The objective of this review is to identify the microbiological alterations caused by various therapy modalities by critically analyzing the current findings. We limited our search to ...English-language papers published between 1 January 2004 and 7 May 2024 in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science that were relevant to our topic. In the search approach, the Boolean keywords “microbio*” AND “periodontitis” were used. A total of 5152 papers were obtained from the databases Web of Science (2205), PubMed (1793), and Scopus (1154). This resulted in 3266 articles after eliminating duplicates (1886), and 1411 entries were eliminated after their titles and abstracts were examined. The qualitative analysis of the 22 final articles is included in this study. Research on periodontal disease shows that periodontitis alters the oral microbiome and increases antibiotic resistance. Treatments like scaling and root planing (SRP), especially when combined with minocycline, improve clinical outcomes by reducing harmful bacteria. Comprehensive mechanical debridement with antibiotics, probiotics, EMD with bone grafts, and other adjunctive therapies enhances periodontal health. Personalized treatment strategies and advanced microbial analyses are crucial for effective periodontal management and antibiotic resistance control.
The purpose of this study is to highlight the evidence of signs and symptoms of craniomandibular disorders (CMD) in patients suffering from fibromyalgia.
The study has been carried out from May 2011 ...to May 2015, recruiting a sample of fibromyalgia patients at the Department of Neurophysiopathology at the hospital Policlinico in Bari. Among the 150 examined patients, 60 of them have been diagnosed to suffer from fibromyalgia and 27 accepted to be investigated with a gnathologic examination at the Dental School at the University of Bari.
24 patients (88.9%) were women and 3 (11.1%) men; from 26 to 66 years old (average age, 39). 14 patients (51.9%) were affected by primary fibromyalgia, the remaining 13 (48.1%) by secondary fibromyalgia, mainly associated with hypothyroidism (29.6%). VAS average score was about 8 ± 1.85. The frequency of pain was daily in 15 patients (55.6%); twice a week in 10 patients (37.03%) and a few times a month in 2 patients (7.4%). 11 patients (40.7%) attributed the onset of fibromyalgia to a specific instigating event. In addition, from the gnathologic anamnesis, 11 patients (40,7%) reported a painful symptom in the head-neck region, especially in the frontal region, in the neck, in the masseter muscle and ATM. VAS average score was 3.4 ± 2.8, significantly lower than the one referring to the fibromyalgia pain. The gnathological examination found CMD signs and symptoms in 18 patients (66.7%). Concerning the prevalence of CMD, in type I fibromyalgia, myofascial pain was more frequent (5 patients), whereas in type II fibromyalgia, what was more frequent was a dislocation with reduction (3 patients).
Based on clinic experience, we can affirm that some patients with CMD report pain in other regions. It is difficult to distinguish the CMD forms directly correlated to fibromyalgia from those engendered by parafunctional activities; hence the need is to resolve the fibromyalgia syndrome adopting a multidisciplinary approach.
: Palatal expansion is a common orthodontic technique able to increase the transverse changes for subjects with constricted maxillary arches. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate ...through a systematic review the tomography effectiveness of different palatal expander approaches.
: The database used to perform the screening and determine the eligibility of the clinical papers was PubMed (Medline).
: The database search included a total of 284 results, while 271 articles were excluded. A total of 14 articles were included for the qualitative assessment.
: The effectiveness of the present studies reported that skeletal expansion was a useful approach to increase the transverse changes for subjects with constricted maxillary arches.
Ectopic eruption of the first permanent molar in the maxilla, generally characterized by the wrong axial positioning during eruption, is reported to occur in about 2–6% of children. Its incidence is ...surely under-estimated as it frequently remains undiagnosed and, additionally, becomes irreversible, resulting in posterior crowding in such cases. This retrospective study aims to investigate the cephalometric features of patients affected by ectopic eruption of the maxillary first molar in comparison to a control group of patients. From a total of 1935 subjects, 13 patients were enrolled in the study group, while 26 patients were randomly selected as a control group. Lateral cephalometric teleradiographs obtained at the time of diagnosis were used to measure cephalometric values between study patients and controls. The prevalence of ectopic eruption of the first maxillary permanent molar in our patients was 1.14%. The mandibular angle (SN-GoMe) was found to be significantly greater in the study group than in control. The same statistical trend was observed for the inter-maxillary angle (SnaSnp-GoMe); also, the distance Sna-Me was greater in the study group. Differences between groups were statistically significant for the following distances: Snp-Sna, Ba-S and SOR-Sna, which were found to be, overall, greater in the study group. Ectopic eruption of the first permanent molar in the maxilla seems to be associated with morphogenetic characteristics of patients, mainly with a dolichocephalic pattern.
Background: Ponticlus Posticus (PP) is a rare anomaly of the first cervical vertebra easily identifiable in lateral cephalometric radiograph and typically required for orthodontic diagnosis. The aim ...of this study is to evaluate the PP prevalence in lateral Cephalograms in a cohort of orthodontic patients treated at the Dental School of the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’, Italy, and to find possible connection between PP and other dental anomalies, as well as the patient’s cephalometric characteristics. Methods: A total of 150 panoramic radiographs and 150 lateral Cephalograms, obtained for orthodontic use only, were evaluated. No patients were referred to for congenital syndromes or disease, or a history of previously occurred maxillofacial trauma. A detailed cephalometric study was performed for each patient, and the whole cohort was divided according to the common three dental malocclusion classes. The values obtained were analyzed using the Chi-Square Test. Results: PP prevalence was 8% (12 of 150 cases), where the complete and partial forms observed 4.7% and 3.3%, respectively. Although females were more affected (9.6%), no statistically significant sex-related difference was found. Furthermore, no statistically significant relationship regarding age or dental anomalies (dental agenesis/palatal impacted canines) among the groups was observed either. Cephalometric analyses revealed that half of the subjects with PP were sagittal skeletal class I and had vertical hyper-divergence. Conclusions: PP is a frequent anatomical variation of the cervical vertebra, apparently unrelated to the skeletal malocclusion type or dental anomalies. The current study needs to further confirm the congenital hypothesis of PP’s origin already reported in literature.
Background:
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. It is one of the movement disorders that can affect oro-facial conditions. It is ...more common in the elderly, having an average age of onset of around 60 years.
Objective:
The aim was to study orofacial functions in patients suffering from PD with partial or total edentulism, wearing removable prostheses.
Methods:
Forty-eight (48) elders, rehabilitated with removable dentures, were included: 24 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease constitute the Study Group (SG), and 24 subjects not suffering from Parkinson's disease or neurological degenerative diseases represent the Control Group (CG).
In SG, the severity of Parkinson's disease was assessed according to the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating objective motor scale III, and oro-facial dysfunctions were evaluated using Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S). The duration of the use of dental prostheses expressed in years has been reported. In both the groups, the subjective chewing index for the analysis of masticatory ability and the two-color chewing gum test for the analysis of masticatory efficiency were conducted .
Results:
There was a statistically significant difference between the SG and CG compared to the NOT-S (
P
= 0.001).
Analyzing the study group, a statistically significant correlation was found between the masticatory efficiency and prosthetic years of use (rs = 0.436;
P
<0.05); instead, no statistically significant correlation was found between the masticatory efficiency and the severity of Parkinson's disease.
Conclusion:
In our study, we did not find differences between SG and CG in terms of the degree of masticatory efficiency; therefore, only a correlation between the duration of use of dental prostheses and the degree of masticatory efficiency was found.
Oral rehabilitation with overdenture on implants of upper jaw must be taken into consideration a variety of anatomical and biomechanical issues. It is possible to provide for rehabilitation with two ...or more implants, in different positions, solidarizing them with a bar.
The present study involved a patient rehabilitated with 4 Xive implants (Friadent GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) solidarized with a titanium bar crafted with CAD-CAM technology for maximal comfort, precision and structural lightness.
