Gingival diseases in childhood - a review.

Children and adolescents are subject to a wide variety of gingival infections. Epidemiological studies indicate that gingivitis of varying severity is nearly a universal finding in children and adolescents. The shorter life span of the primary dentition may be the reason why in general little attention is given to periodontitis in children. Since early diagnosis is important for successful treatment, it is imperative that children receive a periodontal examination as part of their routine dental visit. Furthermore destructive periodontal disease occurs in children with certain systemic diseases. Indeed the presence of severe periodontitis may be an early sign of systemic disease. A general medical evaluation to determine if systemic diseases are present should be considered in children who exhibit severe periodontitis, especially if the disease appears resistant to therapy. Though periodontal health awareness and therapy are increasing day by day in our country compared to earlier days, it is much restricted to adults rather than children. Oral cavity examination in children is much oriented in hard tissue evaluation than soft tissue health. Hence, this article enlightens about the prevalence of various soft tissue diseases and importance of long term overall oral health maintenance in childhood.

External cervical resorption case report and a brief review of literature.

External cervical resorption (ECR) is the loss of dental hard tissue as a result of odontoclastic action; it usually begins on the cervical region of the root surface of the teeth. The etiology, predisposing factors, diagnosis, and management of ECR have been reviewed here. Effective management and appropriate treatment can only be carried out if the true nature and exact location of the ECR lesion are known. This paper reports on the management of a case of external cervical root resorption (ECRR), which involved root canal treatment and removal of the resorbing area of the affected tooth as well as filling the resorbed area with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and resin-modified glass ionomer filling material (RMGIC). The defect was filled with bone graft material and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) membrane. This case highlights the importance of using MTA and successful management of cervical resorption with a stable uneventful clinical recovery.