New dental hygiene protocol for systemic disease prevention

The convergence of orthodontic and periodontal considerations in diagnosis and treatment planning should become common place in clinical practice. While there has been a large number of systemic conditions1 and specific periodontal pathogens linked to periodontitis, the bacterial flora of malpositioned teeth present a unique challenge both in the pathophysiology of periodontal disease and possible systemic consequences. The pathophysiology of periodontal disease is modulated by the host immune response and tissue structural considerations, but the key components in disease are associated with the bacterial flora in plaque biofilm.1 Periodontal pathogens produce localized damage in two different ways: