Mahidol Dental Journal

Chairside autogenous tooth bone graft for alveolar ridge preservation: A review

Jarika Leeraphongnan — 2024-03-27

Alveolar ridge resorption after tooth extraction is an inevitable process, may leading to the consequence of major implant placement problem. Alveolar ridge preservation procedure is a choice to minimize the biological consequences of alveolar ridge resorption. In the past decade, autogenous teeth as a bone graft material in post-extraction sockets have been proposed with very interesting outcomes. Some studies show the feasibility to prepare autogenous tooth derived bone graft material chairside within the same visit of regenerative procedure, as well as alveolar ridge preservation. Therefore, this article discusses the available evidence on autogenous teeth as a biomaterial in alveolar ridge preservation, its clinical evaluation and the process of manufacturing tooth graft material chairside.

Subjective and objective masticatory function and their associated factors in complete denture wearers

Kanokporn Wongcharee — 2024-03-26

Objective: The agreement between subjective and objective assessments of masticatory function in complete denture patients remains controversial, thereby complicating the selection of the appropriate assessment tool. The present study aimed to re-examine their association and factors related to both assessments.
Materials and Methods: Thirty-three complete denture patients, having regularly worn complete dentures for up to 10 years, were recruited. Years of usage, Functional Assessment of Dentures (FAD), chewing ability (using a 9-item questionnaire), masticatory performance (5-color scale and ΔE using color-changeable chewing gum), maximum bite force (MBF), area of occlusal contact and near contact (ACNC), Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP), and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were also determined for each patient. Any associations between years of usage and the above variables, between chewing ability and masticatory performance, and between any two variables were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation.
Results: Years of usage was significantly correlated with ACNC (rho = 0.50) but not with chewing ability and masticatory performance. Masticatory performance (ΔE) was positively correlated with MBF (rho = 0.55; p = 0.001) and ACNC (rho = 0.39; p = 0.025) whereas chewing ability was inversely correlated with OIDP (rho = -0.49; p = 0.003) and positively correlated with MNA (rho = 0.34; p = 0.05). Chewing ability was not correlated with masticatory performance.
Conclusion: While the objective masticatory assessment was associated with MBF and ACNC, the subjective assessment was associated with the quality of life and nutritional status of the patients. With some limitations in the present study, the agreement between subjective and objective masticatory function could not be demonstrated in complete denture wearers.

Efficacy of gutta-percha solvent for removing gutta-percha from curved root canals

Panuwat Tunprasart — 2024-03-26

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacies of the following gutta-percha removal techniques: NiTi rotary files, hand files, and hand files with solvent. Additionally, the study observed the dentin loss and complications that can occur during the process.
Materials and Methods: Forty extracted human maxillary molars with severely curved mesiobuccal or distobuccal roots were selected. After root canal preparation, the curved canals were filled with gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer. The teeth were randomly allocated into 4 groups with different gutta-percha removal techniques: group 1 - rotary retreatment files, group 2 - hand files, group 3 - hand files with natural gutta-percha solvent, and group 4 - hand files with chloroform. The teeth were scanned by micro-computed tomography after instrumentation, root canal filling, and gutta-percha removal to assess the volume of residual gutta-percha, and percentage of dentin loss and any procedural errors. The statistical analyses were conducted using ANOVA to compare root canal curvatures, and the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s tests were employed for comparing the remaining gutta-percha and dentin loss. A significance level of 5% was applied.
Results: The residual gutta-percha in the hand files with chloroform and hand files with gutta-percha solvent groups was 2.56% and 4.34%, respectively, which were significantly (p < .05) lower than those of the hand files and rotary retreatment files groups (12.88% and 13.12%). The percentages of dentin loss were not significantly different (p > .05) among the groups. Root perforation and instrument separation were not observed.
Conclusion: For retreating severely curved canals, using hand files with solvent was superior to using hand files and rotary files alone for removing gutta-percha.

Impaired oral function in older adults with type 2 diabetes

Promrob Nilkamhaeng — 2024-03-26

Objective: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the occurrence of impaired oral functions (the number of teeth present, subjective difficulties in eating tough food and swallowing, oral moisture, chewing ability, and oral diadochokinesis (ODK)) in community-dwelling older adults with type 2 diabetes.
Materials and Methods: One hundred participants aged 60 and above in Lop Buri province, Thailand, were enrolled in this study. Demographic data, clinical data, and oral status were collected using questionnaires, medical records, and clinical examination. Oral moisture was measured using an oral moisture-checking device. Color-changeable chewing gum and a color scale were used to evaluate chewing ability. To evaluate ODK, the participants were asked to repeat each single syllable /pa/, /ta/, /ka/ for 5 seconds. The number of repetitions per second was recorded using the pen-dotting method. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, correlation test, independent sample t-test, and the Mann-Whitney test.
Results: The most common impaired oral function was decreased ODK (85%), followed closely by a decrease in the number of posterior occluding teeth (83%), subjective difficulties in eating tough food (72%), compromised chewing ability (35%), and impaired oral moisture (23%). Only 8% of the participants reported swallowing difficulties. Eighty-three participants (83%) experienced ≥3 impaired oral functions.
Conclusions: This study revealed the presence of impaired oral function in a group of diabetic older persons. The rapidity of lip and tongue movement, chewing ability, and oral moisture decreased in function. A decrease in oral function tended to correspond with increasing age and blood glucose level.