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Objective: Conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy, i.e., scaling and root planing (SRP), is not sufficient to completely eradicate the microorganisms present in dental plaque biofilm due to the incapability of instruments to reach the inaccessible areas of a tooth with anatomical variations. Hence, to increase the effectiveness of SRP, many adjunctive treatment strategies are proposed, including photodynamic therapy (PDT). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the clinical and microbiological efficacy of PDT using Indocyanine green (ICG) as a novel photosensitizer for the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Twenty individuals who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were enrolled for this randomized controlled clinical trial using split-mouth design. Treatment sites from each individual were randomly allocated into two groups: SRP was done for the sites of the control group and an additional session of PDT using ICG was performed for the sites of the test group. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from both the sites and sent for quantitative analysis of Treponema denticola, Porphyromonas gingivalis , and Tannerella forsythia using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. Probing pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), and count of all the three microorganisms were assessed at baseline and after 3 months. Results: After 3 months, PD and CAL showed statistically significant improvement in the test sites ( P < 0.001) compared to the control sites. However, the differences in the microbiological parameters were statistically nonsignificant between the groups. Conclusion: ICG as a photosensitizer may enhance the outcomes of SRP and can be used for PDT for the nonsurgical management of periodontal diseases.

Aim: This study compares and evaluates the efficacy of ozonated water irrigation (OZI) and powered toothbrushing on the oral health and microbial status of mentally challenged individuals. Materials and Methods: Thirty individuals of age range 15–30 years with a mild-to-moderate level of mental retardation (MR) and gingival inflammation participated in this double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Total duration of the study was 45 days consisting of two clinical phases (phase I, i.e., aided) and phase II, i.e. unaided) of the duration of 21 days in each phase, with a washout period of 3 days between the two phases. With a split-mouth design, sites from each subject were randomly allocated into two treatment groups: Powered Toothbrushing (PB) and OZI were randomly done for each half side of the mouth of each subject. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from sites of both the treatment groups and sent for microbial analysis. Clinical and microbial parameters were measured before and after the treatment. Results: Significant improvement of the clinical and microbial parameters was found in both treatment groups. However, intergroup differences in the parameters were statistically nonsignificant. Conclusion: OZI could serve as an alternative or adjunct to powered toothbrushes for people with MR.

Objectives: Complete elimination of the pathogenic microorganisms from the gingival sulcus area is the ultimate goal of any periodontal therapy. Certain factors such as anatomical variation of teeth, deep periodontal pocket, and tissue-invading ability of some bacteria decrease the effectiveness of conventional nonsurgical periodontal therapy, i.e., scaling and root planing (SRP). Hence, antimicrobial agents could be used as an adjunct to SRP, in order to increase the efficacy of it. Although Chlorhexidine (CHX) is the gold standard as an antiplaque agent, it has several drawbacks. Recently, ozone therapy is being tried for the treatment of several diseases in the field of dentistry. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil as adjunctive to SRP for the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Thirty individuals who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were selected for this split-mouth randomized controlled trial. The treatment sites from each individual were randomly allocated into two groups. Along with SRP, the local application of CHX and ozonated olive oil was done for the control and test sites, respectively. Pocket probing depth, relative attachment loss, and sulcus bleeding index were measured before and 3 months after the treatment. Intragroup and intergroup differences in the clinical parameters were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann–Whitney U test, respectively. Results: Three months' posttreatment, all the parameters showed significant improvement in both the groups. However, the intergroup comparison failed to be significant statistically. Conclusion: Ozonated olive oil could enhance the outcomes of SRP for the treatment of periodontal diseases.

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Novel corona virus is a global threat worldwide caused by COVID-19 as christened by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 11, 2020. [1] The international virus classification commission has also named novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2 post the outbreak of SARS and MERS. COVID-19 is likely of zoonotic origin based on the large number of infected persons exposed to the wet animal market in Wuhan City, China of COVID-19. [2,3] The spectrum of clinical manifestations of COVID-19 includes fever, non-productive cough, dyspnea, myalgia, fatigue and normal, or decreased leukocyte counts. They show radiographic evidence of pneumonia, which are similar to the symptoms of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infections as we decode the pathogenesis of the novel corona virus. [1,4] Fang et al. reported that causal link between comorbidities such as cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, coronary heart diseases, and hypertension to the augmented risk of lethal outcome post the viral infection. Patients who are under ACE2-enhancing drugs are at higher risk for a fatal COVID-19 infection. [5] Patients with cancer or undergoing treatment are in an immuno-compromised state and can easily succumb to COVID-19, with associated worse outcomes. Yu et al. assessed the incidence (0.79%) and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with cancer. The heightened risk was twice the cumulative incidence in Wuhan estimated at 0.37% over the same period. Individuals with cancer who contracted the virus had non-small cell lung cancer; rectal, colon, pancreatic, urothelial, and breast cancer. [6] Wang et al. and Allison et al. using epidemiological statistics observed that patients with cancer history were more likely to develop COVID-19 due to the chronic immuno-suppressive state and have a poor prognosis. [7,8] Oral cancer is considered as the most common cancers, and is a major health problem particularly in developing countries. Among all oral neoplasms, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common. Many risk factors have been well established to have significant evidence associated with oral cancer. The etiology of oral cancer is complex and its multifactorial. It is known that tumor microenvironment can modulate the biological behavior of tumor cells. One such important modulator is the presence of functional renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Angiotensin II (Ang II), a crucial component of RAS has been reported to have protumoral roles in carcinogenesis.

A BSTRACT Background: There is an increase in longevity of teeth retained in elderly population, leading to increased risk of root caries. Therefore, new and affordable preventive strategies are in need to reduce this problem. Hence, the aim and objective of the study was to assess and compare the root caries remineralization effect of plain milk, 5ppm of fluoridated milk, and 5ppm of NaF in deionized water. Materials and Methods: The study was an in vitro experimental design. Sixty root samples were divided into five groups (sound root, demineralized root treated in deionized water, plain milk, 5-ppm fluoridated milk, and 5-ppm fluoridated deionized water) of 12 samples each after baseline surface microhardness analysis and standardization was carried out in the study. All groups except the sound root were subjected to demineralization procedure for 4 days at 37°C. The demineralized four groups were treated to test solutions and subjected to pH cycling for 14 days. This was followed with assessment of postintervention surface microhardness. Student’s paired t test was used for comparing surface within groups. One-way analysis of variance test and post hoc Tukey’s test were conducted for between groups’ comparison. Results: There was a significant difference between groups ( P < 0.05). The results of post hoc showed that significant difference was found between the group sound root and demineralized treated with 5-ppm fluoridated milk and 5-ppm fluoridated deionized water with an effect size of 2.15 and 2.87, with CI (–26.8 to –8.1) and (–36 to –17.3), respectively. There was a significant difference in all the groups when compared within the group ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: Plain milk, 5-ppm fluoridated milk, and 5-ppm fluoridated deionized water showed remineralizing potential against demineralized in vitro root caries samples. 5-ppm fluoridated deionized water and 5-ppm fluoridated milk have a better effect compared to plain milk.