Volume 19 – Issue 2 (Apr – Jun 2010)

The aim of this review is to highlight the recent developments in stem cell therapy in periodontal regeneration. The review contains recent developments and progress of knowledge about adult and mesenchymal stem cell research and their clinical implications. An effort has been made to review the classifications of stem cells, their sources from various body tissues and their potential use for periodontal regeneration. The cellular sources of periodontal wound healing, regenerative concepts and techniques are highlighted. Recent developments in understanding of biologics, various growth factors and clinical relevance of stem cell therapy (implications) have been incorporated. It is hoped that the review would develop interest among the dental professionals, to be aware of the recent advancements in stem cell therapy especially in periodontal regeneration. Future trends have been highlighted.

KEYWORDS:

Stem cells, periodontal regeneration, mesenchymal stem cells, wound healing, repair and bone regeneration.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effectiveness of the EndoActivator® on smear layer adhered to the root canal surface.

METHODOLOGY:

Sixty human single-rooted teeth were instrumented and divided in three groups. At the end of the instrumentation phase, each group was rinsed with 17% EDTA. One group was not activated and EDTA was left in situ for one minute. The second group was activated using EndoActivator®. The third group was activated with the Canal Finder System. Teeth were split longitudinally and both halves from each tooth were examined under SEM.

RESULT:

The level of significance was set at P = 0.05. The EndoActivator® group differed significantly from the non-activated group (P < 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) between the EndoActivator® group and the Canal Finder group or between the non-activated group and the Canal Finder group..

CONCLUSION:

EndoActivator® was more effective in removing smear layer attached to root canal walls, although the differences compared to the Canal Finder System were not statistically significant.

KEYWORDS:

Canal Finder System, EndoActivator®, EDTA, Smear layer.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine caries prevalence and oral hygiene status among female patients visiting a dental hygiene department clinic in Riyadh.

METHODOLOGY:

Three hundred and twenty eight female patients (age ranging from 15 – 60 years) were examined in the dental hygiene clinics of the College of Applied Medical Sciences for dental caries and oral hygiene status. The WHO criteria was utilized for the diagnosis of dental caries with the addition of bitewing radiographs. Oral hygiene was determined by summing of average plaque scores and calculus scores and then dividing by six. All readings were confirmed by the two examiners.

RESULTS:

The sample was divided into three age groups; first group, aged 15 – 25 years consisted of186 (56.7%) females, second group 26 – 45 years consisted of 90 (27.4%) females and the third group of 46 – 60 years-old had 52 (15.9%) females. A very high mean DMFT score of 11.59 (SD 4.25) was found in the study sample. There was a significant (p<0.05) difference in mean DMFT scores and its components between various age groups. No patient had good oral hygiene in any of the three age groups. There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the oral hygiene groups in terms of mean DMFT scores and all its components.

CONCLUSIONS:

The female patients visiting the dental hygienist clinics of the College of Applied Medical Sciences had very high caries experience, and poor oral hygiene status.

KEY WORDS:

Dental caries, oral hygiene, female dental patients

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to compare the dimensions of dental arches among the three malocclusion groups and see the gender dimorphism in these dimensions.

METHODOLOGY:

This was a cross sectional study conducted at dental clinics, the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. A total of 110 patients belonging to different malocclusion groups were evaluated. Our inclusion criteria were 1) Presence of all permanent teeth from first permanent molar to first permanent molar 2) No previous orthodontic treatment and 3) Age range of 13-30 years. All patients suffering from some developmental anomalies and/or syndromes were excluded.

RESULTS:

The mean maxillary intermolar, inter 1st premolar, inter 2nd premolar and intercanine widths and arch depth were 49.96mm, 40.13mm, 44.84mm, 34.02mm and 39.41mm respectively for the entire sample. The mean mandibular intercanine, inter 1st premolar, inter 2nd premolar and intermolar widths and arch depths were 26.90mm, 33.40mm, 38.72mm, 43.49mm and 33.72mm respectively for the whole group. Significant differences were found in maxillary inter-premolars and inter-molar widths among the three groups. A comparison between the two genders showed significant differences in mandibular intercanine and intermolar widths among the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

Significant differences were found in maxillary intermolar and interpremolar widths among the three malocclusion groups. Class III group had the largest maxillary intermolar and interpremolar widths followed by Class I group. Male subjects had significantly larger maxillary and mandibular intermolar widths and mandibular intercanine widths than females.

