Unilateral Severe Chronic Periodontitis Associated With Ipsilateral Surgical Resection of Cranial Nerves V, VI, and VII

Oral health and oral health-related quality of life in patients with chronic peripheral facial nerve palsy with synkineses—A case-control-study

Facial nerve palsy (FP) is the most common cranial nerve lesion, leading to partial or complete immobility of the affected half of face. If food residues on tooth surfaces cannot be removed by natural self-cleaning mechanisms that this is likely to lead to an increase dental plaque formation and the risk of dental, periodontal and general diseases. It was the aim of this study to assess oral health, oral hygiene with the influence of handedness and oral health related quality of life in patients with chronic peripheral FP. This study included 86 people. Patients with FP (n = 43) in an FP-group (FPG) were matched with 43 participants without ever diagnosed FP in a control group (CG). Oral health and oral hygiene were assessed in a clinical examination performed in hospital. Decayed-missing-filled-teeth-index, periodontal-screening-index, approximal plaque index and sulcus bleeding index were used to evaluate dental caries and periodontal health status. Oral health-related quality of life data (OHQoL) was collected with the Oral health impact profile (Germany-14) by interview. Oral health parameters in the FPG were significantly worse than in the CG. The median revealed 14.3% more proximal plaque (p = 0.014), 20.8% more sulcus bleeding (p = 0.002) and more than twice as much caries (p = 0.024). The paretic side compared to the non-paretic side of patients was significantly more affected by inflammatory periodontal diseases (p = 0.032) and had a higher prevalence of caries (p = 0.163). Right-handed patients with right-sided FP performed worse than right-handed patients with left-sided FP (p = 0.004). Patients with FP described a greater limitation of OHQoL than patients without this disease (p < 0.001). In conclusion, facial nerve palsy affects oral health, oral hygiene and OHQoL of patients while handedness influences oral hygiene and oral health.

Gingival transcriptome patterns during induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis in humans

BACKGROUND

To our knowledge, changes in the patterns of whole-transcriptome gene expression that occur during the induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis in humans were not previously explored using bioinformatic tools.

METHODS

Gingival biopsy samples collected from 14 subjects during a 28-day stent-induced experimental gingivitis model, followed by treatment, and resolution at days 28 through 35 were analyzed using gene-expression arrays. Biopsy samples were collected at different sites within each subject at baseline (day 0), at the peak of gingivitis (day 28), and at resolution (day 35) and processed using whole-transcriptome gene-expression arrays. Gene-expression data were analyzed to identify biologic themes and pathways associated with changes in gene-expression profiles that occur during the induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis using bioinformatic tools.

RESULTS

During disease induction and resolution, the dominant expression pathway was the immune response, with 131 immune response genes significantly up- or downregulated during induction, during resolution, or during both at P <0.05. During induction, there was significant transient increase in the expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators, including interleukin (IL)-1 alpha (IL1A), IL-1 beta (IL1B), IL8, RANTES, colony stimulating factor 3 (CSF3), and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and a decreased expression of IP10, interferon inducible T-cell alpha chemoattractant (ITAC), matrix metalloproteinase 10 (MMP10), and beta 4 defensin (DEFB4). These genes reversed expression patterns upon resolution in parallel with the reversal of gingival inflammation.

CONCLUSIONS

A relatively small subset (11.9%) of the immune response genes analyzed by array was transiently activated in response to biofilm overgrowth, suggesting a degree of specificity in the transcriptome-expression response. The fact that this same subset demonstrates a reversal in expression patterns during clinical resolution implicates these genes as being critical for maintaining tissue homeostasis at the biofilm-gingival interface. In addition to the immune response pathway as the dominant response theme, new candidate genes and pathways were identified as being selectively modulated in experimental gingivitis, including neural processes, epithelial defenses, angiogenesis, and wound healing.