeth to have been extracted than mandibular teeth (42:34). In the control group, the number of extractions in the maxilla and mandible were comparable (21:20). When divided into sextants, the number of SS patients with one or more extractions was significantly higher than for non-SS patients for each sextant (p= 0.001 to p= 0.032). The largest difference in the proportion of patients with one or more extractions between the SS and non-SS patients occurred in the upper anterior sextant (3.4 times more frequent). CONCLUSIONS: SS patients are more prone to experience dental extractions compared to patients without SS. It could be speculated that this is related to a decreased salivary secretion

Relationship among perceived stress, xerostomia, and salivary flow rate in patients visiting a saliva clinic.

OBJECTIVE: This aimed to assess the potential role of chronic stress in saliva secretion, xerostomia, and oral health in a population attending a saliva clinic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of 114 patients who met the inclusion criteria and completed all questionnaires were analyzed in this study. Participants completed several validated questionnaires, including the Perceived Stress Scale, the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), Xerostomia Inventory (XI), and Bother xerostomia Index (BI). Subsequently, the unstimulated, chewing-stimulated, and citric acid-stimulated saliva secretion rates were determined gravimetrically. Data were evaluated using Spearman's correlation analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: A significant correlation was observed between perceived stress and XI score (r = 0.312, p = 0.001), as well as between perceived stress and BI score (r = 0.334, p = 0.001). Stress levels also were significantly associated with OHIP-14 scores (r = 0.420, p < 0.001), but an association between experienced stress and salivary flow rate could not be established. CONCLUSION: In this population, perceived chronic stress seems to be related to several aspects of dry mouth, including the perception of dry mouth, suffering from dry mouth, and the impact on quality of life. These effects were independent of the use of psychotropic medication. No actual reduction in salivary flow was found. Further studies to explore the causal linkage of stress with xerostomia seem warranted. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Perceived chronic stress seems to be related with several aspects of dry mouth. This finding might be relevant in future prevention and treatment of xerostomia.