Condições de saúde bucal de crianças e adolescentes portadores de síndrome de Down

Patients with Down syndrome have shown different conditions of oral health, and there is a low occurrence of dental caries and a higher susceptibility to periodontal diseases. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal diseases in subjects with Down syndrome. The population was composed of 40 patients with the syndrome, aged 6 to 18 years, of both genders, and an equal number of non-syndromic patients. The periodontal conditions were evaluated by mean of the criteria of PSR and dental conditions were registered following indexes dmft and DMFT. It was found that in children with Down syndrome, the dmft index was 1.17 and DMFT 3.53 while the control group was verified dmft 1.97 and DMFT 2.77. The results of PSR evidenced that 32.5% of children with Down syndrome were periodontally healthy, 65% were gingivitis patients and 2.5% were periodontitis patients, while in the control group, 50% healthy and 50% were gingivitis patients. The results evidenced similar populations of cariogenic cocci between patients with Down syndrome and non-syndromic subjects. It was concluded that the incidence of caries in children with Down syndrome was higher in permanent teeth compared with the control group, while in the occurrence of deciduous teeth caries was slightly higher in the control group, so when children with Down syndrome are subjected to periodic examinations, they present themselves periodontally healthy.

Protein phosphatase activities in the serum and saliva of healthy children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the activities of the total acid phosphatase (TAP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzymes, as well as the possible correlation in the serum and in unstimulated whole saliva of children. Enzymatic activities were measured in pairs of concurrently obtained serum and salivary samples from 32 children in good oral and systemic health (16 of each sex) with a median age of 6.4 ± 3.3 years (range 1.08 – 12.92 years). All collections were made between the hours of 08:00 – 10:00 a.m. We used p-nitrophenyl phosphate as the substrate in the enzymatic assay for TAP, TRAP and LMW-PTP, and thymolphthalein monophosphate as the substrate for ALP. The enzymatic activities of all the studied enzymes were higher in serum than in saliva. The mean of enzymatic activities of serum TAP, TRAP, LMW-PTP and ALP were 36.51 ± 8.21, 23.99 ± 5.73, 11.16 ± 5.65 and 76.50 ± 17.32 U/L, respectively, while the mean salivary TAP, TRAP, LMW-PTP and ALP enzymatic activities were 9.60 ± 5.04, 1.36 ± 0.87, 5.65 ± 3.07 and 4.08 ± 1.83 U/L in this order. The TRAP revealed a positive linear correlation between its activity in the serum and saliva (Spearman r = 0,4685, p < 0,05). We concluded that the salivary TRAP has a potential to be use as biomarkers of pathologies and states that modify its activity in the serum.

Estudo radiográfico de terceiros molares inferiores retidos e parcialmente irrompidos e revisão de literatuda

Introduction: Pathology associated with retained or partially erupted teeth are common in the general population. Objective: the aim was to evaluate the measurement of pericoronal space of retained third molars and partially erupted teeth in panoramic radiographs. Method: a retrospective study was carried on on the frequency of tooth retention and the problems it can cause in 107 radiographs of patients where the width was measured to verify the presence or absence of diseases associated with the involved teeth. Results: in the 107 panoramic radiographs analyzed the most frequent measurement was of 1.0 mm with 32.71% of cases followed by 2.0 mm with 29.91% of cases. Conclusion: The measurement of the pericoronal sapce of retained third molars and partially retained through its greatest width is in a practical and effective technique for application in routine clinical practice, which suggests the presence or absence of eraly odontogenic pathology