The presence of macroglossia, a tendency towards poor cooperation and the inability to adapt to compl~te dental prostheses due to motor and mental deficiencies makes the oral rehabilitation of Down Syndrome patients difficult. This article reports on the use of mini implant supported overdenture to rehabilitate a Down Syndrome patient who had difficulty adapting to his new mandibular complete denture. The patient's ability to cooperate during treatment as well as the maintenance of an optimal oral hygiene practice enabled mini-implants to be inserted and maintained 20 months post insertion as evidenced by clinical and radiological findings. To the author's knowledge, this is the first reporting of a successful mini implant supported overdenture in a Down Syndrome patient.

This cross-sectional study was carried out to identify A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia in the subgingival plaque of three ethnic groups (Malays, Chinese and Indians) in a selected group of adult Malaysians with advanced Chronic Periodontitis and to correlate these findings with their periodontal status. Thirty periodontally diseased adults were age, gender and ethnically matched with 30 healthy individuals. Clinical parameters were assessed for all. Subgingival plaque samples were collected for identification of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia using polymerase chain reaction. Prevalence for P. intermedia (83.3%) was high and A. actinomycetemcomitans (6.7%) low in the total subject population. P. intermedia and A. actinomycetemcomitans were more prevalent in diseased (86.7%, 10% respectively) than in healthy (80%, 3.33% respectively) subjects. A. actinomycetemcomitans was detected in 15% Indians, 5% Malays but none of the Chinese subjects whereas P. intermedia was detected in 90% Malays, 85% Indians and 75% Chinese subjects. No significant association between presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia with race and periodontal disease status was found. Only A. actinomycetemcomitans had a significant association with clinical attachment level (CAL) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, in this small subject group, none of the pathogens were associated with race and periodontal disease status and only A. actinomycetemcomitans had a significant association with CAL.

Aim: To assess the oral health related quality of life(OHQoL) of a selected population of Malaysian adults andto compare the OHQoL by periodontal status. Material& Methods: This cross-sectional study comprises aconvenient sampling of fifty subjects from the PrimaryCare Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya.OHQoL was assessed using the Malaysian versionof Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). Basicperiodontal examination (BPE) was performed on allsubjects to determine their periodontal status. Descriptivestatistics and bivariate analysis were performed. Results:Psychological discomfort, physical pain and psychologicaldisability domains were the most affected dimensions inthis population. Subjects with income levels >RM2,500had higher impacts on their OHQoL as compared to thosefrom other income levels (p<0.05). 78% of the subjectshad some form of periodontitis (BPE scores 3 or 4) withthe other 22% recording healthy/ gingivitis status (BPE0, 1 or 2). Subjects with periodontitis experienced higherimpacts on OHQoL as compared to those with healthy/gingivitis in nearly all domains (p>0.05). Conclusion:Subjects with high income levels had high impacts ontheir OHQoL. Those with periodontitis experiencedhigher impacts on their OHQoL as compared to those whohad a healthy periodontium or gingivitis and affected awide range of domains of quality of life.