This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We hypothesize that intensified homecare and antibacterial toothpaste in healthy subjects will reduce the number of 'red complex' pathogens and will reduce clinical signs of gingival inflammation. We further hypothesize that intensified homecare, antibacterial toothpaste, and locally delivered antibiotics in subjects on periodontal maintenance therapy will accomplish these reductions in pathogens and inflammation and, in addition, reduce the formation of new periodontal pockets.
Our first aim i s to compare the ability of different preventive modalities to suppress the 'red complex' and other selected periodontal pathogens at different intraoral sites in healthy subjects.
Our second aim i s to prevent new periodontal attachment loss in a maintenance population. The prevention of periodontal diseases is the ultimate goal of periodontal research. Currently, periodontal prevention is considered the mechanical reduction of supragingival dental plaque. Numerous aids to plaque control are offered to the public but have not been adequately tested. These devices and agents help, primarily by lowering oral bacterial load. In theory, the general lowering of microbial load decreases the prevalence and level of pathogens in the oral cavity and conceivably in the community, thus decreasing the likelihood of new disease. Data indicate that personal and professional debridement are of clinical benefit, that powered toothbrushes exhibit somewhat better efficacy than manual toothbrushes, and that certain chemotherapeutic agents, particularly chlorhexidine and a Triclosan copolymer formulation, provide effective reduction in plaque and gingivitis.
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