Awareness, Attitude and Use of Chlorhexidine Gel for Cord Care in a Well-Baby Clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Introduction: Neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria is high and sepsis is a significant contributor. The World Health Organization recommends the use of 7.1% chlorhexidine gel for cord care to prevent neonatal sepsis and mortality. Aim: The study aimed to assess the awareness, attitude and use of chlorhexidine gel for cord care among mothers in Port Harcourt. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in the well-baby clinic in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital for 3 months. A research proforma with questions to assess awareness, attitude and use of chlorhexidine gel for cord care practices among the participants was used to collect data and analyzed with SPSS version 23. A score of 70% or more was taken as benchmark for good awareness, attitude and use. Result: A total of 199 mothers participated in the study, 126(63.3%) had heard of chlorhexidine gel, mostly from antenatal clinics. Thirty (23.8%) knew that it prevents neonatal infections, 74(58.7%) perceived it was effective, but only 19(9.6%) used it. About a third of the mothers had good awareness and attitude towards the use of chlorhexidine gel but only 18(9%) used it correctly. Mothers with tertiary level of education significantly had good attitude towards its use and poor knowledge correlated significantly with poor use, P < 0.05. Conclusion: The level of awareness, attitude and use of CHX in cord care practices in Port Harcourt is poor. There is an urgent need to educate mothers on the proper use and benefits of chlorhexidine gel in cord care practices. Key words: Chlorhexidine gel, Cord Care, Awareness, Attitude, Use, Port Harcourt.

Spectrophotometric analysis of internal bleaching of traumatized teeth with coronal discoloration following regenerative endodontic procedures

Aim: The objective of this study was to describe a case series concerning internal bleaching of anterior traumatized teeth that underwent regenerative endodontic procedures (REP). Methods: Seven non-vital maxillary anterior teeth discolored after regenerative endodontic procedures were included and divided into two groups according to the medication protocol used in the REP: (1) Triple antibiotic paste (TAP) group (n=4); (2) Calcium hydroxide and 2% chlorhexidine gel (HC+CHX) (n=3). The bleaching technique used was walking bleach, where sodium perborate associated with distilled water was used. Bleaching agent was replaced weekly until the darkened tooth was slightly lighter than the adjacent tooth. The color was recorded with the aid of a digital spectrophotometer in two moments (T1: prior the first session of bleaching, T2: fourteen days after the last session of bleaching). The change in color after the procedure (ΔE) was calculated and reported in a descriptive analysis. Results: The ΔE for all teeth showed color differences exceeding the perceptibility threshold (ΔE > 3.7). Both groups showed similar ΔE (TAP: 18.3 ± 11.5; HC+CHX: 14 ± 11.2) at the end of the treatment. The average number of sessions needed to achieve satisfactory results was 1.7 ± 0.6 for HC+CHX group and 2.3 ± 0.5 for TAP group. Conclusion: Internal bleaching with sodium perborate associated with distilled water is effective in treating discolored teeth after regenerative endodontic procedures.

Ozone Gel in Chronic Periodontal Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial on the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Ozone Application

The search for new topical treatments able to display not only antimicrobial properties but also a multiplicity of other beneficial effects while expressing safe cytocompatibility toward host tissues is being progressively developed. Antiseptics represent an aid to the gold standard nonsurgical treatment Scaling-and-Root-Planing (SRP) for periodontal disease. This split-mouth study aims to assess the efficacy of the ozonized gel GeliO3 (Bioemmei Srl, Vicenza, Italy) plus SRP (experimental treatment), with respect to SRP + chlorhexidine gel. Ten participants were treated with SRP + chlorhexidine gel (control sites) and with SRP + ozone gel (trial sites). After 1 (T1) and 3 months (T2) from baseline (T0), patients were revisited. At each time-point, the following indexes were assessed: probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and bleeding on probing (BoP). It has been assessed that the use of the ozonized gel in addition to SRP did not show significant differences if compared to conventional SRP + chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine was found to be more effective than ozone in reducing CAL and GI at T2. Ozone deserves consideration for its wide applicability in several clinical fields. In this connection, we also glance at the latest research on ozone therapy.

