Despite the popularity and wide acceptance of the calcium channel blockers (CCBs) by the medical community, their oral impact is rarely recognized or discussed. CCBs, as a group, have been frequently implicated as an etiologic factor for a common oral condition seen among patients seeking dental care: drug-induced gingival enlargement or overgrowth. This enlargement can be localized or generalized, and can range from mild to extremely severe, affecting patient's appearance and function. Treatment options for these patients include cessation of the offending drug and substitution with another class of antihypertensive medication to prevent recurrence of the lesions. In addition, depending on the severity of the gingival overgrowth, nonsurgical and surgical periodontal therapy may be required. The overall objective of this article is to review the etiology and known risk factors of these lesions, their clinical manifestations and periodontal management.

The relationship between probing attachment changes in treated periodontal pockets and the prevalence of selected periodontal pathogens was assessed in 10 patients with adult periodontitis 1 year following randomized therapy. All patients had at least 1 tooth in each quadrant with an inflamed pocket of probing depth > or =5 mm and clinical attachment loss and harbored at least one of the following 3 major periodontal pathogens: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, or Bacteroides forsythus. The number of target organisms per site was determined preoperatively; at 1 week; and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively utilizing DNA probes. The following clinical parameters were measured and recorded preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment: gingival fluid flow, gingival index, plaque index, probing depth, probing attachment level, gingival recession, and bleeding on probing. One quadrant in each patient was randomly assigned to 1 of the following 4 treatments: 1) scaling and root planing; 2) pocket reduction through osseous surgery and apically-positioned flap; 3) modified Widman flap; and 4) modified Widman flap and topical application of saturated citric acid at pH 1 for 3 minutes. All 4 treatments were rendered in one appointment using local anesthesia. No postoperative antibiotics were used, but patients rinsed with 0.12% chlorhexidine for the first 3 months postoperatively and received a prophylaxis every 3 months. This investigation revealed: 1) 30.0% of the sites were infected by at least 1 species at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. 2) Failing sites were infected by a high number of both Pg and Bf These sites had a mean of 24.2+/-9.0 x 10(3) Pg and 93.1+/-42.0 X 10(3) Bf while stable sites had a mean of 6.8+/-0.5 x 10(3) Pg and 7.2+/-1.2 x 10(3) Bf (P = 0.06 and P = 0.05, respectively). 3) The infected sites lost significantly more mean clinical attachment at 12 months (1.5+/-0.5 mm compared to a loss of 0.2+/-0.3 mm for uninfected sites, P = 0.017). 4) The infected sites had a significantly greater BOP (67+/-14% versus 25+/-8% for uninfected sites at 12 months, P = 0.012). 5) The choice of treatment modality did not affect the prevalence of the target species at 1 year post-treatment. These results suggest that prevalence of microbial pathogens negatively affects the 1 year outcome of periodontal surgical and nonsurgical therapy.

These data indicate that the prevalence of colonization of the sulcus by pathogenic bacterial species in periodontitis-free individuals is related to the quantity and duration of cigarette smoking.

This clinical study evaluated the survival rates of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Prevotella intermedia in periodontal pockets following scaling and root planing and intra-pocket irrigation with antimicrobial agents in patients with moderate and severe periodontitis. The number of target organisms was determined utilizing DNA probes. Adult periodontitis patients were selected on the basis that the subgingival flora contained at least one of the target organisms. Forty-eight (48) inflamed pockets > or = 5 mm in depth with probing attachment loss and containing at least one of the target species were then selected in 7 adult patients who harbored these bacteria. Following baseline clinical and bacterial examination, all patients received thorough scaling and root planing. In addition, 1 or 2 teeth in each patient which harbored the target flora at baseline were randomly assigned to each of the following 4 treatment modalities: 1) control group, no irrigation; 2) saline group, irrigation with 2 cc of physiologic saline; 3) tetracycline group, irrigation with 2 cc of aqueous tetracycline hydrochloride, 50 mg/ml (5%); and 4) chlorhexidine group, irrigation with 2 cc 0.12% chlorhexidine. All selected sites (5 to 8 per patient) were nonadjacent teeth. Clinical parameters and microbial analysis were recorded again at one week, and one month post-irrigation. The survival rate of the target microorganisms was determined and the effect of irrigation with antimicrobial agents on this microflora was compared with the control groups (1 and 2).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The overall goal of this clinical study was to determine the short-term anti-infective effects of four randomized treatment modalities on Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), and Bacteroides forsythus (Bf) and determine the effects of bacterial survival on treatment outcomes in patients with adult periodontitis. Twelve adult patients requiring therapy for moderate periodontitis were selected for this study. All patients had at least one tooth in each quadrant that had an inflamed pocket of probing depth > or =5 mm with probing attachment loss that harbored at least one of the following three periodontal pathogens: Aa, Pg, or Bf. The number of target organisms per site was determined pre-operatively, at 1 week, and 1 month and 3 months postoperatively utilizing DNA probes. One quadrant in each patient was randomly assigned to each one of the following four treatment groups: 1) scaling and root planing (SRP group); 2) pocket reduction through osseous surgery and apically-positioned flap (OS group); 3) modified Widman flap (MWF group); and 4) modified Widman flap and topical application of saturated citric acid at pH 1 for 3 minutes (CA group). The 4 treatment modalities were performed in one appointment. No postoperative antibiotics were used. Patients were instructed to supplement their daily oral hygiene with chlorohexidine oral rinse during the study. The results of this investigation indicated that: 1) none of the treatment modalities was effective in eliminating the target species; 2) the incidence of infected sites for all groups was 100% preoperatively; 62.5%, 33.3%, and 31.3% at 1 week, and 1 and 3 months postoperatively, respectively; 3) these infected sites lost 1.1 +/- 0.4 mm of probing attachment compared to gain of 0.0 +/- 0.3 mm for uninfected sites; 4) the infected sites had higher plaque and bleeding on probing 0.9 +/- 0.3, 73 +/- 12%, respectively, compared to 0.3 +/- 0.1 and 30 +/- 8% for the uninfected sites; and 5) no statistically significant differences were detected among the infected sites in regard to gingival index (1.0 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.8 +/- 0.1) or probing depth (3.5 +/- 0.4 vs. 3.0 +/- 0.1 mm). These results indicate that bacterial survival negatively affects the short-term clinical outcomes of non-surgical and surgical periodontal therapy.