Periodontal health status among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with age- and gender-matched controls.

Background: Periodontal disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) share a pathogenic mechanism that involves activating and using inflammatory cytokines and neutrophils, which generate pathological changes in various tissues with a chronic degenerative outcome. Aim: the aim of this study was to assess and compare the periodontal health status among COPD patients with age- and gender-matched controls. Materials and Methods: All the patients aged >30 years who were diagnosed with COPD by the physician were included as cases, while people who are apparently healthy and age and gender matched with cases were included as controls. Data on demographic details, socioeconomic status (Kuppuswamy scale), deleterious oral habits, and oral hygiene practices were obtained. The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and the WHO basic oral health survey proforma (1997) were used to obtain the data on oral hygiene and periodontal status respectively. Results: Most cases had moderate COPD severity (58.25%). The overall mean OHI-S, CPI, and LOA were higher among cases (3.92 ± 0.95, 3.68 ± 0.60, and 2.33 ± 1.10, respectively) in comparison to controls. Further, among cases, the mean oral hygiene and periodontitis increased with increased severity of COPD. Although among both cases and controls, gender, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption influenced their periodontal status, significant odds of higher risk were seen only among cases. Further, subjects with COPD had higher odds of having poor oral hygiene, deeper pocket depths, and LOA. Conclusion: A strong association between COPD and periodontitis was observed. The oral hygiene and periodontal disease worsened with the severity of COPD.

Effect of Air Velocity and Initial Conditioning on the Moisture Buffer Value of Four Different Building Materials.

Porous materials are able to exchange moisture with the surrounding air. The more hygroscopic they are, the more they contribute to regulate ambient humidity. This ability is characterized by the moisture buffer value (MBV) which is measured under dynamic solicitations according to different protocols. The NORDTEST protocol is the most commonly-used. It gives recommendations regarding the air velocity and the ambient conditions for initial stabilization. The purpose of this article is to measure the MBV according to the NORDTEST protocol and to study the effect of air velocity and of initial conditioning on the MBV results for different materials. Two mineral and two bio-based materials are considered: gypsum (GY), cellular concrete (CC), thermo-hemp (TH) and fine-hemp (FH). Following the NORDTEST classification, GY is a moderate hygric regulator, CC is good, TH and FH are excellent. When the air velocity ranges from 0.1 to 2.6 m/s, the MBV of GY and CC materials remains constant, but the MBV of TH and FH materials is highly affected. The initial conditioning has no effect on the MBV, but has an effect on the water content of the material, whatever the material.

Oral Manifestations in HIV-TB Co- infected Patients and Their Correlation with CD4 Count in Telangana State, India.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related oral lesions are often an early finding, and they reflect the underlying immunosuppression, and tuberculosis (TB) coinfection can have further deteriorating effect. Hence, a cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate clinical and oral presentations of patients coinfected with HIV-TB, correlating with various parameters such as the type of TB with CD4 cell count, the type of TB with oral manifestations, site of the lesion, oral manifestations with CD4 cell counts, age, and gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among selected 200 patients coinfected with HIV-TB, registered at Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, and demographic data, CD4 count, diagnosis of TB, and clinical presentation of TB were correlated with site, age, gender, and the type of lesions in the oral cavity. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, (IBM SPSS), version 20 (Chicago, IL, USA), with the chi-square test, and the significant P value for all the parameters was considered as <0.05. RESULTS: A total of 200 patients with HIV-TB coinfection, who presented with oral lesions of 258 coinfected cases, were examined. Among which, 129 patients were with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), 61 patients with extrapulmonary TB, 2 patients with disseminated TB, and 8 patients with PTB and pneumonia. There were multiple oral manifestations involving different sites of oral cavity, oral candidiasis (28.5%), angular cheilitis (24.5%), linear gingival erythema (21.5%), oral hairy leukoplakia (1.5%), melanotic pigmentation (29.0%), ulcers (20.0%), depapillation of tongue (26.5%), lobulated tongue (12.0%), hairy tongue (11.5%), and papules (10.0%). The correlation of the type of TB with CD4 cell count, oral lesions with the type of TB in tongue, labial mucosa, and palate was significant. CONCLUSION: A total of 77.5% patients coinfected with HIV-TB had shown oral manifestations emphasizing that the presence of oral lesions can be considered as a strong indicator of coinfection. The oral lesions might be used as a clinical indicator or screening mechanism in patients who were HIV seropositive for TB coinfection and should be necessarily evaluated for TB.

Age-related - oral manifestations and co-morbidities in human immunodeficiency virus-infected/acquired immune deficiency syndrome adults in Hyderabad, India.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to clinically evaluate age-related - oral manifestations and co-morbidities in different age groups of human immunodeficiency virus-infected/acquired immune deficiency syndrome adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 adult patients aged above 20 years at infectious diseases units, medical wards and ART centre of Gandhi Medical Hospital, Hyderabad. Oral manifestations were diagnosed according to the presumptive criteria of EC-Clearinghouse Classification, and clinical data were retrieved from patient's medical records. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Men (72%) in the young age group of 21-30 years were commonly affected. Heterosexual mode of transmission was most common in all the age groups, and the overall distribution were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Most common oral findings seen in 21-30 years of age were depapillation (90%), hyperpigmentation (70% and 72%) in 31-40 and 41-50 years old and linear gingival erythema (68%) in above 50 years of age group. The various co-morbidities included the recurrent bacterial and skin infections (64% and 62% respectively) in the younger age group. Renal and cardiac diseases with pulmonary tuberculosis (74%) were commonly observed in middle-aged and elders. CONCLUSIONS: The underlying oral manifestations and co-morbidities could become very important variables that must be taken into account in determining treatment efficacy or health policy.