Root coverage with coronally advanced flap:6-year follow-up.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term stability of root coverage without a regular control programme after coronally advanced flap (CAF) procedures in isolated gingival recessions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Recession defects were treated with CAF using microsurgery technique. Probing depth, clinical attachment level, keratinized gingival width, plaque index, papilla bleeding index, recession depth, recession width and root surface area was evaluated at baseline, and then postoperative 6-month and 6-year follow-up sessions. Percentages of root coverage and complete root coverage rates were also calculated. RESULTS: In total, 12 defects in 12 patients of the 36 defects in 30 patients were available for analysis at the 6-year follow-up examination (66.7% of the initial sites could be reached). Percentage of mean root coverage was 95.06% at 6-month and 69.27% at 6-year and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Complete root coverage rate decreased from 75% (at 6-month) to 50% (at 6-year), but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this long-term follow-up study, there seems to be a rather high risk for relapse after root coverage with CAF possibly due to the lack of regular recalls and persistent traumatic tooth brushing habits.

Periodontal health and serum, saliva matrix metalloproteinases in patients with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present case-control study aimed to evaluate comparatively the salivary and serum levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-8 and- 13 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in patients with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-COPD controls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical periodontal measurements were recorded before any periodontal intervention in 36 patients with mild COPD and 20 non-COPD controls admitted to Ege University Department of Chest Diseases COPD outpatient clinic (Izmir, Turkey). Salivary and serum levels of MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 were determined by immunofluorometric assay (IFMA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed with non-parametric statistical tests. RESULTS: Patients with COPD were significantly older than the control group (p < 0.05). The COPD group showed significantly higher serum levels of MMP-8 IFMA, MMP-8/TIMP-1 IFMA than the control group (p < 0.005). By ELISA, serum MMP-8, MMP-8/TIMP-1, TIMP-1, and MMP-13 levels were similar in both groups (p > 0.05). Salivary MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 levels were similar in both groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that immunodetection of MMP-8 is dependent on the selected techniques and even with mild COPD some systemic inflammatory markers such as MMP-8 tend to increase. However, the present clinical periodontal and biochemical findings do not provide support for the previously proposed interaction between COPD and periodontal diseases.