ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Periodontitis is a progressive disease of microbial origin involving the loss of supporting tissues of the teeth resulting from host inflammatory and immunologic reactions. The standard approach to the prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases for a number of years has been mechanical therapy and if required surgical intervention Researcher thought of creating a treatment modality where by altering the host response, the destructive host mechanisms could be interfered affecting the final outcome of the disease process. AIM: The present study aims to explore the efficacy of local delivery of a 1% Alendronate (ALN) gel as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) for the treatment of infrabony periodontal pockets in smokers and non-smoker with Chronic Periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 60 infrabony periodontal pockets in patients with chronic periodontitis between the age group of 30-50 years were selected. The study consisted of 2 groups smoker and nonsmoker. A gel based drug delivery system of Alendronate was formulated. 0.1 ml alendronate gel and 0.1 ml placebo gel was placed at the experimental and control sites respectively following root planing. Clinical and radiographic parameters were recorded at baseline, three months and six months. RESULTS: Alendronate was effective in improving clinical and radiographic parameters compared to placebo. Alendronate showed better result in non smoker group when compared with smoker group. CONCLUSION: This Study showed improvements in clinical parameters both at the control and experimental sites. However, the experimental sites (Alendronate) showed greater improvement as compared to the control sites (Placebo). A significant gain in alveolar crest height and defect fill was measured radiographically at non smoker Alendronate group.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge, attitude, self-reported practices, and prescription patterns regarding dental floss amongst a select population of dentists in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pretested 30-item questionnaire was self-administered by authors to the dental faculty and postgraduate students in dental schools in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Nine dental institutes were selected by simple random sampling procedure among 15 institutions and a total of 255 dentists were included in the study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data obtained were analyzed by SPSS version 18. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies were calculated and Pearson's Chi-square test was used with P value fixed at 0.05. RESULTS: There was lack of adequate knowledge regarding dental floss, among dentists in India. 78% of the dentists responded that the routine use of dental floss was necessary for good periodontal health. Majority of the dentists cited lack of awareness, availability, and cost as the major factors affecting floss usage. Lack of training in the dental education programs may have an impact on the prescription patterns as well. 15.3% of those surveyed do not use floss at all. 63.9% of the dentists prescribed floss routinely to their patients and considered factors like education, occupation, and socioeconomic status of the patient before prescribing dental floss. CONCLUSION: Health education programs regarding dental floss are necessary to create awareness among the general population and adequate training at undergraduate level is also essential to increase the prescription practices. Dentists should practice recommended oral self-care and act as role models.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Investigators have sought different methods to deliver antimicrobials to periodontal pockets. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of locally made doxycycline gel versus locally made doxycycline implant as biodegradable controlled local delivery systems, by evaluating the pharmacological drug release and improvement in gingival status, gain in attachment, and reduction in pocket depth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with localized periodontal pockets ≥5 mm were randomly divided into three groups. The first group received the doxycycline gel, the second the doxycycline implant, and the third received only scaling and root planing (the control group). The patients in the first two groups were selected for the drug release. Clinical parameters such as gingival index, plaque index, probing depth, and attachment levels were recorded at baseline and the 90(th) day. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva samples were collected 1 hour following gel and implant placement and then on the 10(th), 30(th), and 60(th) days. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the release of doxycycline from the gel when compared with the implant in the GCF and saliva on the 10(th) and 30(th) days. All the three groups showed improvement in clinical parameters. The improvements in both gel and implant groups were greater when compared with the control group with no statistically significant difference between the implant and gel systems. CONCLUSION: The use of local delivery of doxycycline through gel and Implant media further enhances the positive changes obtained following scaling and root planing. The release of doxycycline from the implant and the gel was comparable.
