[Report of an extensive maxillary perforation resulting from mucormycosis and its treatment]

Mucormycosis is a rare and invasive fungal infection with a high mortality that usually affects immunocompromised patients. The major route of infection is inhalation. An extensive necrotic ulcer in the mouth could be indicative of fungal invasion. A 67-year-old woman was visited in the department of Oral Medicine of Hamadan dental school with perforation and extensive and progressive ulcer in palate from 2 month ago. The patient had a history of swelling in the face and proptosis in the right eye from five months ago. Lab tests revealed an uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. Biopsy was carried out under clinical diagnosis of deep fungal infection and final diagnosis was mucormycosis. Early detection of mucormycosis could increase survival rate. Therefore, dentists can play an important role in primary diagnosis of the lesions. Systemic diseases could also be diagnosed and referred for treatment by the dentists

Effect of rheumatoid arthritis on periodontitis: a historical cohort study

PURPOSE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic multi-systemic disease that causes damage to the bone and connective tissues. This study was conducted in order to accurately measure the correlation between RA and periodontitis, and to obtain an unbiased estimate of the effect of RA on periodontal indices. METHODS: In this historical cohort study, which was conducted from February to May 2011 in Hamadan city, Iran, 53 exposed people (with RA) were compared with 53 unexposed people (without RA) in terms of clinical periodontal indices (the outcomes of interest) including 1) plaque index (PI), 2) bleeding on probing (BOP), and 3) clinical attachment loss (CAL). RESULTS: A sample of 106 volunteers were evaluated, 53 rheumatoid versus 53 non-rheumatoid subjects. There was a statistically significant correlation between RA and BOP (P<0.001) and between RA and CAL (P<0.001). However, there was no statistically significant correlation between RA and any of the periodontal indices. No correlation was seen between gender and any of the indices either. There was a strong positive correlation between age and all three periodontal indices (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicated a potential effect of RA on periodontal indices. However, much more evidence based on a prospective cohort study is needed to support the cause and effect relationship between RA and periodontal indices.