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Currently, calcium channel blockers are being used increasingly for the treatment of hypertension in the elderly. Several case reports in the dental literature suggest that patients treated with the calcium channel blockers manifest gingival hyperplasia similar to that seen in patients taking phenytoin (Dilantin, Parke-Davis). A small study of 89 patients undertaken at the Westside Veterans Administration Medical Center, Chicago seems to indicate that nifedipine and diltiazem do indeed cause gingival hyperplasia. A total of 83% of the patients studied receiving nifedipine showed evidence of hyperplastic tissue and 74% of those on diltiazem were found to have hyperplastic tissue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe author wishes to acknowledge the following people:The Junior and Senior dental students and staff who volunteered their time for this study.Doctor Timothy Hart for his willing assistance in the statistical analysis of this research.My husband, Doctor James Bruno, for his moral support.The members of my committee, Doctor William F.P. Malone, Doctor

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