Objectives: To compare the efficacy of rotating-oscillating heads (ORHs) VS sonic action heads (SAHs) powered toothbrushes on plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation. Methods: An electronic (MEDLINE, Embase, Inspec, PQ SciTech and BIOSIS) and a complementary manual search were made to detect eligible studies. RCTs meeting the following criteria were included: final timepoint longer than 15 days; year of publication after 2000; patients without orthodontic appliances or severe systemic/psychiatric diseases. Studies comparing two or more different types of sonic/roto-oscillating toothbrushes were excluded. Selection of articles, extraction of data, and assessment of quality were made independently by several reviewers. Results: 12 trials (1433 participants) were included. The differences between ORHs and SAHs toothbrushes were expressed as weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The heterogeneity of data was evaluated. Concerning Plaque Index, both toothbrushes obtained comparable results. Six trials of up to 3 months and at an unclear risk of bias provided significant outcomes in terms of gingival inflammation in favor of ORHs toothbrush. Evidence resulting from three trials of up to 6 months and at a high/low risk of bias stated SAHs toothbrush superiority in gingival inflammation. Conclusions: Both ORHs and SAHs toothbrushes improved the outcomes measured from the baseline. In most of the good quality trials included, SAHs toothbrush showed statistical better long-term results. Due to the shortage of investigations, no further accurate conclusions can be outlined with reference to the superiority of a specific powered toothbrush over the other.

Background: The present retrospective analysis aimed to compare two different single tooth extraction surgical approaches in both premolar and molar areas: less traumatic magneto-electrical versus conventional tooth extraction in minimizing the edentulous ridge volume loss. Methods: In the present retrospective control trial, 48 patients who underwent one-tooth extraction, were allocated either to control (28 sites treated with conventional tooth extraction procedures) or test group (20 subjects treated with less traumatic tooth extraction procedures by tooth sectioning and magnetoelectric roots subluxation). Intraoperatively (during tooth extraction surgery just after the subsequent filling of the alveolar socket with the sterile fast re-absorbable gelatin sponge), and then four months later, contours of the sockets were acquired through a laser intra-oral scanner. The digitally superimposed models were converted to dicom (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) format first, then volumetric and area evaluations were performed with a DentaScan tool package. Non-parametric tests were applied with a level of significance set at p < 0.01. Results: significant reductions of anatomical features were observed four months later in all the groups (p-values < 0.001) with volume losses leading to a final alveolar ridge volume of 0.87 ± 0.34 cm³ for atraumatic extractions and 0.66 ± 0.19 cm³ for conventional extractions. No significant differences were registered for outcomes related to the basal surface variables. When just molar tooth were considered, the outcomes relating to volume loss between baseline and four months (ΔV) and its percentage (ΔV%) showed a better behavior in the less traumatic procedure (ΔV = −0.30 ± 0.10 cm³ and ΔV% = −22.3 ± 8.4%) compared to the conventional extractions (ΔV = −0.59 ± 0.10 cm³ and ΔV% = −44.3 ± 5.8%) with p-values < 0.0001. Conclusions: at four months, the less traumatic tooth extraction procedures by tooth sectioning and magnetoelectric root subluxation seemed to be able to better preserve the volume of the alveolar crest (reduction close to 22% with less traumatic extraction in molar sites) when compared to subjects treated with the conventional tooth extraction techniques.

