ABSTRACT
We evaluated the oral health status of 85 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)/lymphoma pediatric patients who received remission-induction and maintenance chemotherapy and 85 age and sex-matched healthy children with the criteria of World Health Organization (WHO) and to determine the prevalence and distribution of dental problems in order to constitute preventive dentistry precautions in this study. The gingival tissues were scored with Community Index of Periodontal Treatment Necessity (CPITN) and dmf-t and DMF-T indices were used for caries evaluation. In the study group, malocclusion was found in 24 patients (28.2%). CPITN was scored as follows in the study group; 11% of the patients had healthy gingiva (Grade 0), the presence of plaque (Grade I) 79% of the patients, the presence of calculus (Grade II) 10% of patients were observed. Nevertheless, mucositis was found with various grades in 9 patients who received chemotherapy. Decayed teeth were found in the 76 patients and in 45 healthy children. 91.7% of patients and 52.9% of children needed dental treatment were determined. The DMF-T and dmf-t scores showed that ALL/lymphoma patients had more decayed and needed more dental treatment, missing or filled teeth both in their deciduous (p< 0.001) and permanent (p< 0.05) dentition when compared to systemically healthy children.
ABSTRACT
A natural polysaccharide, chitosan (poly-N-acetyl glucosaminoglycan), which is a nontoxic and bioabsorbable polymer, has been shown to have hemostatic and antibacterial effects. An amino acid, taurine, is considered to be beneficial for regulating the inflammation process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the synergistic effects of taurine and chitosan in the experimental defects at the vestibular bone of maxillary canine teeth in six dogs. Chitosan films were prepared as delivery system with or without taurine and placed in the randomly chosen defects. Biopsies were performed on the postoperative seventh day and routine histological procedures were performed for light and electron microscopic evaluations. For each group, 30 different microscopic areas were examined and the numbers of macrophages and neutrophils in these areas were counted. The mean numbers of both macrophages and neutrophils were found statistically different between the chitosan film incorporated with taurine and free chitosan groups (p < 0.0001 p > 0.05). In addition to the increase in cell counts in both groups, the cytological alterations were more obvious in the chitosan film group incorporated with taurine. Accordingly, taurine appears to enhance the acceleration effect of chitosan on wound healing at early periods. This effect could be considered beneficial in tissue repair in destructive diseases like periodontitis.