Drs. Keerthy S. Menon and Tessa Paul, first-year postgraduate scholars of the Department of Periodontics at the Amrita School of Dentistry won accolades at the 12th Postgraduate Convention of the Indian Society of Periodontology.

The convention was organized at ITS Dental College in Greater Noida during March 1-3, 2013.

Dr. Keerthy won the third prize for her paper presentation in the clinical research category while Dr. Tessa Paul received a consolation prize. In all, the conference saw the presentation of over 700 scientific papers.

Dr. Keerthy’s paper was titled Comparison of the efficacy of iontophoresis and desensitizing tooth paste in the management of dentinal hypersensitivity – a clinical study. The study compared two different treatment modalities for dentinal hypersensitivity, one through iontophoresis and the other using desensitizing tooth paste.

Dentine hypersensitivity results in swift, sharp pains arising from exposed dentine, typically in response to stimuli such as hot, cold, sweet or citrus fruits. Dentine is one of the four major components of teeth other than enamel, cementum and pulp. The sensitivity can be caused by several factors including wear and tear, decaying teeth or exposed teeth roots.

“It is also a common clinical problem in patients undergoing periodontal therapy,” noted Dr. Keerthy.

Iontophoresis is a technique wherein a small electric charge delivers a medicine or other chemical through any tissues (skin, teeth, etc). Iontophoresis using fluoride gel is commonly employed in the treatment of hypersensitive dentine.

Dr. Keerthy explained her study.

“A total of thirty dentine hypersensitivity sites were selected from different patients who visited the periodontal clinic at Amrita. They were divided into group A and B. Group A patients were given fluoride gel iontophoresis and group B, commercially available desensitizing tooth paste with 5% potassium nitrate.”

“After the study period of two weeks, the results were statistically analyzed and it was proved that iontophoresis provided better relief for long-term dental hypersensitivity; it was also more convenient for patients as it was a single visit procedure.”

“Iontophoresis proved to be of considerable promise in the management of dentinal hypersensitivity.”

Dr. Tessa Paul’s paper that won a consolation prize was titled Modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis using healthy periodontium – a boon to the blind.

Modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (bone tooth corneal prosthesis) is the use of patient’s own single rooted tooth with surrounding alveolar bone for repairing the optical lens. In diseases with severe ocular surface inflammation, chemical injury and dry eyes this technique has been found to be more successful than other purely synthetic prosthesis.

Dr. Tessa presented a case report of a patient who lost his sight in an industrial chemical accident and regained his vision with the help of this technique.

“The alveolar bone with periodontal ligament and periosteum wrapped with blood vessels established connections with surrounding tissue in the eye and became the patient’s new cornea helping restore vision, she elaborated.

Both scholars expressed their gratitude to their mentors at the Amrita Department of Periodontology.

“Drs. P. Jayachandran, Professor and Head; Angel Jacob, Associate Professor; Rajesh Vyloppillil, Reader; Anuradha Bhaskar, Assistant Professor helped us immensely with our research. Our special thanks also to Dr. Pramod John, Professor and Head, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology and Mr. Deepak K. S., Department of Statistics,” they said.

March 13, 2013
School of Dentistry, Kochi