Periodontal disease as a risk factor in pre-term low birth weight--an assessment of gynecologists' knowledge: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Pre-term low birth weight (PLBW) is a condition having tremendous financial impact on health care systems as well as the affected families. Studies suggest that 18.2% of all PLBW cases may be attributable to periodontal disease. OBJECTIVES: To assess gynecologists' knowledge of periodontal disease as a risk factor in PLBW and their knowledge with regard to the oral manifestations of periodontal disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted on gynecologists in the city of Mangalore. The respondents were divided into four groups--those practicing only in medical colleges, those having only a private practice, those practicing in both medical colleges and in private practice, and post-graduate students of gynecology in the medical colleges in the city. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The Chi-square test for proportions was used to test the differences between the groups. RESULTS: Out of a total of 142 gynecologists, 93 participated in the survey. Group II respondents were omitted from the statistical analysis as the response rate was only 18.8%. Periodontal disease was considered to be a risk factor in PLBW by 52 (59.8%) respondents while 13 (14.9%) stated that it was not a risk factor at all. Sixty-seven (77%) respondents stated that bleeding/enlargement of the gingivae was a sign of periodontal infection. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents' knowledge was high regarding the oral manifestations of periodontal disease but was low regarding periodontal disease as a risk factor in PLBW.

A clinical evaluation of bioactive glass particulate in the treatment of mandibular class II furcation defects

Bioactive glass particulate has been applied to dentistry in the treatmentof bone defects, ridge preservation and periodontal bone defectsincluding the furcation defects. The aim of this study was to comparethe clinical attachment gain and vertical and horizontal bone fillobtained with open flap debridement (OFD) alone and OFD withbioactive glass particulate in the treatment of mandibular Class IIfurcation defects. Twenty mandibular class II furcation defects wereselected in 16 systemically healthy patients out of which 10 defectswere treated with OFD alone (Group I) and other 10 defects weretreated with OFD and bioactive glass particulate (Group II). Eachdefect was randomly assigned to Group I and Group II. The softtissue and hard tissue measurements including vertical probing depth,horizontal probing depth, clinical attachment level, gingival recession,vertical depth of the furcation defects, and horizontal depth of thefurcation defects were recorded at baseline and six months post surgery.At 6 months evaluation, both treatment procedures resulted insignificant improvement in soft tissue and hard tissue parameterswhen compared to the baseline. There was no significant differencebetween the two groups with respect to soft tissue changes (p>0.05)like probing depth reduction (3.30 mm versus 2.90 mm), clinicalattachment level gain (2.90 mm Vs 2.80 mm) and gingival recession.Vertical defect fill were significantly greater in the bioactive glass sites(1.50 mm) compared to control sites (0.80 mm). There was highlysignificant reduction in horizontal probing depth of the defect (1.80mm Vs 1.10 mm, p< 0.05) after 6 months post surgery. In conclusion,bioactive glass showed significant improvement in clinical parameterslike vertical and horizontal defect fill in mandibular class II furcationdefects when compared to OFD.