Apart from the more or less distinctive forms of periodontal disease associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome there remains considerable uncertainty as to whether or not conventional destructive periodontitis is exacerbated in HIV positive individuals. This is especially so in developing countries, from which few studies have been reported. The present study compared the severity and extent of periodontal breakdown in 136 HIV positive individuals from Chennai, South India, with 136 age-matched controls from the same low socio-economic and ethnic group. All surfaces of all teeth were scored for the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSSTM package. The results of the present study show that CPITN is a simple, useful technique to assess periodontal status in immunosuppressed patients and that periodontitis is associated with immunosuppression and oral candidiasis. The assessment of periodontal status could thus be a useful tool in minimally invasive screening of populations for HIV disease, especially in those parts of the world, like India and Africa, with high prevalence and rising incidence.

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Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the nuclear diameter (ND), cell diameter (CD) and nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio (N:C) and their variation with age and sex in normal gingival smears. Study Design: Gingival smears were collected from 320 apparently healthy individuals. After fixation in 95% alcohol, the smears were stained using standard papanicolaou laboratory procedure. The cell and nuclear diameters were measured using image analysis software (KS lite 2.0). Statistical analysis of the data was done using one-way ANOVA, Students 't' test and Tukey-HSD procedure. Results: The results showed an increase in ND from the 1-20 group to 21-40 age group in males. Above 40 years, there was a decrease in ND. In females, the ND was high in 21-40 age group; and then from 41 years, ND gradually decreased but the difference was not significant. The CD in males and females was low in the 1-20 age group and then it gradually increased. However, the difference was not significant between the ages 20 and 60 years. After 60, there was a decrease in CD. Similar changes are also seen in the ratio N:C in both males and females. The ND, CD and N:C irrespective of the age were high in females. The difference in CD was insignificant, except in the 0-20 age group, where females had significantly more cell diameters. Irrespective of the gender, the ND, CD and N:C increased from 0-20 age group to 20-40 age group. After 40, there is a steady decrease in ND, CD and N:C. Conclusion: Age-related and sex-related alterations are observed in gingival smears.

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Background: Periodontitis is multifactorial in nature. The various determinants of periodontal disease are age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, and risk factors including tobacco usage and oral hygiene status. However, there is inconsistent epidemiological data on the periodontal status of subjects living in high-fluoride areas. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of dental fluorosis on the periodontal status using community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN), as a clinical study. The purpose of this study is to determine the periodontal status using CPITN index in a population aged between 15 and 74 years residing in the high-fluoride areas of Davangere district. The possible reasons for the susceptibility of this population to periodontal disease are discussed. Materials and Methods: 1029 subjects, aged between 15 and 74 years suffering from dental fluorosis were assessed for their periodontal status. Clinical parameters recorded were OHI-S to assess the oral hygiene status, Jackson's fluorosis index to assess the degree of fluorosis and CPITN index to assess the periodontal status where treatment need was excluded. Results: Gingivitis and periodontitis were more common in females (65.9% and 32.8%, respectively) than in males (75.1% and 24.2%, respectively). Periodontitis was significantly more common in females. As the age advanced from 15 to 55 years and above, gingivitis reduced from 81.0 to 42.9% and periodontitis increased steadily from 18.0 to 57.1%, which was significant. Periodontitis was high in subjects with poor oral hygiene (81.3%), compared to those with good oral hygiene (14.5%), which was significant. As the degree of fluorosis increased, severity of gingivitis reduced and periodontitis increased, i.e., with A degree fluorosis, gingivitis was 89.4% and periodontitis 8.5%, but with F degree fluorosis the former was 64% and the latter 35.8%, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: The results suggest that there is a strong association of occurrence of periodontal disease in high-fluoride areas. The role of plaque is well understood in contrast to the effect of fluorides on periodontal tissues. It goes a long way to reason out fluoride as an important etiological agent in periodontal disease.

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Background: The closure of the periodontal flaps post-surgery is a necessity for attainment of a primary union between the flap margins and the establishment of a healthy dentogingival junction. N-butyl cyanoacrylate is a tissue adhesive, which can be used for the closure of the incised wounds to overcome the problems associated with conventional suture materials like silk. Objective: The present study was carried out to assess the healing of the periodontal flaps when closed with the conventional silk sutures and N-butyl cyanoacrylate. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 24 patients who needed flap surgical procedure for pocket therapy. Results: It was found that healing with the cyanoacrylate is associated with less amount of inflammation during the first week when compared with silk. However, over a period of 21 days to 6 weeks, the sites treated with both the materials showed similar healing patterns. Conclusion: It can be concluded that cyanoacrylate aids in early initial healing.

