Clinical association between dental malocclusion and strabismus in adolescents: a retrospective dental cast analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the occlusion in adolescents with strabismus in comparison with healthy subjects without vision problems. METHODS: The test group included 50 subjects (23 males and 27 females) with a diagnosis of strabismus and the control group included 50 healthy patients (23 males and 27 females) without any past or present disturbance of vision. Dental cast analysis was performed to evaluate antero-posterior, transversal and vertical malocclusion and dental crowding. Furthermore, oral habits (mouth breathing, atypical swallowing, finger sucking) were recorded. Mann-Whitney test was performed in order to evaluate significant differences between the groups regarding overbite, overjet and dental crowding; Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test was adopted to compare the samples. Chi square test and Fisher test were adopted for the analysis of cross-bite, Angle Class, and oral habits. RESULTS: No significant difference was found regarding the malocclusion and the unhealthy oral habits between the groups (P>0.05). The test group showed a slightly higher prevalence of cross-bite but the difference between the two groups was not significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A possible relationship between the stomatognathic system and strabismus was not confirmed by the results of this study.

Levels of salivary immunoglobulins and periodontal evaluation in smoking patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the level of salivary immunoglobulins and periodontal status in smokers and non-smokers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Unstimulated saliva of 30 subjects (mean age 24.2 ± 3.5 years) who were smokers (test group) and of 30 subjects (mean age 25.3 ± 3.8 years) who were non-smokers (control group) was collected and centrifugated; IgA, IgG, and IgM were measured with the colorimetric immunoenzymatic method. Moreover, the following periodontal clinical parameters were recorded for each subject: plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL). RESULTS: A significantly (p< 0.05) lower Ig level was observed in smoking patients (IgA: 20.0 ± 1.2 mg/dl; IgM: 19.5 ± 1.6 mg/dl; IgG: 8.1 ± 1.4 mg/dl) compared to levels in the non-smoking control group (IgA: 234.1 ± 65.2 mg/dl; IgM: 121.0 ± 31.7 mg/dl; IgG: 1049.4 ± 102 mg/dl). In the test group, PI (2.2 ± 0.3), GI (2.4 ± 0.5), PD (49.3 ± 9.2%), and CAL (49.3 ± 4.6%) were higher (p< 0.05) than those observed in the control group (PI: 0.8 ± 0.4; GI: 0.7 ± 0.3; PD: 10.6 ± 2.4%; CAL: 3.1 ± 0.8%). CONCLUSION: Smoking subjects showed lower levels of salivary IgA, IgG, and IgM and a worse periodontal condition than non-smoking subjects. On the base of our study, as smoking subjects also had lower levels of IgA, IgG, and IgM in their saliva than non-smoking subjects, despite the fact that there is little evidence that the salivary Igs have a protective action against periodontitis and that the whole saliva does not result in whole from the salivary glands, it can be concluded that the deteriorated periodontal health conditions of these patients can be attributed in part to a lowering of the host's defense due to a decrease in the quantity of Igs in salivary fluid.