Periodontal infection may contribute to poor glycemic control and systemic inflammation in diabetic patients. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of non-surgical periodontal treatment in diabetic patients by measuring oxidative stress outcomes. Sixty diabetic patients with periodontitis were enrolled, treated with scaling and full-mouth disinfection, and randomly prescribed chlorhexidine mouthwash, antioxidant mouthwash, or ozone therapy. Reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), periodontal parameters, and glycated hemoglobin were measured at baseline and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after. At baseline, all patients presented with pathologic levels of plasmatic ROM (388 ± 21.36 U CARR), higher than the normal population. Probing depth, plaque index, and bleeding on probing values showed significant clinical improvements after treatment, accompanied by significant reductions of plasma ROM levels (p < 0.05). At the 6-month evaluation, the mean ROM relapsed to 332 ± 31.76 U CARR. Glycated hemoglobin decreased significantly (∆ = −0.52 units) after treatment. Both the test groups showed longer-lasting improvements of periodontal parameters. In diabetic patients, periodontal treatment was effective at reducing plasma ROM, which is an indicator of systemic oxidative stress and inflammation. The treatment of periodontal infection might facilitate glycemic control and decrease systemic inflammation.

Immediate dental implant placement with or without immediate loading is reported in daily dentistry and implantology, but these procedures are not common in the case of periradicular and periapical lesions around the tooth needed to be replaced. In the following retrospective evaluation, 10 cases with a 1-year follow-up were selected to propose the technique of an immediate provisional non-loading prosthesis being delivered on the same day of the post-extraction implant placement in multiradicular teeth affected by chronic periradicular and periapical lesions. Post-extractive sockets underwent immediate dental implant placement by filling the empty space with sterile, re-absorbable gelatin sponges. The widths of the alveolar ridge were measured on three-dimensional radiographs before and after the operation, 4 and 12 months later. Non-parametric statistics were performed to compare the outcomes over time with a level of significance of 0.05. Comparing the preoperative cross-sectional images of cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) scans to the postoperative ones, it was noted that changes in the crestal ridge width, ΔCW, (compared to baseline) were negligible and not clinically appreciable. However, while ΔCW at 4 months appeared to be negative (−0.17 ± 045 mm), crestal width at 12 months was at the same level as the baseline (ΔCW = 0.02 ± 0.48 mm), with a significant difference between 4 and 12 months (p-value = 0.0494). Immediate implant placement with an immediate non-loading provisional customized healing abutment of polyether-ether-ketone placed into the post-extractive sockets with asymptomatic and large chronic periapical and periradicular lesions could represent a further treatment strategy for patients’ rehabilitation and soft tissue preservation to replace a hopeless tooth.

Background: to assess the radiological marginal bone loss between bone-level or tissue-level dental implants through a systematic review of literature until September 2019. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and other database were searched by two independent authors including only English articles. Results: The search provided 1028 records and, after removing the duplicates through titles and abstracts screening, 45 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. For qualitative analysis 20 articles were included, 17 articles of them for quantitative analysis counting a total of 1161 patients (mean age 54.4 years) and 2933 implants, 1427 inserted at Tissue-level (TL) and 1506 inserted at Bone-level (BL). The survival rate and the success rate were more than 90%, except for 2 studies with a success rate of 88% and 86.2%. No studies reported any differences between groups in term of success and survival rates. Three studies showed that BL-implants had statistically less marginal bone loss (p < 0.05). Only one study reported statistically less marginal bone loss in TL-implants (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In the most part of the studies, differences between implant types in marginal bone loss were not statistically significant after a variable period of follow-up ranged between 1 and 5 years.

Inferior wisdom teeth extraction surgery may have some complications that, in some cases, could be prevented by a correct diagnosis and minimal surgery. Coronectomy is a technique used for wisdom teeth surgery where only the crown is extracted and the root/roots are left in situ. This procedure may be controversial, but it could limit the common risks of the extraction procedure. Nowadays, the indication and contraindication of this technique are debated, and clinicians normally extract the entire tooth. The following case series includes the data and follow-up radiographs of 130 patients who received a coronectomy, reporting the safety of the procedure. After a mean follow-up period of four years, no complications occurred. A total of 13 patients showed mobile roots but had no complications or symptoms. The roots migrated in a mesial or coronal direction in 31 patients; in 4 cases, they were removed because of patient preference. Coronectomy is a useful oral surgical procedure in certain complicated cases of mandibular wisdom tooth extraction.