A Stiff Defense: Rethinking Gum Disease

Periodontitis is a serious chronic inflammatory form of gum disease that affects millions worldwide. It can lead to tooth loss and the destruction of supporting bone. This disease has also been linked to other health problems, including diabetes, respiratory infections, and heart disease—impacting quality of life and increasing health care costs.

Current treatments target bacterial infection and inflammation through nonsurgical therapies, such as scaling and root planing, commonly known as “deep cleaning.” However, they do not repair the gum’s extracellular matrix (ECM), the gingival tissue’s structural support that is damaged by chronic inflammation. Without this foundation, gingival tissue cannot function properly, allowing inflammation to persist and slowing healing.

Now, new research led by Kyle H. Vining and Hardik Makkar of the School of Dental Medicine demonstrates how the physical properties of the gingival tissue impact periodontal health and disease. Their findings are published in Advanced Materials.

Other studies have shown that physical properties such as structure and stiffness influence inflammation in chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and fibrosis, explains Vining, an assistant professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences. But the role of these properties in periodontal disease, which shares characteristics with other chronic inflammatory diseases, is not well understood.

“So, in this study, we took a biomaterials approach to prove that rigidity—the stiffness—of the healthy gingiva is important for maintaining gingival health,” says Vining, who is also an assistant professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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