These cost-based results provide new, independent, and potentially valuable evidence that simple, noninvasive periodontal therapy may improve health outcomes in pregnancy and other systemic conditions.

This study indicates that clinically significant progression of attachment loss in posterior tooth sites occurs as a frequent event in adult periodontitis. The modeling data also suggest that short-term (6 month) measures of periodontal disease progression greatly improve the ability to model attachment loss over a longer period in untreated periodontitis patients.

Jeffcoat MK, Jeffcoat RL, Jens SC and Captain K: A ttew periodontal probe with automated cemento-enamel junction detection. J Clin Periodontol 1986; 13: 276-280. Abstract. A new automated periodontal probe has been developed which measures attachment level relative to the cemento-enamel junction in a single measurement. The probe tip automatically enters the periodontal pocket and retracts under controlled force. As the probe tip transverses the cemento-enurnel junction, the electronics detect an alteration in the acceleration of the probe tip. Thus, the location of the cemento-enamel junction is determined automatically. The repeatability and accuracy of the probe was assessed in vitro. Measurements of attachment level were repeatable to 0.03 mm, and the probe had a net accuracy of 0.04 mrn.

In the United States, firearms are involved in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries each year. The magnitude of this problem prompted the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to issue a report in 2004 detailing the strengths and limitations of existing research on the relationship between firearms and violence. In response, a multidisciplinary group of experts in the field of firearms and violence formed the National Research Collaborative on Firearm Violence. The Collaborative met for 2 days in June 2005 to (1) critically review the main findings of the NAS report and (2) define a research agenda that could fill research and data gaps and inform policy that reduces gun-related crime, deaths and injuries. This article summarizes the Collaborative’s conclusions and identifies priorities for research and funding.

An automated periodontal probe has been developed to measure pocket depth and attachment loss in a single measurement under controlled force conditions. A natural anatomic landmark, the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ), is used as a reference for attachment level measurements. The CEJ is detected automatically by immediate digital postprocessing of simultaneous measurements of probe tip acceleration and displacement during probing. Clinical trials in the beagle dog model for naturally occurring periodontitis have shown that the automated probe, when used with 35 g probing force, has a repeatability of 0.16 mm and a bias of 0.09 mm. These results indicate that the automated periodontal probe is capable of attachment level measurements with a high degree of repeatability and validity.