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This comparative study was done to determine the accuracy in measuring the working length of root canal using tactile method, electronic apex locator and radiographic method, in viv o, and comparing the lengths so measured to the actual working length, ex vivo , after extraction. Thirty single-rooted teeth scheduled for extraction were selected for the study. After obtaining the consent from patients, a preoperative radiograph was taken and access opening was done. Working length was determined by tactile method, by using Ingle's radiographic method and by using a Foramatron-IV digital apex locator. The teeth were then extracted and the actual working length was determined by placing an endodontic file in the root canal 0.5 mm short of the apex. The results indicated that among the three methods, the electronic apex locator showed the highest accuracy and the highest reliability for working length determination.

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Restorative dental care for the hemophiliac patient is of paramount importance for the fact that advanced dental conditions and subsequent treatments prove to be more complicated and risky. Quite often, dental health is neglected by hemophiliacs for fear of bleeding during procedures. Surprisingly, even dental specialists avoid these candidates and contribute to the conversion of a simple dental patient to an oral surgical patient. The complexities involved in diagnosing a bleeding disorder and the rarity of a standardized protocol to handle such patients contribute to this problem. This article prescribes a simple protocol to diagnose bleeding disorders and a modified scheme for endodontic and periodontal therapy in a hemophiliac patient.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the root development of lateral incisor on the cleft side with the root development of its contralateral tooth in cleft lip and palate children. Setting: Cleft lip and palate wing, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, South India. Materials and Methods: A sample of 96 orthopantamograms of patients with unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and/or cleft palate was selected, regardless of sex and race. Main Outcome Measure: Orthopantamograms were analyzed for root development of lateral incisor on the cleft and noncleft side. Associated anomalies like hypodontia, supernumerary teeth, malformed lateral incisors and root development of canine, if present, were recorded. Findings and Conclusions: Root development of permanent lateral incisor was delayed on the cleft side compared to the noncleft side. There was a statistically significant relationship between levels of root development of lateral incisors on the cleft side within the different study groups ( P < 0.05). Incidence of hypodontia increased in proportion to cleft severity. Frequency of missing second premolars, supernumerary teeth and malformed lateral incisors increased in cleft lip and palate patients. Root development of canine showed a slight delay on the cleft side when compared to the canine on the noncleft side.

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The mouth is regarded as a mirror and the gateway to health. Integration is required between the dental practitioner and the patient, if good dental health is to be attained. Various treatment modalities of late frequently require appointments, which are more than one in number for completion of the entire treatment program. This study was taken up to determine the impact of reported dental attendance patterns of patients on the oral health and treatment quality in teaching hospitals and also on the quality of life in rural areas. Aims and Objectives: 1. To assess the reasons for irregular dental care in the patients attending the clinics in teaching hospitals. 2. To assess the satisfaction of the patient as regards the treatment rendered in the teaching institutes. 3. To correlate the gender of the patient with the regularity in the recall attendance. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a systematic random sampling method, and every alternate subject was selected from the patients attending the OPD of Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry. The data was collected using the interview method with the help of a structured, pretested questionnaire. Results and Conclusion: Out of 288 patients, 94 failed to attend the recall appointments. In these 94 patients, various reasons for not attending recall were assessed, and lack of time was found to be the most common reason for non-attendance. Relationship between age and reasons for not reporting was found to be significant ( P < 0.01). Patient satisfaction survey showed that 51.54% of the patients were satisfied with the dental treatment rendered. The present study also showed that males are more prompt in attending recall appointments as compared to females. A positive and significant correlation between literacy and patient reporting status was found ( P < 0.01).

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Management of vertically fractured tooth or a perforation frequently poses problem during endodontic management. Such teeth often need a pre-endodontic restoration prior to initiation of root canal therapy to aid in the placement of rubber dam clamp. This paper describes a simple method of placement of a pre-endodontic restoration using the canal projection technique using hollow metallic needles as sleeves.

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