Assessment of blood mercury levels in practicing Turkish clinicians, dental students, and dental nurses.

OBJECTIVES: Potential sources of exposure of the dental health team and their patients to mercury vapor in the dental clinic include accidental spillage of elemental mercury, use of mechanical amalgamators, and dry cutting of old amalgam restorations using high-speed instrumentation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of mercury exposure in Turkish dental staff by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. METHOD AND MATERIALS: A total of 211 clinicians, dental students, and dental nurses answered a questionnaire concerning sex, age, occupation, number of amalgam restorations performed per week, number of amalgam restorations removed per week, methods of trituration, number of amalgam restorations present in their own mouths, frequency of fish consumption, smoking, vitamin intake, and bruxism. For each subject, a 5-mL sample of whole blood was drawn and frozen until the time of analysis. Blood mercury levels were measured by means of cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. Blood mercury levels were also analyzed in a control group of 58 non-dental-staff blood donors. RESULTS: Normal blood mercury values are considered to be in the range of 0 to 5 ng Hg/mL. Of the dental staff evaluated, 51.7% had a blood concentration of mercury less than 5 ng Hg/mL, and 33.6% had a blood concentration above 5 ng Hg/mL. The difference between the test and control groups was statistically significant (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Mercury is being absorbed as a result of dental practice but that although there is, in general, a low level of mercury contamination in the dental operatory because of amalgam work, sufficient care is being taken to prevent higher levels of contamination with an increased use of mercury.

Peripheral odontogenic myxoma located on the maxillary gingiva: report of a case and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Odontogenic myxoma is a rare, benign neoplasm and is often located in the maxillofacial region centrally most common in the mandible. Soft tissue localization that can be classified as a peripheral myxoma is rarely seen than the central localization. Peripheral myxoma is slowly growing and less aggressive compared to the central myxoma and has a low recurrence rate. CASE REPORT: In this presentation, the patient with a peripheral odontogenic myxoma of the posterior maxillary gingiva was presented with histological findings following surgery, and the clinical differences and characteristics of the various types of myxomas were discussed by a review of the literature.

Pre- and posttreatment analysis of clinical symptoms of patients with temporomandibular disorders.

OBJECTIVE: This study treated patients with temporomandibular disc displacement with reduction (with pain, limited mandibular movement, and clicking sound symptoms) using a combination of analgesics, injection, mandibular exercise, and occlusal splints. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Twenty-five patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders were evaluated for pretreatment complaints and clinical findings, such as TMJ sounds, mandibular deviation, limited mouth opening, and bilateral magnetic resonance imaging results. Diagnostic treatment was then planned; all patients received occlusal splints, and 10 patients received injections. RESULTS: Evaluations were conducted 1 year after the initial diagnosis and treatment. Complaints (especially of pain) by the patients who received injections had reduced significantly. After 6 months of occlusal splinting, clinical findings of patients with TMJ disc displacement had greatly improved. To manage parafunctional habits of the patients, night plate usage was continued. Therefore, clinical symptom reduction was maintained. CONCLUSION: The use of mandibular manipulation technique can decrease the anterior disc displacement of the TMJ.