Trigeminal neuralgia [TN]: a case report on short-term follow up

Trigeminal neuralgia [TN] is one of the most common neuropathic syndromes. It is more common in females than males. This condition is described as a sudden severe pain, can be unilateral or it can be in the form of episodes. Patient conceive it as very severe pain which affects thequality of life and health status of the individual. The pain can be described as a sudden severe pain which is normally triggered by a slight stimulus like touch, eating, drinking, washing, and shaving or by any thermal changes. We report a case of a sixty five years old female patient who presented with right sided pain in upper and lower quadrant of the jaw which was not relived by medication. Investigations and regular follow up has revealed classical trigeminal neuralgia pattern

Van Der Woude syndrome: a rare case in Pakistan

Congenital epithelial anomalies of the face [sinus of fistula or pits] are uncommon. Most of them involve the lower lip as a part of Van der Woude syndrome. This syndrome presents as a pair of pits in the lower lip vermilion in association with left lip and palate. The incidence is 0.001% of the general population. Additional clinical features include enamel hypoplasia, multiple congenitally missing teeth and abnormality of right limb as a birth defect. Management of the patients involves the collaboration of different specialists. An earlier management of these cases could improve self-esteem and quality of life of the patient. Very few cases of this condition have been reported worldwide. By reporting such new cases we wish to contribute to the understanding of the etiology and to the better knowledge of the details of this very rare condition

survey of hepatitis B infection awareness and prevalence of vaccinated dental students in teaching institutions of Karachi

The Hepatitis B virus [HBV] is an extremely infectious blood borne pathogen. There are estimated 350 million chronic carriers worldwide. 1 In comparison to other viruses, HBV differs mainly in its higher infectivity and preventability. Several published reports have raised concerns over the risk of medical students related to occupational blood exposures during the clinical medical training. 27, 29 It is important to emphasize that the training period in dentistry is associated with a greater frequency of exposure to blood borne pathogens than in medicine. 30 Such hazardous exposures are not infrequent among local health care workers. Further the training of undergraduates is also not well structured to prepare and prevent them from occupational exposures of infections. We conducted a survey to determine the awareness of hepatitis B virus infection and prevalence of vaccinated dental students in the teaching institutions of Karachi. A questionnaire survey was conducted about awareness, prevention, transmission of hepatitis B infection and vaccination against hepatitis B, from students of all five dental institutes in Karachi. Total of 590 students replied, with 243 [42%] students from pre-clinical and 347 [58%] from the clinical years. Frequency of vaccinated dental students was 86.16% in clinical whereas 74.89 among pre clinical students [p-value 0.01]. Knowledge of transmission and awareness was high amongst the clinical students as compared with pre-clinical [p-value 0.01]. Preclinical students were more aware about the prevention of HBV infection than clinical students [p-value 0.01]. A considerable proportion of students is not vaccinated against hepatitis B. In our sample clinical dental students had inadequate knowledge regarding prevention of HBV infection. Strategies need to be developed by the concerned authorities for prevention HBV infection in dental professional during their training and education

seven years audit of nerve injuries related to third molar extraction in hospital setting

To investigate incidence of nerve injuries after surgical removal of lower third molars in hospital setting. To assess the usage of different anesthetic modality and intravenous sedation for oral surgery. Total 1353 lower 3rd molars were removed in 687 patients during February 2000 to July 2007. Records of these patients were evaluated for neurological disturbance. Out of 687 patients one had permanent anesthesia of long buccal nerve [0.14%], five had temporary and one permanent anesthesia of inferior dental nerve [0.87%] and three had temporary and one permanent anesthesia of lingual nerve [0.58%]. There was no injury to mylohyoid nerve in our study sample. In our observation frequency of lingual nerve damage was consistent with reported literature. Injury of inferior dental nerve in our patients was found to be less than one percent. Local anesthesia and intravenous sedation is underused in oral surgery