Background: This study aims to evaluate the effects of two different concentrations of topical hyaluronic acid (HA) on postoperative patient discomfort and wound healing of palatal donor sites after free gingival graft (FGG) surgery. Methods: Thirty‐six patients requiring FGG were randomly assigned into three groups in an examiner‐masked, randomized, controlled clinical trial. After harvesting palatal grafts, 0.2% and 0.8% HA gels were used in test groups 1 and 2, respectively. Gels were applied on donor sites and protected with periodontal dressing in the test groups, whereas the wound was covered only with periodontal dressing in the control group. On days 3, 7, 14, and 21, pain and burning sensation were recorded using a visual analog scale (VAS) as well as other parameters such as complete epithelization (CE) and color match on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 42.Results: Test groups experienced less pain than the control group on days 3 and 7 (P <0.001 and P <0.001, respectively). Mean VAS score for burning sensation was higher in the control group on day 3 compared with test groups 1 and 2 (P = 0.03 and P = 0.02, respectively). CE in all patients was achieved on day 21 in both test groups, whereas it was achieved on day 42 in the control group. The test groups showed higher color match scores than the control group on days 21 (P <0.001 and P <0.001, respectively) and 42 (P = 0.004 and P = 0.002, respectively).Conclusion: Topical application of HA exhibits positive impact on postoperative pain and burning sensation, and accelerates palatal wound healing in terms of epithelization and color match.

Background: One of the success factors in periodontal plastic surgery is the synergistic relationship between involved tissues and vascular supply. Gingiva as a functional unit is unique with a specific vascular configuration and contains the supracrestal portion naturally created to survive over avascular root surfaces. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to clinically evaluate the treatment of localized gingival recessions by using gingival unit grafts (palatal tissue involving marginal gingiva and papillae) compared with conventional palatal grafts.Methods: Seventeen patients with Class I to II recession defects on mandibular anterior teeth were included and randomly divided into two groups. Recessions were treated with gingival unit grafts in group 1 (n = 8) and with palatal grafts in group 2 (n = 9). Clinical parameters including vertical recession (VR), probing depth, keratinized tissue (KT), and attachment level were recorded at baseline and 8 months after surgery.Results: Both treatments produced significant clinical improvements within the groups. Intergroup comparison revealed significantly higher VR reduction, attachment, and KT gain in group 1 than in group 2; mean percentages of the defect coverage were 91.62% ± 9.74% and 68.97% ± 13.67%, respectively (P <0.05). Healing of the gingival unit donor site was uneventful.Conclusion: Within its limits, this study demonstrates the possibility of treating buccal recessions with gingival unit grafts as an alternative technique using gingival donor graft of site‐specific vascular configuration, with better defect coverage, clinical, and esthetic improvements compared with palatal grafts.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) constitutes one of the major components of the extracellular matrix domain in almost all mammals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the regenerative capacity of HA matrix in rat calvarial bone defects and compare with those of different combinations of resorbable collagen membrane (M) and bovine-derived xenograft (G). Twenty-four 3-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g were included. Control group was created by leaving one defect empty from 2 critical size defects with 5 mm diameter formed in the calvarial bones of 8 rats. In the same rats, the other defect was treated with HA matrix alone. One of the 2 defects formed in other 8 rats was treated with HA+G and the other with HA+M. One of the 2 defects formed in the remaining 8 rats was treated with G+M and the other with HA+G+M. The animals were sacrificed at 4 weeks. Histologic, histomorphometric, and immunohistochemical analyses were performed. Both HA matrix alone and its combinations with G and M supported new bone formation (NBF). However, NBF was significantly greater in G+M and HA+G+M groups compared to control and HA alone (P<0.001). Bone morphogenetic protein-2 was expressed with varying degrees in all groups, without any difference among them. Within the limitations of the present study, HA matrix, used alone or in combination with G and M, did not contribute significantly to bone regeneration in rat calvarial bone defects.

The most significant factor for the success in soft tissue grafts is the synergistic relation between vascular configuration and involved tissues. In the soft tissue graft procedures, site specific donor tissue is assumed to have improved potential for function and aesthetic survive at recipient sites. On a clinical level, using site specific gingival unit graft that placed on traditionally prepared recipient site, results in predictable root coverage. In this case report the clinical effectiveness of gingival unit transfer (GUT) technique performed on Miller III recession was presented and a similar recession case treated with free gingival graft (FGG) technique for comparison. Probing depth, recession depth, keratinized tissue width and clinical attachment level clinical parameters were measured at baseline and postoperative 8 mo. Percentage of defect coverage was evaluated at postoperative 8 mo. Creeping attachment was assessed at postoperative 1, 3, 6 and 8 mo. The GUT revealed better defect coverage and creeping attachment results than the FGG in the treatment of Miller III defects.

Background: Chewing difficulty, poor oral health, inadequate and imbalanced nutrition are serious health problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities. The participants' chewing abilities, oral health and nutritional status were analysed in this study.Methods: Forty‐five adult participants with intellectual disabilities were included. Anthropometric measurements, oral health assessments, chewing ability evaluations and dietary intake analyses were conducted.Results: A 56.8% of the participants were classified as overweight or obese. Teeth grinding was reported in 33.3% of the participants, while 40.0% experienced drooling. All participants with Down syndrome and 58.6% of the participants with developmental delay had chewing difficulties. Inadequate nutrient intake was observed and the fibre, vitamins B1, B3, B9, sodium, phosphorus and iron intakes were significantly lower than reference values in those with chewing difficulty (p < .05).Conclusions: Chewing difficulties were associated with lower intake of certain nutrients, highlighting the importance of addressing oral health and dietary counselling in this population.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate clinical effect of topically administered hyaluronic acid (HA) mouthwash on healing of secondary palatal wound in diabetic (D) rats. Methods: 60 Wistar albino male rats were divided into D and non-diabetic (ND) groups. Diabetes was induced to 30 randomly selected rats by initially administering 110 mg/kg of nicotinamide intraperitoneally, followed by 15 min of intraperitoneal injection of 65 mg/kg of streptozotocin solution. 5 mm excisional wounds were made in the centre of the palate. After that, 6 animals from each group were sacrificed. Then, both groups were subdivided into two groups: 0.12% HA mouthwash and saline (S) (n=12 per group), depending on the agent to be administered to the wound area (WA). On days 7 and 14, six rats from each group were sacrificed, and the WAs were measured through photographic measurements utilizing Image J software. Results: The WA decreased with time in each group (p