Swallowing thresholds of mandibular implant-retained overdentures with variable portion sizes.

Item does not contain fulltextWe analysed the effect of three portion sizes Optocal Plus (small, medium and large) on swallowing thresholds in subjects with either conventional complete dentures or mandibular implant-retained overdentures (transmandibular and permucosal cylindric implants). Tests were carried out in 52 women and 15 men (mean age 59 years) 4 years after treatment in a randomised controlled clinical trial. The results indicated that the degree of mucosal support for the mandibular denture did not affect the number of chewing strokes, time till swallowing or swallowed particle size. Only the chewing rate differed: subjects wearing mandibular implant-retained overdentures chewed the food at a higher rate than complete-denture wearers. With larger portion sizes, subjects needed significantly more chewing strokes and time until swallowing and they would have swallowed larger particles. Men chewed their food more efficiently than women, as they used the same number of chewing strokes and time, but achieved a greater particle size reduction at the swallowing moment

IL-1RN gene polymorphism is associated with peri-implantitis

Objectives: Interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-1 beta and their natural specific inhibitor IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) play a key role in the regulation of the inflammatory response in periodontal tissues. Polymorphisms in the IL-1 gene cluster have been associated with severe adult periodontitis. We aimed to investigate the IL-1 gene cluster polymorphisms in patients with peri-implantitis. Material and methods: The study included 120 North Caucasian individuals. A total of 71 patients (mean age 68 years, 76% smokers) demonstrating peri-implantitis at one or more implants as evidenced by bleeding and/or pus on probing and bone loss amounting to > 3 threads on Branemark implants and 49 controls (mean age 66 years, 45% smokers) with clinical healthy mucosa and no bone loss around the implants were recruited for the study. The titanium implants, ad modum Branemark, had been in function for at least 2 years. Mouthwash samples were collected and used for genotyping of the bi-allelic polymorphisms IL-1A(-889), IL-1B(+3953), IL-1B(-511) and a variable number of tandem repeat IL-1RN gene polymorphisms using PCR technique. Results: Significant differences were found in the carriage rate of allele 2 in the IL-1RN gene between peri-implantitis patients and controls (56.5% vs. 33.3%, respectively; odds ratios (OR) 2.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-5.6; P=0.015). Logistic regression analysis taking smoking, gender and age into account confirmed the association between the IL-1RN allele 2 carriers and peri-implantitis (OR 3; 95% CI 1.2-7.6; P=0.02). Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that IL-1RN gene polymorphism is associated with peri-implantitis and may represent a risk factor for this disease