Shipra Gupta

Gene therapy with growth factors for periodontal tissue engineering: a review

The treatment of oral and periodontal diseases and associated anomalies accounts for a significant proportion of the healthcare burden, with the manifestations of these conditions being functionally and psychologically debilitating. A challenge faced by periodontal therapy is the predictable regeneration of periodontal tissues lost as a consequence of disease. Growth factors are critical to the development, maturation, maintenance and repair of oral tissues as they establish an extra-cellular environment that is conducive to cell and tissue growth. Tissue engineering principles aim to exploit these properties in the development of biomimetic materials that can provide an appropriate microenvironment for tissue development. The aim of this paper is to review emerging periodontal therapies in the areas of materials science, growth factor biology and cell/gene therapy. Various such materials have been formulated into devices that can be used as vehicles for delivery of cells, growth factors and DNA. Different mechanisms of drug delivery are addressed in the context of novel approaches to reconstruct and engineer oral and tooth supporting structure. Key words: Periodontal disease, gene therapy, regeneration, tissue repair, growth factors, tissue engineering.

Alterations in serum lipid profile patterns in oral cancer and oral precancerous lesions and conditions—a clinical study

Abstract Introduction Changes in lipid profile have long been associated with malignancies as lipids play a key role in maintenance of cell integrity. This study evaluated the alterations in extended lipid profile in untreated patients of oral submucus fibrosis (OSMF), oral leukoplakia, and oral lichen planus, with respect to healthy controls and proven cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Method In this hospital-based study, 25 clinically diagnosed and histopathologically proven patients of oral squamous cell carcinoma and 15 healthy controls were compared with 15 patients each of OSMF, leukoplakia, and lichen planus. In these groups, serum lipids including: (i) total cholesterol, (ii) high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), and (iii) triglycerides were analyzed. Results A significant decrease in plasma total cholesterol, HDLC, and triglycerides was observed in the patients with the precancerous lesions and conditions as compared to the controls. Thus, an inverse relationship between plasma lipid levels and patients was found. However, they had higher levels of cholesterol and lower levels of HDLC and triglycerides as compared to the oral squamous cell carcinoma group. Conclusion The lower levels of plasma cholesterol and other lipid constituents in patients might be due to their increased utilization. The findings strongly warrant an in-depth study of alterations in plasma lipid profile in patients with oral precancerous lesions and conditions.

Cryosurgery in the treatment of oro-facial lesions

Cryosurgery is a therapeutical method that uses freezing to obtain a tissue inflammatory and/or a destructive response. It has been successfully used for many cutaneous conditions. Its use is increasing for several conditions in the oral cavity. The oral mucosa, because of its characteristics of humidity and smoothness, is an ideal site for this technique. It shows a very good esthetic result and it may be either the first choice or an alternative option to conventional surgery. This article strives to review the modus operandi of cryosurgical instruments, the various indications, limitations and advantages of cryosurgery in the treatment of oral lesions.

Comparative Evaluation of Oral Health Knowledge, Practices and Attitude of Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women, and Their Awareness Regarding Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

BACKGROUND Adverse pregnancy outcomes are undesirable events occurring during pregnancy and childbirth in mother or child, such as Preterm Low Birth Weight (PLBW) and preeclampsia. There is growing evidence that periodontitis may be a risk factor for preterm birth even after adjusting for known risk factors. AIM 1. To determine the knowledge and attitude of pregnant females about oral health. 2. To evaluate the oral hygiene practices of pregnant females. 3. To evaluate their awareness regarding effect of oral health on adverse pregnancy outcomes. 4. To assess whether there was any significant difference from their non pregnant counter parts. 5. To evaluate whether their awareness towards dental treatment had increased after conceiving. MATERIALS AND METHODS 200 pregnant and 200 non-pregnant women filled up a validated questionnaire which comprised of questions on personal data, oral hygiene knowledge, attitude, oral hygiene practices and their awareness regarding the correlation of oral health to adverse pregnancy outcomes. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Analyses were conducted using SPSS for Windows (version 15.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS The results indicate no statistically significant differences in the variables assessed in both the groups, indicating that no further knowledge had been imparted to the women after they conceived. 96% women of both groups (p>0.05) had received no knowledge from the gynaecologist regarding the impact of oral health on pregnancy outcomes. 93.9% of pregnant women, and 89.5% of non pregnant women (p>0.05) did not go for routine dental check-ups. Only 3% of pregnant women were aware of oral health having a correlation with adverse pregnancy outcomes. CONCLUSION In our study, pregnancy did little to change future attitudes to dental care. To provide better oral health care, more knowledge needs to be made available to the pregnant women and the medical community.

A Novel Approach to GSA, GA and Wavelet Transform to Design Fuzzy Logic Controller for 1ϕ Multilevel Inverter

This paper proposes a novel approach for obtaining a closed loop control scheme based on Fuzzy Logic Controller to regulate the output voltage waveform of multilevel inverter. Fuzzy Logic Controller is used to guide and control the inverter to synthesize a stepped output voltage waveform with reduced harmonics. In this paper, three different intelligent soft-computing methods are used to design a fuzzy system to be used as a closed loop control system for regulating the inverter output. Gravitational Search Algorithm and Genetic Algorithm are used as optimization methods to evaluate switching angles for different combination of input voltages applied to MLI. Wavelet Transform is used as synthesizing technique to shape stepped output waveform of inverter using orthogonal wavelet sets. The proposed FLC controlled method is carried out for a wider range of input dc voltages by considering ±10% variations in nominal voltage value. A 7-level inverter is used to validate the results of proposed control methods. The three proposed methods are then compared in terms of various parameters like computational time, switching angles and THD to justify the performance and system flexibility. Finally, hardware based results are also obtained to verify the viability of the proposed method. Full Text: PDF DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijpeds.v7.i4.pp1200-1211

Evaluation of dentine hypersensitivity in adult population with chronic periodontitis visiting dental hospital in Chandigarh.

Background: Periodontal attachment loss could be an earlier indicator or a possible risk factor of dentine hypersensitivity (DH). Thus, there is a need for diagnosing this condition both by questionnaire and by clinical examination before rendering both home care and in-office treatment modalities. Aims: To investigate the relationship between various demographic factors and DH and to detect the percentage of patients using desensitizing agents. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 2051 patients were evaluated till the required sample size of 1000 patients was achieved who were evaluated both by questionnaire and clinical test. Association between DH clinical attachment level and apparent recession was established. Results: This study found that the prevalence of dentine hypersensitivity in chronic periodontitis patients was 37.2% according to questionnaire and 47.8% according to the results of clinical test. Various demographic factors were found to affect dentine hypersensitivity such as age, gender, education, diet, and locality. Conclusion: The prevalence of dentine hypersensitivity in chronic periodontitis patients was 37.2% according to questionnaire and 47.8% according to the results of clinical test. Periodontal attachment loss could be an earlier indicator or a possible risk factor of DH. Only 14.36% of the patients with sensitive teeth used desensitizing paste. This could be due to the fact that either the patients did not consider the condition bad enough to warrant treatment or it was not being diagnosed.