BACKGROUND: There are limited data from Saudi Arabia on the prevalence and characteristics of maxillary sinus septa. OBJECTIVE: Determine the prevalence and morphological characteristics o...

This study was undertaken to investigate the potential association between sleep duration and periodontitis. The study population consisted of 10,291 individuals who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from the 2009–2014 cycles. Sleep duration was categorized into sleep deficient (< 7 hours), sleep adequate (7–8 hours), and sleep excessive (> 8 hours). We used the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) periodontitis case definition. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used for data analyses. The prevalence of periodontitis was 36% higher in individuals who reported sleep deficiency when compared to the sleep adequate group (odds Ratio (OR) = 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23–1.50). Those who reported excessive sleep had 41% higher odds of periodontitis (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.16–1.71). After adjusting for confounding factors, sleep deficient individuals were 19% more likely to have periodontitis when compared to sleep adequate individuals (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.06–1.38). Among sleep excessive individuals, the association was non-significant (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.94–1.43). Sleep deficiency was associated with a higher prevalence of periodontitis in this study population. The association however needs to be confirmed in longitudinal studies.

Purpose Sleep deficiency is implicated as a risk factor for several systemic conditions. Loss of teeth has a profound effect on the individual’s physiologic and psychologic health and quality of life. This study aimed to assess the association between tooth loss and sleep duration and determine if anterior and/or posterior tooth loss is a significant predictor. Methods A total of 22,483 individuals ≥ 18 years who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2016 cycles were included. Multinomial logistic regression adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, smoking, diabetes, body mass index, socioeconomic level, education, alcohol, and depression was performed to examine the association between sleep duration and tooth loss. Results Compared to individuals with > 20 remaining teeth, those who were completely edentulous, had 1–10 or 11–20 teeth remaining were more likely to be in the deficient sleep category (OR [95% CI] = 1.59 [1.35–1.87], 1.29 [1.07–1.54], and 1.26 [1.11–1.43], respectively). When the numbers of both missing anterior and posterior teeth were entered in the model, only posterior teeth were significant. There was a 4% increase in the odds of being in the deficient sleep category for each missing posterior tooth (OR [95% CI] = 1.04 [1.02–1.05]). Conclusions Tooth loss was significantly associated with deficient sleep and posterior tooth loss appeared to be the main contributor. Although further research is needed to clarify the nature of this association, our results suggest that improving oral health might have an impact on overall health and quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of conventional periodontal therapy on serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level and periodontal status in obese and normal-weight chronic periodontitis patients. METHODS: This is a controlled clinical trial conducted at the King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between December 2009 and March 2011. A total of 40 women affected with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were selected (20 obese [test group] and 20 normal-weight [control]). Smokers, pregnant women, and subjects with any systemic disease were excluded. Serum CRP level and periodontal parameters, including clinical attachment level, probing depth, bleeding on probing and plaque scores were assessed at baseline, and 2 months after non-surgical periodontal treatment. RESULTS: Periodontal therapy was effective in reducing gingival inflammation, as well as serum CRP level in the total sample and within each group. The pre-treatment mean level of serum CRP was 0.78 (±0.51) and post- treatment was 0.55 (±0.41) mg/l in the total sample (p=0.001). A tendency was observed toward a better systemic response to treatment in normal-weight compared to obese women, however, it was not statistically significant (the mean changes in CRP levels after therapy were 0.28 [±0.43] and 0.19 [±0.32] mg/l). CONCLUSIONS: Periodontal treatment is effective in reducing systemic inflammation as measured by serum CRP level, and obesity does not have a major negative impact on response to periodontal therapy.

In this review, several gastrointestinal diseases that dentists may encounter in practice are highlighted and discussed. Using MEDLINE (PubMed), a comprehensive review of gastrointestinal diseases and their oral cavity manifestations was performed. Many gastrointestinal diseases present with oral symptoms that are detectable by dentists and dental hygienists. Often, oral manifestations of the disease may appear before systemic signs and symptoms. Managing patients with these conditions requires dentists to adjust their treatment and/or involve other health professionals. Care must be taken when providing periodontal therapy or dental implants to patients suffering gastrointestinal diseases who are at high risk of bleeding, infection, or malnutrition, for example. Also, pharmacological therapy for these patients may need to be customized.