Guided bone and tissue regeneration remains an integral treatment modality to regenerate bone surrounding teeth and dental implants. Barrier membranes have been developed and produced commercially to allow space for bone regeneration and prevent the migration of unwanted cells. Ideal membrane properties, including biocompatibility, sufficient structural integrity and suitable shelf life with easy clinical application, are important to ensure good clinical regenerative outcomes. Membranes have various types, and their clinical application depends on the origin, material, structure and properties. This narrative review aims to describe the currently available barrier membranes in terms of history, main features, types, indication and clinical application and classify them into various groups. Various membranes, including those which are resorbable and non-resorbable, synthetic, added with growth factors and composed of modern materials, such as high-grade polymer (Polyetheretherketone), are explored in this review.

Background: The influence of scaler tip design on root surface roughness, tooth substance loss and patients’ pain perception is investigated.Methods: This article was divided into the following parts: Part 1 Surface roughness and substance loss: an in vitro study, which involves intact extracted teeth sectioned and treated using a piezoelectric ultrasonic device (PM200 EMS Piezon, Switzerland) with a conventional scaler tip (FS-407) and a Perio Slim (PS) scaler tip (Perio Slim DS-016A). All sectioned samples for tooth surface roughness (n = 20) and tooth substance loss (n = 46) analyses were measured and compared using a 3D surface texture analyser and scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively, at baseline and following scaling. Part 2 Pain Perception: a clinical study, which was a split mouth study design including 30 participants with gingivitis and/or mild chronic periodontitis; treated with supra-gingival scaling from teeth #13 to #23. Subjects were randomised to group A or group B. Group A was treated first with PS scaler tips, whereas group B was treated first with conventional scaler tips. Pain perception was recorded using the visual analogue scale (VAS).Results: In vitro study: both scaler tips caused significant reduction in root substance roughness after scaling (p < 0.05), but no significant difference between the two scaler tips (p > 0.05) was observed. The PS scaler tip caused statistically significantly less root substance loss (p < 0.05) when the initial thickness of the tooth was < 1000 µm. Clinical study: the participants reported significantly lesser pain score during scaling using the PS scaler tip (median: 3) than when using the conventional scaler tip (median: 5) (p < 0.05).Conclusions: In the in vitro study, using a slim scaler tip design causes less tooth substance loss compared to a wider scaler tip design. In the clinical study, less pain was observed compared than a wide (conventional) scaler tip design.

The procedure for regenerating interdental papilla is complex and technique-sensitive. However, the patient demand to reduce black triangle has dramatically increased in recent years. This article aimed to review the most recent surgical techniques on interdental papilla regeneration by reporting studies published from 2016 to 2021. A literature search was performed in electronic databases, including PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science using the following keywords: “interdental papilla regeneration,” “papillary reconstruction,” “surgical papillary regeneration,” and “hyaluronic acid injection.” Studies that have involved surgical techniques for interdental papilla regeneration as well as less invasive surgical procedure such as hyaluronic acid injections are comprehensively reviewed in this article. Techniques such as tunnelling and coronally advanced flap appear to have better success rate compared to other techniques. In view of graft, connective tissue graft resulted in successful interdental papilla regeneration with papillary fill maintained over long-term compared to concentrated growth factors. A less invasive option would be hyaluronic acid injection, but with less success rate compared to surgical procedures. However, the results were limited by the lack of standardised method to measure successful interdental papilla regeneration. This article comprehensively reviews the updates on interdental papilla regeneration techniques.

Background Mouth rinses are recommended as an adjunct to mechanical methods in oral hygiene procedures for the prevention and management of periodontal diseases. The currently used mouth rinses impose several side effects on patients, which include a burning sensation and altered taste. Alternatively, stingless bee honey (SBH) is a natural food with many health benefits, making it suitable as an active mouth rinse ingredient. Several characteristics, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and healing properties, make it a potential therapeutic agent in periodontal therapy as well as in the oral cavity. This study aimed to investigate the ability of SBH mouth rinses to reduce plaque accumulation and to assess patient acceptance of their use. Methods This is a randomised pilot clinical trial performed on volunteers (N = 30) with healthy gingiva and/or mild gingivitis, who were randomly prescribed SBH, chlorhexidine (CHX), or normal saline (NS) mouth rinses, without oral hygiene practices for three days. Plaque scores were recorded prior to the experiment by a single examiner, blinded to the treatment allocation. Plaque accumulation and patient perception were recorded post-intervention using the plaque score and visual analogue scale (VAS), respectively. Results At three days post-intervention, there was no significant difference in the plaque score of the SBH and NS groups (p > 0.05), compared to the baseline value. A significant decrease in the plaque score was found in the CHX group (p < 0.05), compared to the baseline. A significantly better taste and lower burning sensation were reported in the SBH group than in the NS and CHX groups, respectively. Conclusions The SBH mouth rinse did not promote plaque accumulation in the absence of oral hygiene and caused less burning sensation. CHX, however, has a greater ability to prevent plaque accumulation.

The interdental papilla is of utmost importance in smile aesthetics. Missing interdental tissue often raises an aesthetic concern; however, the issue is more than just an aesthetic complication. This study reviews the most commonly seen cases and methods to minimize the aesthetic complications caused by missing interdental tissue. The technique that will be discussed is from nonsurgical techniques, including composite restoration, indirect restorations, and gingival veneer. This article is clinically relevant in educating clinicians on various methods to restore and improve the optics that arise from a missing interdental papilla.