Experimental and Clinical Achievements of Periodontology in the Republic of Slovenia

Abstract

In the Republic of Slovenia, periodontology developed in two periods: between 1947 and 1968 the Periodontological Department of Ljubljana University designed an educational-pedagogic program; and in those years cases of periodontopathy were mostly treated by conservative methods. In the second period — from 1968 on —preventive care of these illnesses became dominant. During this treatment special attention was devoted to arranging every articular discord among the teeth, and to applying periodontal surgery to the diseased regions.

Within the experimental field, numerous examinations were affected. By the method of thermography with liquid crystals, the efficacy of dehydrating agents and the mechanical massage of diseased gums was estimated; by the method of proton activation analysis the antagonism between resistance to caries and dystrophy of the periodontal bone was confirmed. With paramagnetic resonance, tooth cement and the administering of medicaments into the orabasis were researched into; an apparatus was prepared for exactly measuring the displacement of a tooth, etc.

The Periodontological Department organizes various frames of postgraduate study; recently, it has been profiling a new program for oral hygienists.