4-0 sutures are stronger and have greater tensile strength than 5-0 sutures. CG seems to sustain its strength better than PG and PG-FA after 2 weeks. PG-FA may not be a desirable suture if tensile strength is required after 10 days. Appropriately designed clinical studies are necessary to confirm this finding in an in vivo environment.

While educators agree that using self-assessment in education is valuable, a major challenge is the poor agreement often found between faculty assessment and student self-assessment. The aim of this study was to determine if use of a predeined grading rubric would improve reliability between faculty and dental student assessment on a periodontal oral competency examination. Faculty members used the grading rubric to assess students' performance on the exam. Immediately after taking the exam, students used the same rubric to self-assess their performance on it. Data were collected from all third-and/or fourth-year students in four classes at one U.S. dental school from 2011 to 2014. Since two of the four classes took the exam in both the third and fourth years, those data were compared to determine if those students' self-assessment skills improved over time. Statistical analyses were performed to determine agreement between the two faculty graders and between the students' and faculty assessments on each criterion in the rubric and the overall grade. Data from the upper and lower performing quartiles of students were sub-analyzed. The results showed that faculty reliability for the overall grades was high (K=0.829) and less so for individual criteria, while student-faculty reliability was weak to moderate for both overall grades (Spearman's rho=0.312) and individual criteria. Students in the upper quartile self-evaluated themselves more harshly than the faculty (p<0.0001), while the lower quartile students overestimated their performance (p=0.0445) compared to faculty evaluation. No signiicant improvement was found in assessment over time in the students who took the exam in the third and fourth years. This study found only limited support for the hypothesis that a grading rubric used by both faculty and students would increase correspondence between faculty and student assessment and points to a need to reexamine the rubric and instructional strategies to help students improve their ability to selfassess their work.

Introduction: Localized juvenile spongiotic gingival hyperplasia (LJSGH) is a recently described uncommon and distinctive form of inflammatory hyperplasia. Treatment of this condition has varied from surgical excision to no treatment followed by spontaneous remission. This case report demonstrates successful management of the lesion using a conservative treatment approach. Case Presentation: A 14‐year‐old male with negative medical and dental histories presented with LJSGH. The vivid red lesions involved the papillary and marginal gingiva of all maxillary anterior teeth. Initially, the lesion developed as a single red patch‐like area involving the maxillary left cuspid. Subsequently, the lesion displayed a linear pattern of spread to involve successively more teeth in the anterior sextant. Biopsy revealed hyperplastic elongated epithelial rete pegs, atrophy of the overlying stratified squamous epithelium with mild spongiosis, neutrophilic exocytosis, and a highly vascular connective tissue with a dominant infiltrate of chronic inflammatory cells. The lesion responded to treatment consisting of a mild surface cauterization followed by topical application of a 0.05% clobetasol ointment four times per day for a period of 4 weeks. Conclusion: This case report demonstrates that LJSGH can be successfully managed by conservative therapy, thereby avoiding potential gingival margin defects that may result from a surgical ablation of the lesion.

The purpose of this report is to describe the general use of clickers as an active learning tool and how they were used in teaching a combined periodontology course for second-year dental and junior dental hygiene students. A survey was used to capture student perceptions following completion of the course. Speciic domains were active learning, improved performance, and expectations. The survey response rate was 94.5 percent (121/128). Descriptive analyses showed that, in the domain of active learning, 102 (84.3 percent) agreed/strongly agreed that the use of clickers made the lectures more interactive; sixty-six (54.5 percent) agreed/strongly agreed that the clickers made them focus; and ninety-two (76 percent) agreed/strongly agreed that the clickers encouraged active participation. In the domain regarding improved performance, sixty-three (52 percent) agreed/ strongly agreed that the review sessions utilizing clickers helped them prepare for tests. In the domain of expectations, ninetythree (76.9 percent) had a better idea of what to expect on the examination due to the use of clickers, and seventy-three (60.3 percent) thought that the clickers should be used in future semesters for this class. In addition, faculty members appreciated the greater participation afforded through the use of clickers to obtain a better understanding of the students' grasp of course content. Learning theory suggests that students must actively engage in the learning process in order for meaningful learning in the form of critical thinking and problem-solving to take place. In this study, students conirmed that the use of clicker technology encouraged their active participation in a periodontology course.

Within the limitations of this study, maxillary tuberosities seem to mainly consist of marrow spaces, adipose tissue, and a low vital bone profile. Females demonstrated a statistically significant lower amount of vital bone than males. The results suggest that this specific area may not be an ideal source of autogenous bone for grafting purposes in older individuals. However, it is imperative to note that this investigation did not control for nutritional imbalances and skeletal disorders. Further studies are necessary to control all confounding factors.