Preclinical drug testing is an important area in new drug development where animals are used. An ideal animal model for this is one which is simple, reliable and can be extrapolated to humans. Topical drugs for inflammation are conventionally tested on the skin of animals after induction of inflammation. A gingival model would be simple as inflammation can be induced naturally by the action of plaque. Rats are a popular animal model for testing drugs as well as to study various diseases of the periodontium. Periodontal disease including gingival inflammation develops in
rats in relation to indigenous plaque or experimentally induced bacterial products. A number of features of rats ranging from anatomy, histology and response to bacterial insult can be seen mirrored to a great extent in humans. There is a lot similarity in the development and resolution of inflammation as well as the gingival wound healing of rats and humans. This paper tries to explore the feasibility of using the rat gingival model for preclinical testing of drugs acting on or influencing inflammation and concludes by identifying potential areas of research using this model. The addition of such a simple and inexpensive model for preclinical testing of drugs will be welcomed by the drug developers.
Scaling and root planing is one of the most commonly performed procedures in a dental clinic. Most patients will consider the procedure to be causing discomfort or even pain. Intrasulcular topical application of anaesthesia will be preferred over injectable anaesthetic by patients for reduction of pain during scaling and root planing. A double blind split mouth pilot study was designed to find if pain was associated with scaling and root planing and to assess if application of topical anaesthesia reduced the pain. Twenty one patients were enrolled to compare the effect of intrasulcularly applied 20% benzocaine with a placebo in reducing pain during scaling and root planing. Heft Parker Visual analog scale was used to record the level of pain experienced by participants during instrumentation. Independent samples and paired samples t test were used for statistical analysis. There was significant pain associated with scaling and root planing with placebo over baseline (p<0.01). There was significant reduction in pain in benzocaine applied side when compared with placebo (p<0.001). Pain level approached baseline in benzocaine applied side. In this study, pain was effectively and significantly reduced with intrasulcular application of 20% benzocaine in periodontitis patients.
Periodontitis is a chronic bacterial infection resulting in destruction of the supporting structures of the teeth. Regeneration of the lost tissues has faced difficulties primarily due to the lack of support during the intricate healing processes. A surgical additive which can 'jump start' the healing process to a more predictable regenerative process is always on the wish list of any periodontist. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is a second generation platelet concentrate that has been considered to be an important, easy to obtain, predictable surgical additive for periodontal regeneration. This autologous scaffold provides the much needed bio-chemical mediators which has the potential for enhancing reconstruction of the periodontium. This review article tries to understand as to why PRF would be an important link to reach predictable periodontal regeneration.
Complete eradication of microbial biofilms and elimination of the smear layer are the key factors during endodontic treatment. Various chemical irrigants have been proposed in the literature for the same. The major setback with these chemical irrigants is that they are not bio-friendly to the dental and peri-radicular tissues. In the recent years, research to use natural products for root canal disinfection has gained importance. The aim of this article is to compile various herbal products that have been used as an irrigants and intracanal medicaments in the field of Endodontics to eradicate the biofilm and remove smear layer.