The follow-up was 54 months, with an implant survival of 100%. Based on our clinical evidence, bars engineered with CAD-CAM technology are promising in terms of precision and comfort despite higher costs.
Although there is nowadays wide agreement on bacteria being the main etiologic agents of periodontal disease, their sole presence cannot damage periodontal tissues in all subjects. This suggests that ...an individual response and an adaptation to a certain quantity of bacterial biofilm can occur without the disease progressing and vice versa. Depression, stress and anxiety have not been confirmed yet as risk conditions but, in some observational studies, they have been identified as potential risk factors of periodontal disease. The current study aims at investigating the role which these psychological disorder have in the onset and progression of advanced stage periodontitis.
The case selection was carried out by means of clinical and radiological periodontal assessment involving a total of 108 subjects, both male and female, aged between 24 and 67. Patients were then divided in two groups of 54 patients each: the first group included patients with severe periodontal disease, the second group was formed by periodontally healthy subjects. Clinical assessment was performed by a sole examiner who selected and divided periodontopathic patients from non-periodontopathic ones. From the current study were excluded: patients with systemic pathologies; smokers; patients taking antidepressant drugs; pregnant women.
For what concerns depression, in the group of periodontopathic patients it was found that the 62.5% of them were depressed, against the 38.86% in the group of periodontally healthy subjects. For the other two psychological conditions taken into consideration, anxiety and stress, it emerged a different percentage of subjects with anxiety in the periodontal group (31.48%) against healthy controls (20.37%).
For each of the psychological variables considered (depression, anxiety, stress), a significant correlation could be observed with periodontal disease, it can be therefore be suggested that the importance these disturbs have in the onset and progress of the dental disease which supports the existing available data in literature. The innovative aspect of this research was the focus on the assessment of compliance, monitoring the ability of periodontal patients to follow oral hygiene instructions aiming at the improving and keeping their own periodontal condition, even though this takes more time than the control group.
Lactoferrin (LF) is a natural component of human milk with antimicrobial, immunostimulatory and immunomodulatory properties. Several in vitro studies suggest that LF could promote an environment in ...the gut of neonates that favors colonization with beneficial bacteria. However, clinical studies on the correlation between the concentration of LF in breast milk and feces of infants and the gut microbiota in infants are lacking. In our study we analyzed the content of LF and the microbiota of breast milk and feces of infants of 48 mother–infant pairs (34 full-term and 14 pre-term infants) at birth and 30 days after delivery. In the term group, a significant decrease of mean LF concentration between colostrum (7.0 ± 5.1 mg/ml) and mature milk (2.3 ± 0.4 mg/ml) was observed. In pre-term group, breast milk LF levels were similar to those observed in full-term group. Fecal LF concentration of healthy infants was extremely high both in term and pre-term infants, higher than the amount reported in healthy children and adults. In term infants mean fecal LF levels significantly increased from birth (994 ± 1,828 μg/ml) to 1 month of age (3,052 ± 4,323 μg/ml). The amount of LF in the feces of 30 day-old term infants was significantly associated with maternal mature milk LF concentration (
p
= 0.030) confirming that breast milk represents the main source of LF found in the gut of infants. A linear positive correlation between colostrum and mature milk LF concentration was observed (
p
= 0.008) indicating that milk LF levels reflect individual characteristics. In pre-term infants higher mean concentrations of fecal LF at birth (1,631 ± 2,206 μg/ml) and 30 days after delivery (7,633 ± 9,960 μg/ml) were observed in comparison to full-term infants. The amount of fecal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli resulted associated with the concentration of fecal LF 3 days after delivery (
p
= 0.017 and
p
= 0.026, respectively). These results suggest that high levels of fecal LF in neonates, particularly in the first days of life, could represent an important factor in the initiation, development and/or composition of the neonatal gut microbiota. Since early host–microbe interaction is a crucial component of healthy immune and metabolic programming, high levels of fecal LF in neonates may beneficially contribute to the immunologic maturation and well-being of the newborn, especially in pre-term infants.
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