The Role of Oral Health in the Acquisition and Severity of SARS-CoV-2: A Retrospective Chart Review

ObjectiveStudies have shown that gingival crevices may be a significant route for SARS-CoV-2 entry. However, the role of oral health in the acquisition and severity of COVID-19 is not known.DesignA retrospective analysis was performed using electronic health record data from a large urban academic medical center between 12/1/2019 and 8/24/2020. A total of 387 COVID-19 positive cases were identified and matched 1:1 by age, sex, and race to 387 controls without COVID-19 diagnoses. Demographics, number of missing teeth and alveolar crestal height were determined from radiographs and medical/dental charts. In a subgroup of 107 cases and controls, we also examined the rate of change in alveolar crestal height. A conditional logistic regression model was utilized to assess association between alveolar crestal height and missing teeth with COVID-19 status and with hospitalization status among COVID-19 cases.ResultsIncreased alveolar bone loss, OR = 4.302 (2.510 – 7.376), fewer missing teeth, OR = 0.897 (0.835–0.965) and lack of smoking history distinguished COVID-19 cases from controls. After adjusting for time between examinations, cases with COVID-19 had greater alveolar bone loss compared to controls (0.641 ± 0.613 mm vs 0.260 ± 0.631 mm, p < 0.01.) Among cases with COVID-19, increased number of missing teeth OR = 2.1871 (1.146– 4.174) was significantly associated with hospitalization.ConclusionsAlveolar bone loss and missing teeth are positively associated with the acquisition and severity of COVID-19 disease, respectively.     

Clinical therapeutic effects of probiotics in combination with antibiotics on periodontitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Dental pain can have a detrimental effect on quality of life. Symptomatic apical periodontitis is the most common cause of dental pain and arise from an inflamed or necrotic dental pulp. There is growing evidence to support the effectiveness of probiotics in combination with antibiotics on periodontitis. We therefor will conduct this study to evaluate the clinical therapeutic effects of probiotics in combination with antibiotics on periodontitis.Methods:We will systematically search the following databases: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM), and WanFang database. A grey literature search will be conducted using ZETOC Conference Proceedings and Open Grey. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to research on probiotics in combination with antibiotics to treatment patients with periodontitis will be included. All sources have to be searched from their inception to October 2020. Two authors will independently select studies, extract study data, and evaluate the quality of the included studies. We will use Review Manager Software (RevMan 5.3) to analyze data.Results:This study will systematically evaluate the clinical therapeutic effects of probiotics in combination with antibiotics on periodontitis.Conclusions:This study will generate evidence for a better clinical decision of patients with periodontitis.Registration number:DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QZ6SB (https://osf.io/qz6sb/).     

CGF联合根尖刮治术及单一根尖刮治术治疗慢性窦道型根尖周炎的比较

目的探讨血小板浓缩生长因子(CGF)联合根尖刮治术及单一根尖刮治术治疗慢性窦道型根尖周炎的临床疗效。方法选择80例慢性窦道型根尖周炎患者为研究对象,分成CGF组和对照组。对照组采取根尖刮治术治疗,CGF组在对照组基础上给予CGF覆盖根尖区创面治疗。结果 CGF组治疗后总有效率95.00%显著高于对照组77.50%。CGF组治疗后PD、BOP和PLI显著低于治疗前及对照组治疗后。CGF组治疗后EGF、VEGF和IGF显著高于治疗前及对照组治疗后。CGF组颜色匹配、边缘着色和表面光滑度评分显著低于对照组。两组并发症总发生率对比无显著差异。结论 CGF联合根尖刮治术治疗慢性窦道型根尖周炎患者,可提高治疗效果,安全性较高。     

