The effectiveness of a dental gel with barberry extract in the treatment of plaque-induced gingivitis in orthodontic patients undergoing treatment with fixed appliances
Relevance. The high necessity in orthodontic treatment among young patients and the use of fixed orthodontic appliances for the treatment of dental pathology are the factors that initiate inflammatory periodontal processes. Timely diagnosis and optimal preventive and treatment procedures can prevent or stop the inflammatory periodontal complications which could have developed during the orthodontic treatment. One of the effective methods for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory periodontal diseases is the use of targeted antimicrobial agents based on medicinal plants that have specific antimicrobial activity against periodontal pathogens. Purpose - to study the effectiveness of the dental gel with barberry extract for the treatment of plaque-induced gingivitis in orthodontic patients during the active phase of the treatment with fixed appliances.Materials and methods. The study included 60 patients (35 women and 25 men) aged 18 to 35 years who had presented for the orthodontic care. The patients undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances were randomly divided into two groups. In group I, the patients were prescribed applications of a dental gel with barberry extract; in group II, this medication was not prescribed. The clinical condition of the periodontium was assessed with periodontal indices PMA, SBI and OHI-S. The immune status was evaluated by the level of secretory IgA, interleukins (IL-1β and IL-4) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The patients were followed up during 1 month of treatment. The results were statistically processed with Statsoft Statistica 8.0 and Graph Pad Prism 5.0.Results. In group II, the production of immunoglobulin IgA, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines was impaired after a month of treatment, associated with a significant deterioration in the oral hygiene status and an increase in PMA (by 3 times), SBI (by 5.3 times) indices. In group II, the oral fluid concentrations of IL-1β, IL-4 and TNF-α significantly differed from those in group I as of the 7th day of the observation period and indicated suppression of the mucosal immunity. Clinical and immune parameters of the group I patients improved and were comparable with the control by the end of the observation month.Conclusions. Patients with dental abnormalities are at risk of developing inflammatory periodontal diseases. The results of the immunological tests, performed during the treatment with the use of a dental gel with barberry extract, demonstrated the recovery of the local immunity, as evidenced by the elevation of secretory immunoglobulin A in saliva and improvement of cytokine profile parameters.