Premium
The effect of a plaque control program on the development of phenytoin‐induced gingival overgrowth
Author(s) -
Dahllöt Göran,
Modéer Thomas
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of clinical periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.456
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1600-051X
pISSN - 0303-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-051x.1986.tb02241.x
Subject(s) - gingival enlargement , medicine , oral hygiene , phenytoin , dentistry , gingivitis , dental plaque , gingival margin , epilepsy , psychiatry
. The effect of a plaque control program on the development of phenytoin(PHT)‐induced gingival overgrowth was studied in 16 epileptic children, 8–16 years of age during a 2‐year longitudinal study. The parameters studied were: visible plaque index (VPI), gingival bleeding index (GBI), probing depth and gingival overgrowth. A preventive program was instituted before the start of the PHT‐medication and included oral hygiene instruction and frequent professional tooth cleaning during the observation period. When gingival overgrowth was evaluated on the basis of probing depth, no patients on PHT therapy for 2 years developed pseudopockets (≥4 mm). During the 2‐year observation period, there was a statistically significant increase ( p <0.01) in the thickness of the marginal gingiva bucco‐lingually in all patients. This gingival enlargement was already evident ( p <0.01) after 1 month. The degree of gingival enlargement in this patient group did not increase significantly after the 1st year of PHT‐medication and was not significantly correlated to the plasma concentration of PHT. The results of this study show that the development of PHT‐induced gingival overgrowth could not be prevented by this specific plaque control program.