The effect of Topical Application of Honey Based Gel Containing Zingibar Officinale for Non Surgical Periodontal Maintenance

Introduction: Ginger and honey have shown to be effective against pathogens routinely encountered in periodontal infection. However, none of literature has shown antibacterial effect of ginger and honey on the levels of dental plaque when used as a gel. Aim: To compare the effect of honey with ginger extract on the dental plaque levels and gingival health. Methodology: Fifteen systemically healthy patients were randomly allocated to either the test group [G1(ginger and honey gel = 15 sites)] or the control group [G2 (Chlorhexidine gel = 15 sites]. Full mouth Gingival Index (GI) Full mouth Plaque Index (PI) were evaluated at baseline and on 7th day. Results: The mean PI at baseline was 0.23 ± 0.02 (G1) and 0.29 ± 0.01 (G2) which was increased to 0.36 ± 0.01 (G1) and 0.37 ± 0.01 (G2) on 7th day. However, mean GI at baseline was 0.30 ± 0.04 (G1) and 0.34 ± 0.02 (G2) which was increased to 0.38 ± 0.03 (G1) and 0.43 ± 0.03 (G2) on 7th day. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the chlorhexidine gel and Natural gel containing Honey and Zingibar officinale both are effective in controlling plaque during the periodontal maintenance period.

Efficiency of a digital electrofulguration system in contaminated root canals in vitro

Decontamination of the root canal (RC) system is essential for successful endodontic therapy. In this in vitro study, it was evaluated the disinfection potential of an electrofulguration device, the Endox® Endodontic System (EES), in RC infected with Enterococcus faecalis. Sixty-five human lower premolars were instrumented with MTwo® system. The specimens were distributed into six experimental groups (n = 10), according to the irrigation protocol: 2% chlorhexidine gel (CHX); CHX + EES; 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl); NaOCl + EES; saline solution (SS); and SS + EES. Five specimens were untreated (control). RC samples were collected before (C1) and after EES treatment (C2), after chemo-mechanical preparation (CMP) (C3), and after final EES treatment (C4). All samples were plated for colony forming units (CFU/mL) onto solid media. The data were analyzed by Wilcoxon and Friedman tests for intragroup comparisons and by Kruskal Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test for intergroup comparisons (α = 0.05). Treatment with the EES did not significantly reduce the number of CFU/mL as compared to baseline levels (C1 vs. C2, p> 0.05). After CMP (C3), all groups showed a significantly reduced amount of CFU/mL (p <0.05), with no difference between CHX- and NaOCl-treated samples (p >0.05). Lastly, treatment with the EES following CMP (C4) did not significantly reduce the amount of CFU/mL (C3 vs. C4, p> 0.05). To conclude, the use of the Endox® Endodontic System did not result in considerable bacterial reduction at all operative times, while treatment with NaOCl and CHX was equally efficient for this purpose.

Effectiveness of a Standardized Propolis Extract in Non-surgical Periodontal Therapy

Objectives. We determined the polyphenol content in a defined volume of chemically characterized and standardized propolis sample to evaluate its effectiveness in patients with chronic periodontitis.Materials and methods. After having determined the polyphenol content of a given volume of propolis extract and characterized the molecular profile, 150 patients were enrolled, randomly divided into three groups and subjected to three different treatments, Scaling and Root planing (SRP) associated with propolis, SRP with 1% chlorhexidine gel and SRP only. Before the treatments, Full Mouth Plaque Score (FMPS), Pocket Depth at Probing (PPD), Full Mouth Bleeding Score (FMBS), Impaired furcations according to the Hamp Classification, Mobility, Gingival recession and Clinical Attack Level (CAL) were evaluated. Results. A significant reduction of all the studied variables was observed in the three examined groups even if in the group treated with propolis, after 6 weeks, the reduction, and therefore the improvement, was higher than SRP treatment alone and in the presence of 1% chlorhexidine gel. Finally, there were no significant differences in the reduction of PPD and CAL between the groups treated with chlorhexidine and the group treated with SRP alone.Conclusion. Compared to the other two groups, Subjects treated with 10.4 mg propolis showed a significant improvement in all four variables. Clinical relevance. This study shows that propolis could be used as a natural adjuvant in the treatment of periodontal disease.