Should Periodontists Prescribe Postoperative Oral Corticosteroids to Control Pain and Swelling? A Systematic Review.

FOCUSED CLINICAL QUESTION: In generally healthy patients receiving third molar, periodontal, or dental implant surgery, do postoperative oral corticosteroids effectively limit pain and swelling compared with placebo or alternative medications?

Orthodontic Treatment of Periodontally Compromised Teeth After Laser Periodontal Therapy: A Case Report.

Objective: To assess stability of laser periodontal therapy (LPT) results after orthodontic tooth movement. Background: Periodontitis and malocclusion each exhibit high global prevalence. Thus, dentists inevitably face increasing demand for orthodontic treatment in patients with reduced periodontal support. Many of these patients benefit from orthodontic treatment, provided that periodontal inflammation is controlled. Materials and methods: We present a case demonstrating successful orthodontic treatment of periodontally compromised teeth after LPT. A patient with severe attachment and alveolar bone loss received orthodontic treatment 13 months after neodymium-doped: yttrium aluminum garnet LPT (1064 nm). We utilized three laser parameter sets for various purposes during the procedure-ablation of the periodontal pocket epithelium (2.8 W, 20 Hz, 100 µs), clot stabilization (2.8 W, 20 Hz, 550 µs), and photobiomodulation (2.8 W, 20 Hz, 100 µs, noncontact). Results: Treatment resulted in improved radiographic bone levels, clinical parameters consistent with periodontal health, and favorable occlusal relationships. Conclusions: In the presented case, we successfully treated a patient presenting with malocclusion and reduced periodontal support while avoiding the risk and morbidity of conventional periodontal surgery. Controlled clinical research to establish the predictability of the described approach appears warranted.