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The aim of this study was to determine heritability estimates of treatment responses to a 10% hydrogen peroxide strip-based whitening system in twins. Eighty-five twin pairs were randomly assigned to 10% hydrogen peroxide whitening strips or placebo strips without peroxide. Both twins (monozygotic or dizygotic) received the same treatment. Maxillary teeth were treated for 30 minutes twice daily for 7 days. Efficacy was measured objectively as L* (light–dark), a* (red–green), and b* (yellow–blue) color change from digital images at baseline (∆) and day 8. Heritability estimates for tooth whitening treatment responses for changes from day 8 to baseline were obtained using variance-component methodologies. Whitening treatment responses were highly heritable (h2 = 71.0) for ∆b* and ∆a*(p < .0001), but not for ∆L* (h2 = 27.0), which was essentially modulated by environmental factors. This study has demonstrated that both genetic and environmental factors significantly contributed to seven-day whitening treatment responses achieved with 10% hydrogen peroxide strips. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Oral microbes that colonize in the mouths of humans contribute to disease susceptibility, but it is unclear if host genetic factors mediate colonization. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the levels at which oral microbes colonize in the mouth are heritable. Dental plaque biofilms were sampled from intact tooth surfaces of 118 caries-free twins. An additional 86 caries-active twins were sampled for plaque from carious lesions and intact tooth surfaces. Using a reverse capture checkerboard assay the relative abundance of 82 bacterial species was determined. An integrative computational predictive model determined microbial abundance patterns of microbial species in caries-free twins as compared to caries-active twins. Heritability estimates were calculated for the relative microbial abundance levels of the microbial species in both groups. The levels of 10 species were significantly different in healthy individuals than in caries-active individuals, including, A. defectiva, S. parasanguinis, S. mitis/oralis, S. sanguinis, S. cristatus, S. salivarius, Streptococcus sp. clone CH016, G. morbillorum and G. haemolysans. Moderate to high heritability estimates were found for these species (h(2) = 56%-80%, p < .0001). Similarity of the overall oral microbial flora was also evident in caries-free twins from multivariate distance matrix regression analysis. It appears that genetic and/or familial factors significantly contribute to the colonization of oral beneficial species in twins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of electronic cigarette (e‐cigarette) smoking, especially its long‐term impact on oral health, is poorly understood. Here, we conducted a longitudinal clinical study with two study visits, 6 months apart, to investigate the effect of e‐cigarette use on the bacterial community structure in the saliva of 101 periodontitis patients. Our data demonstrated that e‐cigarette use altered the oral microbiome in periodontitis patients, enriching members of the Filifactor, Treponema, and Fusobacterium taxa. For patients at the same periodontal disease stage, cigarette smokers and e‐cigarette smokers shared more similarities in their oral bacterial composition. E‐cigarette smoking may have a similar potential as cigarette smoking at altering the bacterial composition of saliva over time, leading to an increase in the relative abundance of periodontal disease‐associated pathogens such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. The correlation analysis showed that certain genera, such as Dialister, Selenomonas, and Leptotrichia in the e‐cigarette smoking group, were positively correlated with the levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including IFN‐γ, IL‐1β, and TNF‐α. E‐cigarette use was also associated with elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as IFN‐γ and TNF‐α, which contribute to oral microbiome dysbiosis and advanced disease state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to: (1) determine concordance rates of self-reported and subjectively determined indicators of oral malodor in twins; (2) determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in intraoral and exhaled breath. Fifty-one twin pairs participated in the study. Measurements of VSCs were obtained by a halimeter. The presence of tongue coatings was determined and twins filled out a 32-item questionnaire on oral malodor indicators independently of one another. Estimates of heritability (h2) for halimeter measurements were computed by SOLAR. The concordance rates for the presence of tongue coating among identical and fraternal twins were 67% and 11%, respectively. In the 10 most informative items, 70% exhibited higher concordance rates for identical than for fraternal twins. Of particular interest were the differences in concordance rates for dry mouth, sinus infection and unusual sweating. The h2 for intra-oral breath was 0.28 ± 0.17 (NS), whereas the h2 for exhaled breath was 0.50 ± 0.20 (p = .0207). The concordance rates of tongue coatings and malodor indicators were higher in identical twins than in fraternal twins. Intraoral breath VSC values were primarily attributable to environmental factors, whereas exhaled breath VSC values were partially explained by genetic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To study the levels of systemic markers for inflammation with parameters of periodontal diseases in older people. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a cohort that is being followed prospectively on the effects of aging and body composition on morbidity. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, and University of Tennessee, Memphis. One thousand one hundred thirty-one participants (mean age±standard deviation 72.7±2.8); 66% white and 50% male. Periodontal examination, including probing depth and attachment loss, was performed. Periodontal disease extent was divided into 0% of sites with probing depth of 6 mm or more, 1% to 10% of sites with probing depth of 6 mm or more and more than 10% of sites with probing depth of 6 mm or more. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from four molar teeth, and the levels of periodontal pathogens were determined using the benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide (BANA) test. Plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were measured in all participants. Assessments of risk factors associated with elevated levels of markers of systemic inflammation were also determined. Multiple regression analysis was employed to analyze the data. IL-6 levels were significantly higher in participants with more-extensive periodontal disease than in other participants. Periodontal disease extent was significantly associated with higher TNF-α plasma levels, controlling for established risk factors for elevated TNF-α levels. Participants with BANA-positive species had significantly higher CRP plasma levels when controlling for risk factors for elevated CRP levels. Periodontal disease and infection may be modifiable risk indicators for elevated levels of systemic inflammatory markers in older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Despite significant advances in surgical procedures and treatment, long-term prognosis for patients with oral cancer remains poor, with survival rates among the lowest of major cancers. Better methods are desperately needed to identify potential malignancies early when treatments are more effective.Objective: To develop robust classification models from cytology-on-a-chip measurements that mirror diagnostic performance of gold standard approach involving tissue biopsy.Materials and Methods: Measurements were recorded from 714 prospectively recruited patients with suspicious lesions across 6 diagnostic categories (each confirmed by tissue biopsy -histopathology) using a powerful new 'cytology-on-a-chip' approach capable of executing high content analysis at a single cell level. Over 200 cellular features related to biomarker expression, nuclear parameters and cellular morphology were recorded per cell. By cataloging an average of 2000 cells per patient, these efforts resulted in nearly 13 million indexed objects.Results: Binary "low-risk"/"high-risk" models yielded AUC values of 0.88 and 0.84 for training and validation models, respectively, with an accompanying difference in sensitivity+specificity of 6.2%. In terms of accuracy, this model accurately predicted the correct diagnosis approximately 70% of the time, compared to the 69% initial agreement rate of the pool of expert pathologists. Key parameters identified in these models included cell circularity, Ki67 and EGFR expression, nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, nuclear area, and cell area.Conclusions: This chip-based approach yields objective data that can be leveraged for diagnosis and management of patients with PMOL as well as uncovering new molecular-level insights behind cytological differences across the OED spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The impaired host defense system in HIV infection impacts the oral and gastrointestinal microbiota and associated opportunistic infections. Antiretroviral treatment is predicted to partially restore host defenses and decrease the oral manifestation of HIV/AIDS. Well-designed longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the interactions of soluble host defense proteins with bacteria and virus in HIV/AIDS. “Crosstalk” was designed as a longitudinal study of host responses along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and interactions between defense molecules and bacteria in HIV infection and subsequent therapy. Purpose: The clinical core formed the infrastructure for the study of the interactions between the proteome, microbiome and innate immune system. The core recruited and retained study subjects, scheduled visits, obtained demographic and medical data, assessed oral health status, collected samples, and guided analysis of the hypotheses. This manuscript presents a well-designed clinical core that may serve as a model for studies that combine clinical and laboratory data. Methods: Crosstalk was a case-control longitudinal clinical study an initial planned enrollment of 170 subjects. HIV+ antiretroviral naïve subjects were followed for 9 visits over 96 weeks and HIV uninfected subjects for 3 visits over 24 weeks. Clinical prevalence of oral mucosal lesions, dental caries and periodontal disease were assessed. Results: During the study, 116 subjects (47 HIV+, 69 HIV-) were enrolled. Cohorts of HIV+ and HIV- were