KEYWORDS:

Arch dimensions, Malocclusion groups, Gender dimorphism.

OBJECTIVE:

Trigeminal neuralgia is an idiopathic, paroxysmal, painful, unilateral affliction of the face, evoked by trivial stimuli to the specific trigger zone, lasting from a few seconds to two minutes. Medical and surgical treatment options are available with varying degree of efficacy. The objective of the study is to compare the analgesic effects of streptomycin/bupivacain versus anhydrous glycerol injection in trigeminal neuralgia.

METHODOLOGY:

Sixty patients were selected via Non- probability, purposive sampling technique, at the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, king Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital Lahore, from 1st June 2008 to 30th Nov 2008. Patients were randomly distributed in to 2 equal groups. In Group A streptomycin/bupvivacain injection was administered, in Group B 1ml anhydrous glycerol injection was administered. Patients were reviewed after one week, one month, three month and six months post operatively.

RESULT:

25(83.34%) patients of Group A had excellent pain relief, 03(10%) had good results and 02(6.66%) patients had poor results. 28(93.34%) patients of Group B had excellent results, and 2(6.66%) patients had good results while none of the patients had poor results. The p value for these two procedures is not significant (p=0.378).

CONCLUSION:

The analgesic effect of streptomycin/bupvivacain injection is same as glycerol injection in trigeminal neuralgia. They are simple, quick, and easy to perform, and can be used as outpatient procedures.

KEYWORDS:

Trigeminal neuralgia, anhydrous glycerol, streptomycin, Visual analogue scale.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the frequency and percentage of different positions of Mental Foramen (MF) in Orthopentomogram (OPG), in horizontal and vertical relation to apices of teeth, in selected Pakistani population.

METHODOLOGY:

A cross sectional study was undertaken on one thousand Orthopentomograms (OPGs) of adult patients of both gender with permanent dentition at least up to first molar teeth bilaterally having visible mental foramina. Material collected from three different centers of Karachi, namely, Department of Dental Radiology, Karachi Medical and Dental College, and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinics, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Karachi and National Institute of oral diseases, Defence Karachi during a period of 1 year (from 15th Sep 2006 to 14th Sept 2007).

RESULT:

In horizontal axis, position wise MF was located in position 1, 0 cases (0 %), position 2, 45 cases (4.5 %); position 3, 404 cases (40.4 %); position 4, 472 cases (47.2 %); position 5, 71 cases (7.1 %), and position 6, 8 cases (0.8 %).

CONCLUSION:

In horizontal axis MF is commonly located in area below and between root apex of first premolar tooth and upto below the apex of first molar tooth (position 2-6), when viewed on OPG. There is no evidence of location of mental foramen anterior/ median to the root apex of the first premolar tooth (Position 1).

KEYWORDS:

Orthopentomogram (OPG), Mental foramen (MF), Mandible, Horizontal Position.

OBJECTIVE: :

Tooth loss has been one of the major problems faced by the people around the world. Although a preventable disease at early stages, caries still remains one of the prime etiological factors of extraction of teeth. The aim of the present study was to find out the main causes and contributing factors to tooth loss.

METHODOLOGY:

A representative sample of 400 patients attending the Department of Oral Surgery Khyber College of Dentistry Peshawar was selected. The collected information was documented on a specially designed proforma.

RESULT:

In this study 400 patients were recruited. Out of these 204 were male and 196 were female patients. The average age group of extraction was found to be third decade of life (28.75%) while caries (63.25%) was the primary cause of tooth loss. Majority of the patients in this study were poor (46%). Oral hygiene was not good as 40.75% of the patient did not clean their teeth at all while sweet consumption was also notably frequent.