黄芩素调控 NLRP3 / Caspase-1 通路对牙周炎大鼠牙槽骨吸收的影响

目的 探索黄芩素调控核苷酸结合寡聚化结构域样受体蛋白 3 ( nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3, NLRP3) / 半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶 1 ( cysteine aspartate protease 1, Caspase1) 通路对牙周炎大鼠牙槽骨吸收的影响。 方法 将 40 只牙周炎大鼠随机分为模型组、 黄芩素组、 激活剂 组、 黄芩素 + 激活剂组, 另取 10 只正常作为对照组。 检测大鼠釉牙骨质界到牙槽嵴顶 (CEJ-AC) 的距离、 血清中白细胞介素-6 (IL-6)、 转化生长因子-β (TGF-β) 含量以及牙周组织病理变化、 IL-6、 TGF-β 阳性 表达和 NLRP3、 Caspase-1 蛋白表达。 结果 模型组大鼠 CEJ-AC、 NLRP3、 Caspase-1、 IL-6、 TGF-β 水平及 阳性表达水平以及蛋白表达水平均升高 (P< 0. 05); 经黄芩素干预后, 各项指标均降低 (P< 0. 05); 引入 激活剂明显削弱了黄芩素对牙周炎大鼠的抗炎作用。 结论 黄芩素通过抑制 NLRP3 / Caspase-1 通路减轻炎性反应, 控制牙槽骨吸收。     

Prevalence of Apical Periodontitis and Conventional Nonsurgical Root Canal Treatment in General Adult Population: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cross-sectional Studies Published between 2012 and 2020

IntroductionThis study aimed to summarize data on apical periodontitis (AP) and nonsurgical root canal treatment (NSRCT) prevalence and risk factors related to age, gender, and quality of restorative and endodontic treatment in the general population from cross-sectional studies published between 2012 and 2020.MethodsAn electronic search was performed in the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. The conducted literature search covered studies published between 2012 and 2020, without restrictions on language. The STROBE and NOS tools were used for quality assessment of the included studies.ResultsSixteen articles were included in the review. In total, 200,041 teeth were examined. On average, 6.3% of teeth had AP, and 7.4% had NSRCT. Forty-one percent of RCT teeth had AP, and 3.5% of untreated teeth had AP. Female patients were less prone to AP in endodontically treated teeth only, compared with male patients (P < .001). Variable stratification of age subgroups among included studies prevented us from conducting a meta-analysis. An increase in AP frequency was found in teeth with inadequate restorative and endodontic treatment (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively). Because of high heterogeneity, these results should be taken with caution.ConclusionsThere is an increased AP prevalence in the adult general population compared with data from 2012 (6.3% versus 5.4%) in both endodontically treated (41.3% versus 35.9%) and untreated teeth (3.5% versus 2.1%). In addition, AP developed less frequently in female patients with endodontically treated teeth and in teeth with inadequate compared with adequate restorative and endodontic treatment.     

Oral-lung microbiome interactions in lung diseases

The proximity and continuity of the oral cavity and the lower respiratory tract allows the oropharyngeal microbiome to be a major determinant of the lung microbiome. In addition, host-pathogen interactions related to the oropharyngeal microbiome or its metabolites could propagate systemic inflammation or modulate host defense mechanisms that could affect other organs, including the lung. There is increasing appreciation of the pathophysiologic significance of the lung microbiome, not only in the classical infection-related diseases, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis, but also in chronic noninfectious lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pulmonary fibrosis. In this review, we will explore the relationship of the oral microbiome with lung diseases, such as pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.     

Periodontal diseases and adverse pregnancy outcomes: Mechanisms

Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) have been defined as (a) pre-term birth, when there is a delivery before 37 completed weeks (<259 days); (b) pre-eclampsia, which is a multisystem disorder of pregnancy characterized by maternal hypertension and proteinuria after the 20th gestational week; (c) low and very low birthweight, depending on whether the weight of the baby is less of 2500 g or <1500 g and (d) the spontaneous death of the fetus with <20 weeks (miscarriage) or between 20 and 36 weeks (stillbirth). In 2012, during the Consensus Report from the Joint EFP/AAP workshop on periodontitis and systematic diseases the role of periodontal diseases on APOs was reviewed. Some years later, this evidence has grown, and an update on the literature regarding the mechanisms related to this potential association (APOs and periodontal diseases) needs to be presented. The two major pathways (direct and indirect) already accepted in 2012 are still valid nowadays. Most evidence published in the last 5 years deals with a strong and solid evidence coming from the direct pathway while there is as scarce new evidence regarding indirect pathway. In this direct pathway, the haematological dissemination of oral microorganisms and their products, would later induce an inflammatory/Immune response in the foetal-placental unit. The most plausible route for this direct pathway is the hematogenous transmission through dental bacteremia, although not many new studies dealing with bacteremia has been performed lately.