Actinomyces: a deceptive infection of oral cavity.

Actinomycosis is an infrequent chronic infection regarded as the most misdiagnosed disease by experienced clinicians. The Office of Rare Diseases at the National Institute of Health has also listed this disease as a "rare disease." This article presents a case report of actinomycosis of the alveolus with unusual clinical features but a successful resolution. It also states the importance of biopsy of deceptive inflammatory lesions that do not respond or recur after conventional treatment modalities.

Temporary Blindness after Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block.

Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block (IANB) anaesthesia is one of the common procedures in dental clinic. This procedure is safe, but complications may still occur. Ocular complications such as diplopia, loss of vision, or ophthalmoplegia are extremely rare. This case report explains an event where due to individual anatomic variation of the sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerve and maxillary and middle meningeal arteries, intravascular administration of anaesthetic agent caused unusual ocular signs and symptoms such as temporary blindness.

Self-tapping Intermaxillary Fixation Screw: An Alternative to Arch Bar.

INTRODUCTION: The use of intermaxillary fixation (IMF) in the treatment of faciomaxillary fractures is the key factor for reduction and immobilization. Various techniques of IMF have been described in the past and recently IMF screws have been introduced. This technique has various advantages, including ease of use, less time consumption, less trauma to the surrounding soft tissues, and relatively reduced risk of needle stick injury. This study evaluates the efficacy of IMF screws over arch bar IMF before definitive fixation of facial fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a randomized clinical study. Study population consists of 20 patients with mandibu-lar fractures requiring IMF with open reduction and reported to Department of Oral Surgery, Modern Dental College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India between September 2012 and April 2015. Two groups were formed with 10 patients in each group. In the first group, IMF was achieved using the Erich's arch bar and wires. In the second group, IMF was achieved using self-tapping IMF screw. The patients were assessed for various parameters, such as the time required in minutes for the IMF stability of fixation, postoperative occlusion, postoperative pain, periodontal health, oral hygiene, and incidence of needle stick injury. RESULTS: All the cases had stable IMF in both groups. At the end of 14th day, overall oral hygiene was poor in group I and good in group II, significant statistically (p = 0.031). Iatrogenic injury to tooth was absent in group I and present in 1 case in group II, not significant statistically (p = 0.305). Average time taken for the IMF in group I was 74.9 minutes, with the range of 58 to 88 minutes, and in group II was 16.1 minutes, with the range of 11 to 22 minutes, which is highly significant statistically (p = 0.001). Needle stick injuries were taken as positive if glove perforation was present and these were reported in four cases in group I, whereas in group II, no case had incidence of needle stick injuries, which shows significant statistically (p = 0.025). CONCLUSION: After this study, we can conclude that IMF self-tapping screw is a proven useful technique of IMF. Intermaxillary fixation is a safe and less time-consuming method but with various shortcomings and complications, which the surgeon must be aware of while providing treatment. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Keywords: Erich's arch bar, Intermaxillary fixation, Self-tapping intermaxillary fixation screws.

Maxillary adenomatoid odontogenic tumour.

An adenomatoid odontogenic tumour (AOT) is a benign, slow-growing, relatively rare oral tumour, which accounts for about 3-7% of all odontogenic tumours as reported in the literature. It is an unusual benign neoplasm which shares clinical and radiographical characteristics with odontogenic cystic lesions denoting a distinct behaviour. The three variants-follicular, extrafollicular and peripheral-present with identical histological findings. This report describes a patient with an AOT in the anterior maxilla. Radiographically, the lesion was characterised by a well circumscribed unilocular radiolucent area displacing left maxillary lateral incisor, canine and first premolars. The final diagnosis was AOT. The lesion was enucleated under local anaesthesia. The patient was followed-up for one year. This paper also provides a refresher for general dental practitioners about various diagnostic aspects of this tumour and highlights the controversies regarding its origin and management in the light of recent findings.

A rare occurrence of peripheral ossifying fibroma in the first decade of life and its management.

Localised growths are commonly seen on the gingiva. Many of these enlargements are considered to be reactive rather than neoplastic in nature. Clinically, differentiating one from the other as a specific entity is often not possible. Clinical knowledge and histopathological examination is needed to positively identify the lesion. The peripheral ossifying fibroma is one such lesion. We report a rare case in a 10-year-old female patient with a peripheral ossifying fibroma in the mandible exhibiting a significant increase in size within a short duration of 6 months.