CONCLUSION:

Dental caries is a preventable disease at early stages. Patient education is needed to change attitude from extraction to preservation of teeth as tooth loss is very alarming in young population.

KEYWORDS:

Dental caries, Dental extraction, Khyber College of Dentistry

OBJECTIVE:

The objectives of this study was to compare the CIE L*a*b* values of cervical, middle and incisal segments of permanent maxillary central incisors using standardized digital camera and computer software (Adobe Photoshop®) .

METHODOLOGY:

Maxillary anterior teeth of one hundred subjects were photographed under the same light effects and images were imported into the computer. The CIE L*a*b* values of the cervical middle and incisal segments (2-mm area in the center of each segment) of permanent maxillary central incisors were obtained by using the Adobe Photoshop (version 7). SPSS version 12 was used for data analysis. Statistical significance was determined by using ANOVAat confidence interval 95%, P<0.05 was considered significant.

RESULT:

There is significant difference in L*, a* and b* values of cervical, middle and incisor segments of maxillary central incisor (p<0.001). Color differences in Cervical/Middle, Cervical/Incisal and Middle/Incisal were significantly different (p = 0.025)

CONCLUSION:

The shade of cervical, middle and incisal segments of permanent maxillary central incisor is significantly different from each other.

KEYWORDS:

shade, cervical, middle, incisal, dental Photography.

OBJECTIVE:

Mandibular denture instability is a common problem in patients with atrophic mandibular ridges. Various methods had been employed by the profession to overcome this problem. The objective of this study was to evaluate role of neutral zone approach in atrophic edentulous mandibular ridges.

METHODOLOGY :

Twenty edentulous patients with atrophic mandibles were selected. Seven evaluation factors were analyzed and compared.

RESULT:

Three factors stability, tongue space and position of anterior teeth were better achieved by using neutral zone technique.

CONCLUSION:

Successful denture can be fabricated by using neutral zone in atrophic mandibular ridges.

KEY WORDS:

Atrophic mandibular ridges; Neutral zone technique; Tongue space; Position of anterior teeth.

ABSTRACT:

Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis is a painful oral mucosal lesion affecting about 20% of the world’s population. On morphological basis RAS lesions can be divided into three main types including minor RAS (MiRAS), major RAS (MjRAS) and herpetiform RAS (HuRAS). Eighty five percent of all RAS lesions are Minor in nature. Classification based on severity of the lesion includes simple aphthosis and complex aphthosis. The etiology of the lesion is unknown. Many factors contribute in the Pathogenesis of RAS like inflammatory bowel disease, food allergy, stress, hormonal and immunological disturbances, Vitamin B12, Iron and Ferritin deficiencies. Deficiency of Hematological parameters especially Folate and Vit b12 causes Megaloblastic anemia which is more common in developing countries. Pakistan is a developing country and nutritional anemia is very common in the country. These nutritional deficiencies cause RAS. The aim of this review is therefore to determine the hematological parameters correlated with recurrent aphthous stomatitis. .

KEYWORDS:

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis, etiology, Hematological parameters.

Border molding is done to record the peripheral margins of the denture and to ensure their extension to the sulcus reflection and in the post dam area in the maxilla. With the use of green stick compound for border moulding it is possible to record the border details accurately but it tends to be messy and it is difficult to determine the consistency and proper temperature. Therefore, the use of thermoplastic compound has been examined and recommended to be kept to a minimum due to the availability of simpler techniques and easy to handle and accurate materials. Students may now be introduced to the various techniques and materials for border moulding along with the concept behind the procedure. This will enable them to decide on their own which technique to employ and master. In this paper, a critical evaluation of the various materials and techniques used for border moulding of the special tray is given. It is not the authors` intention to criticize the current methods of teaching in our dental schools but to encourage the readers to broaden their vision of the often complex but fascinating craft of complete denture construction.

KEY WORDS:

Peripheral Moulding, Special denture, Complete denture, Thermoplastic compound.