Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common, chronic relapsing inflammatory disorder of the mucous membranes, which causes major discomfort. Current treatment includes topical/systemic glucocorticoids, immune modulators and systemic immunosuppressants, which may lead to considerable side-effects. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical and immunological efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in OLP as an alternative, easy-to-use, safe and non-invasive treatment. Twenty patients with OLP were treated with PDT in a prospective case-controlled pilot-study. PDT was performed on the most extensive oral lesion in 4 sessions (day 1, 3, 7, 14). Peripheral blood and lesional T cells were analysed before (day 1) and after PDT treatment (day 28). PDT led to a statistically significant reduction of clinical parameters (lesion size, ABSIS, Thongprasom-score) and improvement of all evaluated quality-of-life (QOL) items. The clinical improvement was accompanied by a significant decrease of the relative number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in mucosal OLP-lesions. Furthermore, CXCL10 plasma levels were decreased and the number of activated peripheral CD4 + CD137+ and CD8 + CD137+ T cells and IL-17-secreting T cells was diminished. PDT treatment in OLP leads to lesion reduction and improvement of QOL, and induces local and systemic anti-inflammatory effects. The study identifies PDT as a novel therapeutic option in OLP.

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the current evidence reporting on the prevalence of peri-implantitis and to determine the influencing factors. An electronic search for articles published until February 2019 reporting on the prevalence of peri-implantitis was performed in MEDLINE. Included criteria were published in international peer-reviewed journals, written in English language, reported on the prevalence of peri-implantitis, included implants with a minimum follow-up of one year after functional loading and used a clear definition for peri-implantitis and/or peri-implant mucositis with a clear cutoff for bone level changes according to the case definitions of Sanz and Chapple and Berglundh et al. 2018. Included papers were anaylized for factors affecting the reported prevalences for peri-implantitis. Twenty-five papers were included in the present review and a wide range for the reported prevalence of peri-implantitis was seen. Case definitions for peri-implantitis with various thresholds for bone loss together with the type of reporting on patient- or implant-level were the most significant factors that lead to a large variety of the occurrence of the disease. Additionally, follow-up time and the evaluation in a certain “convenience” population may have influenced the prevalence values. In conclusion, it can be stated that a wide range for reporting the prevalence of peri-implantitis can be found and no real estimation of the global burden of the disease can be made. Applying accurate case definitions for peri-implantitis is the most important factor for reporting the prevalence and should be strictly followed in future reports.

To evaluate the clinical outcomes 12 months after systemic administration of amoxicillin (AMX) and metronidazole (MET) adjunctive to subgingival debridement (SD) in patients with severe chronic periodontitis (sChP). 102 patients with sChP were treated randomly as follows: SD within 2 consecutive days and placebo for 7 days (group A), SD+AMX+MET (both 500mg x3 times daily TID) for 3 days (group B), SD+AMX+MET (both 500mg x 3 TID) for 7 days (group C). At baseline, at 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-treatment probing pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), furcation involvement, bleeding on probing (BOP), full-mouth plaque score (FMPS) were determined. The reduction in the number of sites with PD≥6mm was defined as main outcome variable. 75 patients completed the study. At 12 months, all three treatment groups showed statistically significant improvements (p<0.001) of mean PD, CAL, BOP and number of sites with PD≥6mm compared to baseline. Mean residual PD were statistically significantly lower and CAL gain statistically significantly greater in the two antibiotic groups as compared to placebo. While PD reductions (p = 0.012) and CAL gain (p = 0.017) were statistically significantly higher in group C compared to group A, only the 3-day AB group showed statistically significantly fewer sites with PD≥6mm at 12 m (p = 0.003). The reduction in the number of sites with PD≥6 mm (primary outcome) showed no statistical significant differences between the 3 treatment groups. However, in both antibiotic groups significantly more patients compared to the placebo group reached a low risk for disease progression at 12 months (≤4 sites with PD≥5mm). At 12 months, both adjunctive antibiotic protocols resulted in statistically significantly greater clinical improvements compared to placebo.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical non‐inferiority of a 3‐day protocol of systemic antibiotics adjunctive to subgingival instrumentation (SI) compared with a 7‐day‐protocol in patients with Stage III/IV Grade C periodontitis.Materials and Methods: Fifty systemically healthy patients (32.7 ± 4.3 years) with aggressive periodontitis (AgP; Stage III/IV Grade C periodontitis) were treated by SI and adjunctive amoxicillin and metronidazole and were randomly assigned to Group A: (n = 25) 500 mg antibiotics (AB) 3 times a day for 3 days, followed by placebo 3 times a day for 4 days, or Group B: (n = 25) 500 mg AB 3 times a day for 7 days. Clinical, microbial, and immunological parameters were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, and patient‐related outcomes were assessed after 2 weeks. The primary outcome variable was the number of residual sites with pocket depth (PD) ≥6 mm at 6 months.Results: For the primary outcome variable (the number of residual sites with PD ≥6 mm at 6 months), the null hypothesis was rejected and non‐inferiority of the 3‐day AB protocol compared with the 7‐day AB protocol was demonstrated (the upper limits of the 95% confidence interval for intention to treat analysis: [−2.572; 1.050] and per protocol analysis: [−2.523; 1.318] were lower than the assumed margin of Δ = 3.1). Comparable clinical improvements were obtained for all parameters with both antibiotic protocols (p > .05). All investigated periodontopathogens and pro‐inflammatory host‐derived markers were statistically significantly reduced without differences between the treatments (p > .05).Conclusions: These findings indicate that in patients with AgP (Stage III/IV Grade C periodontitis), a 3‐day systemic administration of amoxicillin and metronidazole adjunctive to SI may lead to non‐inferior clinical outcomes after 6‐months with fewer adverse events compared with a 7‐day‐protocol.