The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, flurbiprofen, a potent cyclooxygenase inhibitor, significantly decreases the resorption of alveolar bone in naturally occurring chronic destructive periodontal disease in beagles. This observation indicates that arachidonic acid metabolites are important in the alveolar bone loss of periodontitis and suggests a use for flurbiprofen in the management of bone resorption disease.

No abstract

This study involved histometry of the healed tissues around submerged and nonsubmerged dental implants in beagle dogs. In a split-mouth design, 19 submerged and 19 nonsubmerged commercially pure titanium implants, titanium plasma-sprayed in the bone anchoring part and smooth in the transmucosal portion, were placed in the mandibles of 6 dogs. Oral hygiene was performed 3 times weekly. After 3 months of healing, transmucosal abutments were inserted in the submerged implants. Six weeks after second stage surgery, the dogs were sacrificed and specimens obtained and processed for histology and histometry. Using a light microscope and a digitizing pad, the distance from implant top to mucosa border (DIM), the extent of epithelial downgrowth (ED), the attachment level, (AL), the length of connective tissue contact (CTC) and the distance of the first coronal alveolar bone contact from the implant top (DIB) were measured at the mesial and distal aspects. Means +/- standard deviations for submerged and nonsubmerged implants were calculated, with the dog being the unit of measure. No statistically significant differences between submerged and nonsubmerged implants were found for DIM, CTC and DIB. However, significant differences were observed for ED and AL. This study in beagle dogs indicates that the apical extension of the peri-implant epithelium is significantly greater and the attachment level significantly lower adjacent to submerged implants with second-stage transmucosal abutments than in nonsubmerged, one-stage implants.

The use of a cephalostat to stabilize projection geometry for subtraction radiography was investigated. Six replicate repositionings of patients within a cephalostat indicated that the mean angular disparity between repositioning was 0.33 ± 0.10 degrees. Subtraction images produced from films of a phantom with artificial periodontal defects exposed using the cephalostat or stent technique were compared. There was no significant difference in the standard deviations of the gray level histograms obtained using the two methods. However, the ability of 10 investigators to detect the presence or absence of simulated periodontal lesions was superior from subtraction radiographs produced from cephalostat‐based images when compared to stent‐based images (p < .02). Sets of radiographs taken of 6 patients on the same day or 3 months apart indicate that the cephalometric technique may be used to stabilize projection geometry.

No abstract

This investigation focuses on the changes in the concentrations of cyclooxygenase (CO) products present within the crevicular fluid in naturally-progressing periodontitis in the beagle and the effects of various non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on these metabolite levels and disease progression. Six groups of 5-6 beagles with periodontitis were followed for 6 months to determine the pretreatment rate of radiographic bone loss. At baseline, groups of animals were placed on soft chow to promote disease progression. Groups were treated with either placebo, three different formulations of systemic ibuprofen, systemic naproxen or topical flurbiprofen. During the 6-month treatment phase, crevicular fluid (CF) samples and radiographs were taken at regular intervals. Radioimmunoassay of CF samples from untreated animals demonstrated a steady increase in prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) over baseline values. At 1 month, CF-PGE2 levels increased 2-fold over baseline and, by 6 months, had reached a 5- to 6-fold elevation. Crevicular fluid thromboxane B2 (CF-TxB2) levels rapidly reached a 4- to 5-fold peak over baseline at 1 month and subsequently dropped to a 2-fold elevation for the remainder of the study. The rate of bone loss (BLOSS) in untreated animals increased 38% during the 6-month period, as compared to baseline pretreatment BLOSS rates. Overall, there was a significant depression in the CF levels of both PGE2 and TxB2 in all NSAID-treated groups. All NSAID treatments significantly retarded BLOSS, ranging from 21.0-36.9% of the control BLOSS rate. Furthermore, CO activation represents a major regulatory step in bone destruction and may thereby serve as an important site for pharmacological modulation.

No abstract

A mathematical algorithm was derived which allows comparison of measurements of bone loss from sequential non-standardized radiographs. The same three anatomical landmarks were defined on both a reference and an alternate radiograph. These coordinates were used to compute a transformation matrix which mathematically "bent" the alternate radiograph to fit the reference radiograph in 44 pairs of non-standardized radiographs. Comparison of direct measurements of bone loss in reference and alternate radiographs revealed a mean error of 0.55 mm. This error was significantly reduced to 0.15 mm when direct measurements in reference films were compared to transformed measurements on the alternate radiograph. These data indicate the transformation method may be of value in comparing non-standardized radiographs.