Tuberculosis, the culprit behind nonhealing oral lesions: Report of two cases.

Nonhealing painless lesions of long duration that did not respond to conventional therapy are the diagnostic challenge to clinician. Two such atypical cases of nonhealing oral lesions manifesting as gingival swelling and odontogenic cyst diagnosed histopathologically as primary oral tuberculosis are presented here. The purpose of this presentation is to point out that, in the absence of any apparent systemic infection the oral tuberculous lesions in the mouth may be discovered before the diagnosis of systemic tuberculosis and the histopathological finding of a persistent nonhealing oral lesion is an important aid in arriving at a diagnosis of this underlying condition.

Quantification of AgNOR expression in exfoliated oral mucosal cells of tobacco chewers with and without lesion.

Background: Nucleolar organizer regions (NOR) are associated with proliferative activity and represent a diagnostic and prognostic marker. Materials and Methods: Smears were taken from smokers, tobacco chewers, oral squamous cell carcinoma patients, and normal subjects and evaluated by 2 silver-staining nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) counting methods: (1) mean number of AgNORs per nucleus (mAgNOR); and (2) percentage of nuclei with >3 and >5 AgNORs (pAgNOR). Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between normal subjects, smokers, tobacco chewers, and oral cancer patients and between tobacco chewers with and without lesion. No significant difference was observed between tobacco chewers and smokers except in the percentage of >5 criteria. Conclusions: AgNOR enumeration using noninvasive methods, such as the cytobrush appears to be useful technique in distinguishing between normal mucosa, mucosa with and without lesions exposed to carcinogens, such as tobacco and frank oral carcinoma.

Regional Odontodysplasia : A Unique Anomaly With An Insight Into Its Possible Etiologic Factors.

Regional odontodysplasia (RO) is a rare developmental anomaly involving both mesodermal and ectodermal dental components in a group of contiguous teeth. It affects the primary and permanent dentitions in the maxilla and mandible or both jaws. Generally it is localized in only one arch. Clinically, affected teeth have an abnormal morphology, are soft on probing and typically discolored, yellow or yellowish-brown. Radiographically, the affected teeth show a “ghostlike” appearance. This paper reports the case of an 11-year-old girl presenting this rare anomaly on the right side of the maxillary arch. The primary maxillary right central, the lateral and the canine were found missing. The permanent teeth had a “ghostlike” appearance radio graphically. The treatment performed was rehabilitation with temporary partial acrylic denture and periodic controls. The presentation of this case adds valuable information to dentists to review special clinical and radiographic features of RO, which will facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of patients with this condition. Since the etiology of this dental anomaly is uncertain, a review of its probable etiologic factors is summarized to get a better understanding of its cause of occurrence.

Trends in the epidemiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma in Western UP: An institutional study.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to identify trends in incidence rates of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) at specific anatomic sites or within specific age or sex groups in the Western Uttar Pradesh population. Materials and Methods: The study covers the period from January 2004 through April 2009. OSCC cases were retrospectively analysed for site, age, gender and habits and the findings were formulated to chart the trends in Western U.P. Results: The study revealed a male to female ratio of 2.2:1 with the largest number of OSCCs developing in the fourth and fifth decades of life. Overall, the most common site was the buccal mucosa (63.75%), followed by retromolar area (15%), floor of the mouth (11.25%), lateral border of the tongue (3.75%), labial mucosa (3.75%), and palate (2.5%). Smokeless tobacco habit was more prevalent than smoking tobacco in both men as well as women. Karl - Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to find the degree of association between the two variables i.e. between gender to buccal mucosa and gender to smokeless and smoking tobacco habits, which were found to be positively correlated with respect to the age. Conclusion: Oral cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with an incidence rate that varies widely by geographic location. Even within one geographic location, the incidence varies among groups categorized by age, sex, site or habit.

Comparative reliability of cheiloscopy and palatoscopy in human identification.

Background: Establishing a person's identity in postmortem scenarios can be a very difficult process. Dental records, fingerprint and DNA comparisons are probably the most common techniques used in this context, allowing fast and reliable identification processes. However, under certain circumstances they cannot always be used; sometimes it is necessary to apply different and less known techniques. In forensic identification, lip prints and palatal rugae patterns can lead us to important information and help in a person's identification. This study aims to ascertain the use of lip prints and palatal rugae pattern in identification and sex differentiation. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 subjects, 50 males and 50 females were selected from among the students of Subharti Dental College, Meerut. The materials used to record lip prints were lipstick, bond paper, cellophane tape, a brush for applying the lipstick, and a magnifying lens. To study palatal rugae, alginate impressions were taken and the dental casts analyzed for their various patterns. Results: Statistical analysis (applying Z-test for proportion) showed significant difference for type I, I', IV and V lip patterns (P < 0.05) in males and females, while no significant difference was observed for the same in the palatal rugae patterns (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study not only showed that palatal rugae and lip prints are unique to an individual, but also that lip prints is more reliable for recognition of the sex of an individual.

Incremental lines in root cementum of human teeth: an approach to their role in age estimation using polarizing microscopy.

Age estimation is an important factor in the identification of an individual in forensic science. The hard tissues of the human dentition are able to resist decay and degradation long after other tissues are lost. This resistance has made teeth useful indicators for age calculation. Recent research indicates that tooth cementum annulations (TCA) may be used more reliably than any other morphological or histological traits of the adult skeleton for age estimation. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between age and the number of incremental lines in human dental cementum and to ascertain the best method of studying cementum with respect to different forms of microscopy. Thirty nonrestorable teeth were extracted from 20 people, and longitudinal ground section of each tooth was prepared. Photomicrographs of the area at the junction of apical and middle third of the root under light and polarized microscope were taken. The cementum was composed of multiple light and dark bands that were counted on the photomicrograph with the help of image analysis software and added to the average eruption time of individual tooth. The predicted age of the individual was thus obtained. Results showed a significant correlation between the predicted age and actual chronological age of the individual. These data indicate that quantitation of cementum annuli is a moderately reliable means for age estimation in humans and polarizing microscopy is a better means of visualizing incremental lines of cementum compared to light microscopy.