Feasibility study of a novel digital template-guided flapless extraction for maxillary palatal impacted teeth.

OBJECTIVE: With the increasing maturity of 3D printing technology, the application of digital guide template in the extraction of impacted teeth has become more sophisticated. However, for maxillary palatal deeply impacted teeth, there still exist significant clinical challenges. This experiment introduces a novel digital guide template and innovatively employs a flapless technique to explore a minimally invasive approach for the extraction of palatal deeply impacted teeth. METHODS: This experiment included 40 patients diagnosed with palatal completely impacted teeth, randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group used the new digital guide template for flapless extraction, while the control group employed the traditional freehand flap technique. RESULTS: The experimental group can significantly reduce the localization time of palatally impacted teeth (P < 0.001), with total surgery times of 18.15 ± 4.88 min and 22.00 ± 7.71 min for the experimental and control groups, respectively (P = 0.067). Although there were no significant statistical differences between the two groups in terms of intraoperative bleeding, adjacent tooth damage, infection, or damage to nearby important anatomical structures, the experimental group showed significant improvements in postoperative pain (P < 0.05), swelling (P < 0.001), and patient satisfaction (P < 0.001) compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Compared to traditional freehand flap surgery, flapless extraction of palatally impacted teeth guided by digital templates significantly reduces the localization time of impacted teeth and demonstrates notable advantages in some postoperative complications. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to substantiate the feasibility of this technique.

Long Non-Coding RNA HCP5 Facilitates Cell Invasion And Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma By miR-140-5p/SOX4 Axis.

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the predominant histological type of human oral cancer. In this study, we sought to investigate the functional role of lncRNA HCP5 in OSCC progression. METHODS: The HCP5 and miR-140-5p expression level was determined in 73 paired OSCC tissues and their adjacent normal tissues. Knockdown or overexpression of HCP5 was conducted to investigate the effects of HCP5 on malignant behaviors of OSCC cells. Then, bioinformatic prediction and dual-luciferase reporter assay were conducted to study the interaction between HCP5 and miR-140-5p in OSCC. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that HCP5 expression was significantly increased in OSCC tissues and cell lines. High HCP5 level was associated with the aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and poor prognosis of OSCC patients. In vitro gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that HCP5 overexpression promoted, whereas HCP5 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of OSCC cells. Mechanistically, we confirmed that HCP5 might serve as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-140-5p to alleviate the repression of its downstream target, SOX4, a master regulator of EMT. Furthermore, restoration of miR-140-5p expression diminished the oncogenic effects of HCP5 on OSCC cells. CONCLUSION: Overall, the present study indicated that HCP5/miR-140-5p/SOX4 axis might be a ponderable and promising therapeutic target for OSCC.