This study aimed to investigate the healing effect of advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) clot membranes in the reduction of palatal wounds resulting from free gingival graft (FGG) harvesting, in the re-epithelization rate and in the pain experience after surgery. Twenty-five patients requiring soft tissue augmentation (gingival recession coverage or keratinized gingiva augmentation) participated in this prospective randomized clinical study. After FGG harvesting, the test group (n=14) received A-PRF clot membranes at the palatal wound and the control group (n=11) a gelatin sponge. Epithelialization rate of the palatal wound, wound healing area, correspondent percentage of reduction and post-surgical pain experience were assessed. The follow-up period was 90 days. There was a significantly higher reduction of the palatal wound area in the A-PRF group vs. the control group, at 7 (p<0.001), 14 (p=0.009) and 30 days (p<0.001) follow-up. The maximum difference between groups was attained at 30 days (91.5% for A-PRF vs. 59.0% for the control group). At 14 days a significant difference in the proportion of patients showing total epithelization was found: 64.3% for A-PRF vs. 9.1% for the control group (p=0.012). At 90 days, both groups showed total recovery. Overall, the control group experienced a higher level of pain and discomfort until the 14th day, being significantly higher on the second day (p=0.013). The results suggest that A-PRF membranes haste the healing process by promoting a greater reduction along the recovery period and an apparent less painful postoperative period.

This retrospective study aimed to investigate the effect of known risk factors on nonsurgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) response using a pocket depth fine-tuning multilevel linear model (MLM). Thirty-seven patients (24 males and 13 females) with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were treated with nonsurgical periodontal therapy. Follow-up visits at 3, 6, and 12 months included measurement of several clinical periodontal parameters. Data were extracted from a database system. Probing depth (PD) and Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL) reductions after NSPT in an overall of 1416 initially affected sites (baseline PD ≥ 4 mm), distributed on 536 teeth, were analyzed against known risk factors at three hierarchical levels (patient, tooth and site). The variance component models fitted to assess the three-level variance of PD and CAL decrease for each post-treatment follow-up showed that all levels contributed significantly to the overall variance (P < 0.001). Patients that underwent NSPT and were continually monitored had very curative results. All three hierarchical levels included risk factors who had impact on the to influence the magnitude of PD and CAL reduction. Specifically, the tooth’s type, surfaces involved and teeth mobility site-level risk factors showed the highest influence on these reductions, being highly relevant factors for the NSPT success.

This systematic review investigates the failure rate and marginal bone loss (MBL) of dental implants placed in Solid-organ transplant (SOT) patients compared to healthy controls. Three databases (PubMed, Web of Sciences and the Cochrane Library) were searched up to June 2020 (PROSPERO CRD42019124896). Case-control and cohort studies reporting data failure rate and marginal bone loss (MBL) of dental implants placed in SOT patients were included. The risk of bias of observational studies was assessed through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Four case-control studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria, all of low risk of bias. Meta-analyses revealed consistently lower implant failure rate than control populations at patient and implant levels. SOT patients had a significant difference of -18% (p-value <0.001) of MLB towards healthy patients. SOT status poses no serious threat to implant survival. Overall, this group of patients presented lower levels of dental implant failure rate and marginal bone loss compared to otherwise healthy patients. Further intervention trials with wider sample size and longer follow-ups are necessary to confirm these summary results.

Background: The progression of periodontal diseases at national Portuguese level and its public awareness are of great interest, mainly due to the high burden of periodontitis. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence progression of periodontal diseases in Portugal and correspondent public awareness, between 2004 and 2017, by using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), Directorate-General of Health (DGH) and Google® Trends (GT). Methods: For the period 2004-2017, Portuguese national data of periodontal diseases prevalence were searched in the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of GBD and DGH and for public awareness, GT comparison tool between Portuguese words for “Periodontitis”, “Gingivitis”, “Gums” and “Periodontal disease” trends was used. Results: For the period 2004-2017, the overall prevalence of periodontitis slightly increased from 11.3% to 11.7%. During that period the GT search term “Gums” (“Gengivas”) was the most relevant. It increased steadily over time while the search term “Periodontal disease” (“Doença periodontal”) decreased, being these search trends significantly correlated (

Traumatic Brain Injury represents a significant public health concern due to its role in traumatic death and disability, often caused by head impacts or rapid accelerations. Despite advancements in Finite Element Head Models, existing models primarily represent adult males, neglecting anatomical and physiological differences between genders and age groups. Additionally, the mechanistic roles of specific intracranial tissues, such as the dura mater, have conventionally been overlooked. To better understand the mechanical behavior of the brain and its injured regions in the context of TBI, including the dura mater, this study proposes the development of a Female Finite Element Head Model. This model, representative of a middle-aged female subject, was developed using medical image-derived geometry and finite element modeling techniques. The validation results demonstrate a similarity between the numerical displacement curves and those obtained experimentally. In the model with dura mater, the numerical results show analogous behavior to the experimental results, despite minimal variations in the amplitude of the curves. These advancements highlight the significance of including the dura mater in biomechanical brain modeling. Incorporating the dura mater in Finite Element Head Models produces more realistic results than models without it. This emphasizes the importance of enhancing biomechanical models to better represent anatomical complexity.