Blood flow of free gingival grafts measured by xenon-133 clearance.

Blood circulation of free gingival grafts by Xe-133 clearance was evaluated in this study with special attention to the relationship between the amount of circulation and graft thickness, surface area and contraction during the initial healing phase. Following baseline clinical examination and initial periodontal therapy, 32 patients received mucogingival surgery with free gingival grafts for treatment of insufficient attached gingiva. Blood flow in recipient and donor areas was measured by injection of Xe-133. Xenon clearance in the free gingival grafts was measured at the first, tenth, twentieth, and fortieth days. Mean blood flow was observed to decrease on the first day and then gradually increased at 10 and 20 days and finally reached the initial value of the recipient area on the fortieth day. It was observed that circulation in the grafted tissue was positively correlated with graft thickness, but negatively correlated with graft contraction during healing.

Release kinetics of 25% tetracycline hydrochloride-loaded ethylene vinyl acetate fibers.

In situ release kinetics of 25% tetracycline-loaded fibers (Actisite) were evaluated in this study. 1 cm precut tetracycline fibers were removed from periodontal pockets (>5 mm) of 24 patients. Fibers were maintained at their site for 1, 3, 7, 10 and 12 days. Remaining biologically active tetracycline on the fibers was determined by agar diffusion inhibition assay. Inhibition zones induced by fibers on P. gingivalis (256) seeded BHI agar were measured after 48 hours of anaerobic incubation. Data were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance with Post-hoc Duncan analysis. Results of this study show there is a considerable decrease in the amount of tetracycline remaining in the fibers removed between 1-3 and 10-12 days. The amount of active drug remaining in the fibers at days 3 and 7 was comparable and indicates no significant deposition between these two days.

Damping characteristics of teeth with periodontal breakdown: correlation of mobility meter values with bone and attachment loss.

The reaction of the periodontium to a defined percussive force applied in an orofacial direction can be evaluated by a mobility meter. The elastic and viscous characteristics of the periodontium are evaluated by the device from the contact time between tapping head and the tooth, and reported as a numeric value called the PTV. In this study, the relation between PTVs and bone loss (BL), clinical attachment level (CAL), probing depth, bleeding on probing, and plaque and gingival indices were evaluated in 35 patients with moderate to advanced periodontal disease. The effects of gender, smoking, and initial periodontal therapy on PTVs were also evaluated. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to determine whether the relationship between PTVs with CAL and BL was dependent on tooth type. Stepwise multiple linear regression was used to test which of the clinical parameters and bone loss would produce the highest predictive value with PTVs. The effects of gender and smoking on PTVs were examined by analysis of covariance. The changes in clinical parameters and PTVs before and after treatment were evaluated by repeated analysis of variance. PTVs were found to give the highest predictive value with bone loss. However, the correlation was observed to be dependent on the location of the tooth in the jaw and the tooth type. Interproximal and midpoint clinical attachment level measurements showed that PTVs correlated more strongly with the overall support, rather than the support on the direction of the percussive movement. No pronounced differences of PTVs were noted between gender. PTVs of smokers were observed to be higher than non-smokers. There was no significant change of PTVs after the initial phase of periodontal therapy. This cross-sectional study shows that the mobility meter evaluation was primarily related to the amount of bone loss while being significantly affected by the location of the tooth in the jaw. Factors such as severity of gingival and sulcular inflammation, oral hygiene, and gender do not seem to have an effect on PTVs.

The effect of scale form choice on psychometric properties of patient satisfaction measurement.

One hundred and fifty nine subjects responded to one of three differently labeled 5-point scale forms of patient satisfaction measurement: Likert-type scale form (1 = Strongly Agree, 5 = Strongly Disagree); Mixed scale form (1 = Very Satisfied, 5 = Very Dissatisfied); and Expectational scale form (1 = More Than I Expected, 5 = Less Than I Expected). A well-known patient satisfaction instrument developed by Ware and colleagues (Ware, Snyder, and Wright, 1976) was utilized to manipulate the scale form effect. The psychometric properties of each scale form was analyzed. The findings indicated generally comparable satisfaction data generated by each scale form as well as comparable measures of reliability. The Likert-type scale form has shown advantage in reducing leniency (relatively high satisfaction scores) over the mixed and expectational scale forms.

Fructosamine as a possible monitoring parameter in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients with periodontal disease.

Fructosamine assay is a new test used in the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetic patients. This assay may be of interest to the periodontist for, while the traditional plasma glucose value would give a general view and information about diabetic control at a certain point, the fructosamine concentration gives an indication of the plasma glucose level over a considerable period of time, such as 1 to 3 weeks. We investigated whether there was any relation between the diseased state of the periodontal tissues and plasma fructosamine and the plasma glucose values in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients. We found that fructosamine correlated with the degree of gingival bleeding, however serum glucose levels had little or no correlation.

[Humoral immunity in early onset periodontitis]. / Erken dönemde görülen periodontitislerde (early-onset periodontitis) hümoral immünite.

Prepubertal Periodontitis, Juvenile Periodontitis and Rapidly Progressive Periodontitis were grouped under a single title, Early-Onset Periodontitis. These diseases were affecting the patient at a very early age and the prognosis might be an edentolous mouth. The diseases had specific host response defects. Our study was planned to study the humoral immunity of this kind of patients.