Periodontology is that branch of dentistry involved with the healthy and sick periodontium ("attachment apparatus"), i.e. those anatomical structures surrounding, supporting and retaining the tooth. These include the marginal periodontium or gingiva (free marginal and attached gingiva), desmodontium (connective tissue in the periodontal cleft with hemi-desmosomes, Sharpey's fibres, cementum) and bony socket (alveolar bone).
A healthy periodontium is considered a prerequisite for every other type of dental treatment, in particular prosthodontics and implants. Many aspects of periodontology also apply to implant treatment – this is referred to as peri-implantology.
Periodontal diseases
The estimated prevalence is 75%. Chronic or acute forms of these diseases can be divided into degrees of severity (superficial, profund, aggressive), the age of onset (juvenile, adult), spread (local, general) or the cause. The different inflammatory forms ("periodontitis" - lay term: "periodontosis", and "peri-implantitis" involving implants) are virtually always due to bacteria. Hereditary factors (e.g. immune system), the anatomical situation (ligament attachments, malocclusion), functional overloading (bruxism), behavioural aspects (e.g. oral care, nutrition, smoking), medicines (anti-epileptic, anti-hypertensive medication, chemotherapy), hormone balance (menstruation, pregnancy, hormone substitution) and systemic diseases (metabolic or immunological diseases, tumours) also play a role. Periodontitides and diabetes have been proven to promote the effects mutually.
Periodontitis is often a result of gingivitis along with (due to accumulation of calculus, plaque, bacteria, toxic substances and inflammation mediators) detachment and resorption of the periodontium (formation of deeper gingival pockets) and gingival recession accompanied by loss of bone around the tooth root (intrabony pockets, vertical bone resorption) or even sinking of the entire bony jaw (horizontal bone loss). The visible and perceptible, yet rarely painful, consequences are exposed ("longer") tooth cervixes, mobile, tilting or drifting teeth and even tooth loss.
Intrabony pockets resulting from periodontitis
When allowed to go untreated, periodontal disease progresses slowly over years or even decades but may worsen intermittently at any time. It usually results in premature loss of some, many or all teeth.
Pulp and periodontium
An apical lesion with endodontic causes is referred to as "apical periodontitis". As the pulp and periodontal cleft communicate with each other anatomically, infections can be transferred from one to the other. This results in "combined lesions" which are complicated to treat.
Screening
Indexes including the pocket probing depth (PPD) and other parameters such as the tendency to bleed (BOP), e.g. the PSI (periodontal screening index) are used for exploratory examination and determination of the necessity for further diagnostics.
Periodontal status
Prior to commencing periodontal treatment the periodontal status must be determined and documented either by hand or electronically. This involves precise measurement of the gingival pocket depths at 2 to 6 defined locations per periodontium as well as further parameters (furcation involvement, recession, tooth mobility and drifting etc.). In addition, an X-ray is taken of all teeth and usually consists of 10 – 14 overlapping individual images ("radiographic status") or a panographic radiograph.
Periodontal treatment
The primary objective of periodontal therapy is to impede or prevent recession of periodontal structures, augment lost sections where necessary, as well as create and maintain easily cared for conditions.
Periodontal pre-treatment involves removing all plaque and calculus (from teeth, gingiva, interdental spaces, restorations) and instructing the patient in the oral care procedures required for the prevention of further plaque accumulation and elimination of risk factors.
The actual periodontal treatment comprises removal of subgingival accretion, inflamed tissue, calculus and infected cementum ("scaling") as well as planing those root surfaces accessible immediately or following surgical exposure (e.g. raising a flap) using hand or ultrasonic instruments (curettes or scalers) to allow reattachment of tissue on the tooth surface.
Periodontal surgical procedures and suturing techniques are employed for contouring the periodontium and/or eliminating deep gingival and bony pockets either partly or in full. In addition, disinfection may be achieved by means of laser (if necessary including the photodynamic therapy yet to be evidence-based), locally active solutions or gels (such as chlorhexidine) as well as local or systemic antibiosis (if necessary following germ determination, such as with DNA probes, for clinical monitoring).
Autogenous or heterogenous tissue (graft) and/or augmentation materials (such as for bone) can be used for augmenting lost anatomical structures. Membranes or blood constituents (such as growth factors) promote and guide regeneration of autogenous periodontal tissue (guided tissue regeneration/GTR, guided bone regeneration/GBR).
Supportive therapy
Once treatment has been completed, the patient attends recall appointments for supportive periodontal therapy (SPT), where possible for the rest of his/her life (such as a regular screening index/scaling and polishing) in order to check and maintain the stable condition already achieved as well as identify and treat relapses at an early stage.
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Composites also composite (from the Latin componere = to compose) are tooth-coloured filling materials with plastic properties used in dental treatment. In lay terms they are often referred to as plastic fillings, also erroneously sometimes confused with ceramic… Composites also composite (from the Latin componere = to compose) are tooth-coloured filling materials with plastic properties used in dental treatment. In lay terms they are often referred to as plastic fillings, also erroneously sometimes confused with ceramic fillings due to their tooth colour. After being placed in a cavity they cure chemically or by irradiating with light or a combination of the two (dual-curing). Nowadays, composites are also used as luting materials. The working time can be regulated with light-curing systems, which is a great advantage both when placing fillings and during adhesive luting of restorations. Dual-curing luting materials are paste/paste systems with chemical and photosensitive initiators, which enable adequate curing, even in areas in which light curing is not guaranteed or controllable. Composites were manufactured in 1962 by mixing dimethacrylate (epoxy resin and methacrylic acid) with silanized quartz powder (Bowen 1963). Due to their characteristics (aesthetics and advantages of the adhesive technique) composite restorations are now used instead of amalgam fillings.
The material consists of three constituents: the resin matrix (organic component), the fillers (inorganic component) and the composite phase. The resin matrix mainly consists of Bis-GMA (bisphenol-A-glycidyldimethacrylate). As Bis-GMA is highly viscous, it is mixed in a different composition with shorter-chain monomers such as, e.g. TEGDMA (triethylene glycol dimethacrylate). The lower the proportion of Bis-GMA and the higher the proportion of TEGDMA, the higher the polymerisation shrinkage (Gonçalves et al. 2008). The use of Bis-GMA with TEGDMA increases the tensile strength but reduces the flexural strength (Asmussen & Peutzfeldt 1998). Monomers can be released from the filling material. Longer light-curing results in a better conversion rate (linking of the individual monomers) and therefore to reduced monomer release (Sideriou & Achilias 2005) The fillers are made of quartz, ceramic and/ or silicon dioxide. An increase in the amount of filler materials results in decreases in polymerisation shrinkage, coefficient of linear expansion and water absorption. In contrast, with an increase in the filler proportion there is a general rise in the compressive and tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity and wear resistance (Kim et al. 2002). The filler content in a composite is also determined by the shape of the fillers.
Minimally-invasive preparation and indiscernible composite restoration
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