demographically similar except for a larger proportion of women in the HIV- group. The most prevalent oral mucosal lesions were oral candidiasis and hairy leukoplakia in the HIV+ group. Discussion: The clinical core was essential to enable the links between clinical and laboratory data. The study aims to determine specific differences between oral and GI tissues that account for unique patterns of opportunistic infections and to delineate the differences in their susceptibility to infection by HIV and their responses post-HAART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual bacteria and shifts in the composition of the microbiome have been associated with human diseases including cancer. To investigate changes in the microbiome associated with oral cancers, we profiled cancers and anatomically matched contralateral normal tissue from the same patient by sequencing 16S rDNA hypervariable region amplicons. In cancer samples from both a discovery and a subsequent confirmation cohort, abundance of Firmicutes (especially Streptococcus) and Actinobacteria (especially Rothia) was significantly decreased relative to contralateral normal samples from the same patient. Significant decreases in abundance of these phyla were observed for pre-cancers, but not when comparing samples from contralateral sites (tongue and floor of mouth) from healthy individuals. Weighted UniFrac principal coordinates analysis based on 12 taxa separated most cancers from other samples with greatest separation of node positive cases. These studies begin to develop a framework for exploiting the oral microbiome for monitoring oral cancer development, progression and recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The authors evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels compared with those of a vehicle (placebo) gel for the temporary relief of toothache pain. They also assessed the compliance with the label dose administration directions on the part of participants with toothache pain. Methods. Under double-masked conditions, 576 participants self-applied study gel to an open tooth cavity and surrounding oral tissues. Participants evaluated their pain intensity and pain relief for 120 minutes. The authors determined the amount of gel the participants applied. Results. The responders' rates (the primary efficacy parameter), defined as the percentage of participants who had an improvement in pain intensity as exhibited by a pain score reduction of at least one unit on the dental pain scale from baseline for two consecutive assessments any time between the five- and 20-minute points, were 87.3 percent, 80.7 percent and 70.4 percent, respectively, for 20 percent benzocaine gel, 10 percent benzocaine gel and vehicle gel. Both benzocaine gels were significantly (P ≤ .05) better than vehicle gel; the 20 percent benzocaine gel also was significantly (P ≤ .05) better than the 10 percent benzocaine gel. The mean amount of gel applied was 235.6 milligrams, with 88.2 percent of participants applying 400 mg or less. Conclusions. Both 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels were more efficacious than the vehicle gel, and the 20 percent benzocaine gel was more efficacious than the 10 percent benzocaine gel. All treatments were well tolerated by participants. Practical Implications. Patients can use 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels to temporarily treat toothache pain safely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined (1) orodental (OD) problems in 10-19-year-old children of substance use disorder (SUD) (n = 127) and non-SUD fathers (n = 111) and (2) the moderating effect of child's substance use (SU) involvement in the associations of paternal SUD and neglectful parenting with OD problems in the offspring. The results showed that periodontal problems differentiated between groups and the interactions between child's SU involvement and paternal SUD and neglectful parenting were respectively associated with hard/soft tissue lesions and carious lesions in the offspring, indicating that SU involvement increases risk for OD due to paternal SUD and neglectful parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the association between periodontal disease and weight loss in an elderly cohort. A longitudinal design was used with participants from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) cohort study to determine the association between periodontal disease status and weight loss of at least 5% of baseline body weight over a period of 2 years. Participants were examined in research clinics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee. A randomly selected subset of 1,053 individuals from the Health ABC examination, aged 65 and older, ambulatory and community-dwelling at baseline. Periodontal disease was measured as mean pocket depth and attachment loss, extent (percentage) of pockets with at least 6 mm probing depth, extent of bleeding on probing, and tissue inflammation. In logistic regression models adjusting for variables that may explain weight loss, extent of periodontal pockets with at least 6 mm probing depth showed a significant association with weight loss (odds ratio=1.53, 95% confidence interval=1.32–1.77). Periodontal disease may be causally related to weight loss in the elderly and thus may increase risk of morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]