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Atrophic glossitis is a condition characterised by absence of filiform or fungiform papillae on the dorsal surface of the tongue. Consequently, the ordinary texture and appearance of the dorsal tongue, determined by papillary protrusion, turns into a soft and smooth aspect. Throughout the years, many factors, both local and systemic, have been associated with atrophic glossitis as the tongue is currently considered to be a mirror of general health. Moreover, various tongue conditions were wrongly diagnosed as atrophic glossitis. Oral involvement can conceal underlying systemic conditions and, in this perspective, the role of clinicians is fundamental. Early recognition of oral signs and symptoms, through a careful examination of oral anatomical structures, plays a crucial role in providing patients with a better prognosis.

Periodontal probing aims at detecting the presence, type and gravity of periodontal diseases influencing distance between gingival margin and connective ligament. Measurements in vivo are affected by substantial uncertainty, owing, for example, to probe features, anatomic variations and operator's skill. Inadequate reproducibility in periodontal probing may lead to diagnostic mistakes and inappropriate therapeutic decisions. In vitro evaluation of reproducibility of measurements of periodontal pockets was aimed at while developing a Periodontal Calibration Box designed to calibrate periodontal probe operators, catering also for simulating contraction observed in vivo. Probe type and clinical experience of operators were found to affect substantially probing errors., (© IMechE 2015.)

The oral ecosystem is strictly related to a balance maintained by specific niches recognized as sites, where oral bacteria can metabolize avoiding the immune system response. The oral bacteria species that colonize the ecological niches vary during fixed orthodontic treatment, with a prevalence of periodontal bacterial species. Qualitative analysis of five periodontal pathogens was used to investigate the microbial colonization rate in the crevice and buccal epithelial cells. The presence of inadequate oral hygiene was considered as a modulation variable for microbial colonization. Statistical analysis was performed by Fisher's exact test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. A P value lower than 0.05 was assumed as statistically significant. Tannerella forsythia was the only periodontal pathogen detected with a statistically admissible frequency. The positivity for Tannerella forsythia was correlated to sampling time and oral hygiene motivation. In buccal epithelial cells, both factors contributed to microbial decrease (P < 0.05), whereas, in crevice, oral hygiene motivation promoted a decrease in the microbial colonization rate (P < 0.05). According to microbiological findings, it is possible to identify how correct motivation for oral hygiene is more than enough to modulate or to avoid an upset of the oral ecosystem balance in early stages of orthodontic treatment.

The aim of this work is to determine the antibacterial activity of three marketed mouthwashes on suspended and sessile states of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. The efficacy of two commonly used products in clinical practice, containing essential oils as active ingredients (menthol, thymol, methyl salicylate, and eucalyptol) in association with or without alcohol, has been evaluated in comparison with a chlorhexidine-based mouthwash. The microtiter plate assay, in order to obtain a spectrophotometric measurement of bacterial responses at growing dilutions of each antiseptic, was used for the study. The analysis revealed that a good antibacterial activity is reached when the abovementioned mouthwashes were used at concentration over a 1/24 dilution and after an exposure time of 30 seconds at least. In conclusion, the alcoholic mouthwash appears to have a better biofilm inhibition than its antiplanktonic activity while the nonalcoholic product demonstrates an opposite effect with a better antiplanktonic behavior.

Celiac disease (CD) diagnosis can be extremely challenging in the case of atypical patterns. In this context, oral signs seem to play a decisive role in arousing suspicion of these forms of the disease. At the same time, the different expressions of the HLA-DQB1∗02 allele apparently seem to facilitate the interpretation of signs and highlighted symptoms. The aim of this work was to verify whether it is possible to identify a correlation between the development of oral signs and different DQ2 haplotypes in celiac pediatric patients. 44 celiac patients with a medium age of 9.9 were studied. Oral examinations were performed in order to identify recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) and dental enamel defects (DED). The diagnosis of DED resulted as being related to allele expression (P value = 0.042) while it was impossible to find a similar correlation with RAS. When both oral signs were considered, there was an increase in correlation with HLA-DQB1∗02 expression (P value = 0.018). The obtained results identified both the fundamental role that dentists can play in early diagnosis of CD, as well as the possible role of HLA haplotype analysis in arousing suspicion of atypical forms of the disease.