Dental inflammations, their fundamentals and pathophysiology are the topics of the lecture by Dr. Markus Tröltzsch. Oral inflammations are not always easy to recognize due to the complex anatomy of the oral cavity, which also enables the spread of inflammatory processes within lodges. Generally, inflammatory processes start with a serous stage where it comes to the formation of edema. Inflammatory mediators (histamines, substance P, CGRP) lead to increased vasoactivity, to chemotaxis and to neuronal activation.

Treatment of inflammations

The serous phase is followed by the cellular phase, where leukocytes and tissue breakdown products are responsible for the formation of pus. Thereafter, or in parallel with the first two phases, the reparative phase takes place in which scar healing is initiated through the formation of granulation tissue. Depending on the phase, for the treatment of inflammations in the oral cavity the antibiotic and/or surgical therapy is/are the therapy of choice.

Particular attention needs to be paid to patients with comorbidities, which entail immunosuppression. In this context, Dr. Tröltzsch mentions diabetes mellitus as a chronic disease, which causes not only macrovascular but also microvascular damages and makes the treatment of inflammations often much more complex.