Historical and bibliometric notes on the use of fluoride in caries prevention.

AIM: The aim of the present report was to highlight historical and bibliometric aspects of fluoride in dentistry. METHODS: Study design: In the first part of the manuscript, history of fluoride has been reported. In the second part, some bibliometric considerations have been explained. The historical research evaluated the first documents about fluoride in dentistry. The bibliometric research considered Scopus-indexed documents from 1945 to 2019. RESULTS: Historical search showed the consistent presence of documents since 1803, even if modern research started in the 1930s. STATISTICS: Descriptive statistics of documents about fluoride showed a constantly increasing interest on the topic, starting from 1965 to nowadays. CONCLUSIONS: The topic of fluoride has a long history in dental practice, and future interesting research is needed in order to combine this well-known inorganic, monatomic anion with new emerging technologies.

Rehabilitations with immediate loading of one-piece implants stabilized with intraoral welding.

The authors present an implant prosthesis procedure that uses screws on one-piece implants connected with a titanium pin at their abutment level and one supporter titanium bar in order to guarantee immediate stabilization. These can be implanted and fitted with customized temporary crowns in a single surgical procedure, restoring function and aesthetics and consenting recovery of the bone deficit with reduced healing times and limited patient discomfort. One-piece wide-diameter titanium screw implants with thread measurements of 2.1 and 2.6 mm (smaller diameter) up to diameter of 4.5 mm with one abutment of 2.0 and 2.5 mm respectively, were positioned and splinted by intraoral welding. One-piece titanium implants were used together with a pin (needle) titanium implant as supporting structure to achieve deep stabilization. The Scialom-like pin has a diameter of 1.2 mm and it is long enough to reach deep cortical bone that is “bicorticalism”. The One-piece implant is tightly connected to the needle implant by means of Mondani intra-oral welding technique. In severely atrophic anterior maxilla, the use of this method allows the immediate loading of a fixed resin prosthesis soon after surgery. These implants yielded satisfactory functional and aesthetic outcome in bone-deficient upper anterior sectors, without invasive regenerative procedures. The low invasiveness of this approach also consents rapid healing, reduced biological burden and greater patient benefit.

The importance of occlusal trauma in the primary etiology of periodontal disease.

The presence of periodontal disease can be ascertained by clinical examination (redness, edema and probe depth, bleeding-on-probing). Occlusal adjustment can lead to a marked, stable improvement in periodontal health in terms of bacterial profile and clinical appearance, presumably by obviating tissue distress caused by occlusal dysfunction, thereby providing unfavorable conditions for bacterial growth. Therefore, occlusal trauma can be an essential indicator of the periodontal disease and, if not corrected, could lead to a relapse.

Retrospective analysis of 521 endosseous implants placed under antibiotic prophylaxis and review of literature.

AIM: Antibiotic prophylaxis in surgical implants has not a consensus in the scientific world. This is due both to reports and statistical studies with contradictory results, both to the risk of severe anaphylactic reactions and the emergence of antibiotic resistance and, finally, to the lack of published RCTs. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively analyze and assess the success of surgical therapy with endosseous implants inserted under antibiotic prophylaxis at the Department of Oral Sciences "S. Palazzi", University of Pavia. The data presented are compared to those published in international literature. The work is complemented by a statistical data analysis in order to propose a statistically valid judgement on the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing postoperative infections. METHODS: Retrospective observational study with an average follow-up of 4.5 months, until the abutment connection. Furthermore, after extensive review of the literature, published data are compared with what retrieved in our department. Patients operated consecutively from June 2002 to December 2007. Review of literature data concerning the influence of antibiotic prophylaxis on the implant success. RESULTS: The data relating to post-operative complications encountered at the Division of Oral Surgery, University of Pavia and the comparison with those presented in the bibliography indicate statistically significant differences in favor of the antibiotic prophylaxis used in our department. CONCLUSION: There were no anaphylactic reactions recorded. It seems advisable to perform implantology with prophylactic antibiotic coverage.