Association between Helicobacter pylori gastritis and dental diseases: A cross-sectional, hospital-based study in Eastern Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: There is inconsistent evidence about the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and dental diseases with possible effect of environmental factors. The aims of the study were to assess (1) the association between gastric and oral H. pylori colonization and (2) the association between oral colonization of H. pylori and dental diseases. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in King Fahad University hospital in Khobar, Eastern Saudi Arabia in 2017. Patients admitted to the Endoscopy Unit were recruited and clinically examined for plaque, decayed teeth (D), filled teeth (F), missing teeth (M), periodontal pocket depth (PPD), attachment loss (AL), and gingival bleeding in addition to assessing their age, gender, education, tooth brushing, flossing, and tobacco use with a questionnaire. Pooled dental plaque samples were collected and analyzed using nested polymerase chain reaction PCR to detect oral H. pylori. Gastroscopy was used to extract biopsies to assess gastritis and the presence of gastric H. pylori using Giemsa stain. Regression analysis was used to assess differences between patients with and without gastritis, oral H. pylori and gastric H. pylori in the percentage of sites with gingival bleeding, PPD, CAL, D, M, and F with adjustment for confounders. RESULTS: One hundred twenty patients were included. Most of them brushed daily (82.6%) and had university education (45.7%). Of these, 34.2% had gastric H. pylori and 5% had oral H. pylori. No significant association was observed between the percentage of sites with gingival bleeding, mean PPD, AL, F, and either gastritis, the presence of oral or gastric H. pylori. Patients with gastritis had significantly higher number of D and M than patients without gastritis (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the presence of gastric and oral H. pylori in patients with good oral hygiene and moderate socioeconomic status is not significantly associated with periodontal diseases. Patients with gastritis tend to have a higher number of decayed and missing teeth.

The Effect of Different Implant Surfaces and Photodynamic Therapy on Periodontopathic Bacteria Using TaqMan PCR Assay following Peri-Implantitis Treatment in Dog Model.

INTRODUCTION: Peri-implantitis is one of the late complications that leads to implant failure and is associated with specific microorganisms identified as periodontopathic bacteria. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the different implant surfaces and number of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola using TaqMan PCR assay after peri-implantitis treatment using photodynamic therapy. METHOD: Forty-eight dental implants with four different surface treatments (M: machined; SA: sandblasted acid-etched; S: 1 µm sputter HA-coated; and P: plasma spraying HA-coated) were inserted in six beagle dogs. After nine months of peri-implantitis induction, a split mouth design was used; on control side decontamination was performed using open flap mechanical debridement OFD with plastic curette, while photodynamic therapy PDT using diode laser (Ga Al As 830-nm) was used in the test side. For the following 2 weeks low-level laser therapy LLLT (10mW) was applied for the test side on alternative days for 6 sec on each implant side. Peri-implant microbial samples were collected using paper points and analyzed using TaqMan PCR before peri-implantitis treatment, immediately after treatment and 5 months posttreatment. RESULTS: Both treatment modalities showed significant decrease in all bacterial count from baseline to immediately after treatment (P< 0.0001). The count increased between immediately after treatment to 5 months after treatment (P< 0.0001); however, the count after 5 months was significantly lower than at baseline. PDT had a stronger effect on reducing P. gingivalis count than T. denticola and T. forsythia compared to OFD. For T. forsythia, implant surface treatment had the greatest effect which was also statistically significant (P= 0.02) with considerably lower effect of PDT or their interaction. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that PDT and OFD have significant benefits in peri-implantitis treatment by reducing bacterial count. The presence of bacterial complex with different response to therapeutic modality suggests the use of combined decontamination methods for peri-implantitis treatment.

Association between oral health knowledge and practices of Saudi pregnant women in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

This study assessed the association between oral health knowledge and practices of pregnant Saudi women selected from visitors to a government hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia in 2014. Women answered questions on oral health knowledge during pregnancy and knowledge of infant oral health. Most women (> 70%) knew that dental caries in children can be prevented, that pregnancy affects oral health and that dental treatment during pregnancy can negatively affect infants. Most women (> 80%) performed oral hygiene procedures but only 18% regularly visited the dentist. In a regression analysis, oral health knowledge was not significantly associated with reported oral hygiene practices. Women who visited the dentist regularly were more likely to know how to prevent caries in children, and that dental treatment during pregnancy and infant health were associated.

Torus mandibularis bone chips combined with platelet rich plasma gel for treatment of intrabony osseous defects: clinical and radiographic evaluation.

The use of platelet rich plasma (PRP) gel in combination with torus mandibularis offers a potentially useful treatment for periodontal osseous defects. Whether this combination enhances the outcome of periodontal regenerative therapy is not known. This study compared the effectiveness of torus mandibularis bone chips alone and when combined with autogenous PRP gel in treating periodontal osseous defects. 24 sites from 12 patients were selected using a split mouth design and determined by a double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Both sites received a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap; one intrabony defect was filled with torus mandibularis bone chips alone and the other with torus mandibularis bone chips mixed with PRP gel. There was a 57% gain in the clinical attachment level and 60% reduction in the probing depth for torus mandibularis alone compared to 72% and 68% for sites treated with torus mandibularis and PRP gel (p ≤ 0.01). There was a statistically significant difference in the bone dentistry and the marginal bone loss at sites with PRP gel compared to those without gel (p ≤ 0.01). The use of mandibular tori as autogenous bone graft combined with PRP gel showed a significant improvement in the clinical outcome of periodontal therapy than mandibular tori alone.

Molecular mechanisms controlling bone formation during fracture healing and distraction osteogenesis.

Fracture healing and distraction osteogenesis have important applications in orthopedic, maxillofacial, and periodontal treatment. In this review, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate fracture repair are contrasted with bone regeneration that occurs during distraction osteogenesis. While both processes have many common features, unique differences are observed in the temporal appearance and expression of specific molecular factors that regulate each. The relative importance of inflammatory cytokines in normal and diabetic healing, the transforming growth factor beta superfamily of bone morphogenetic mediators, and the process of angiogenesis are discussed as they relate to bone repair. A complete summary of biological activities and functions of various bioactive factors may be found at COPE (Cytokines & Cells Online Pathfinder Encyclopedia), http://www.copewithcytokines.de/cope.cgi.

Oral fluid proteolytic effects on histatin 5 structure and function.

Histatins are human salivary antifungal proteins that are prone to extensive enzymatic degradation upon their release into the oral cavity. Histatin proteolysis, leading to the disappearance of the intact protein can be expected to have functional consequences. Histatin 5, comprising 24 residues, is the smallest of the major salivary histatins and the most active in terms of its antifungal properties. The rate and mode of histatin 5 degradation were determined by incubating the protein in whole saliva supernatant for various time intervals. Fragmentation products were collected by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), characterised structurally by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and functionally in a fungal growth inhibition assay. Of the 19 fragments identified, 16 were derived from single proteolytic cleavage events in histatin 5. A remarkable finding was the inter-subject consistency in the histatin 5 degradation pattern. Added histatin 5 disappeared from whole saliva supernatant at an average rate of 105+/-22 microg/ml/h, which in part could explain the virtual absence of histatin 5 in whole saliva. Despite the rapid proteolysis of histatin 5, the early degradation mixture was as active in antifungal assays as intact histatin 5. These data demonstrate that the oral-fluid mediated proteolysis of histatin 5 represents an intrinsic biological property of whole saliva. The data also reveal that the early proteolysis phase of histatin 5 does not abolish the antifungal properties associated with this protein.