Palatal schwannoma in a young female patient: report of a case and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: A few cases of oral schwannomas in paediatric patients have appeared in the literature so far; however, there are no studies focusing solely on paediatric oral schwannomas. The aim of this study is to report a case of palatal schwannoma in a young female patient and review the pertinent literature on oral schwannomas in paediatric patients. CASE REPORT: A 12-year-old girl presented with a growing swelling of 2 weeks duration on the hard palate. With a provisional diagnosis of a salivary gland neoplasm an incisional biopsy was performed under local anesthesia and the histologic examination disclosed an Antony A type schwannoma. TREATMENT: Complete surgical resection of the lesion was performed under local anaesthesia through a palatal mucosa incision and paraffin gauze was sutured on the surgical area for protection during secondary healing. The bone underlying the tumor was normal. The postoperative period was uneventful and 2 weeks after excision the gauze were removed. FOLLOW-UP: There have been no signs of recurrence during a 18-month follow up period. CONCLUSION: A palatal swelling in a child or adolescent may represent a neoplasm, such as a schwannoma and requires careful clinical and radiographic evaluation of the dentition.

Tooth eruption: altered gene expression in the dental follicle of patients with cleidocranial dysplasia.

OBJECTIVES: The dental follicle plays an important role in tooth eruption by providing key regulators of osteogenesis and bone resorption. Patients with cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) exhibit delayed tooth eruption in combination with increased bone density in the maxilla and mandible, suggesting disturbances in bone remodeling. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of genes relevant for tooth eruption and bone remodeling in the dental follicles of patients with CCD and normal subjects. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirteen dental follicles were isolated from five unrelated patients with CCD, and fourteen dental follicles were obtained from 10 healthy individuals. All teeth were in the intraosseous phase of eruption. The expression of RANK, RANKL, OPG, and CSF-1 was determined by quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: In patients with CCD, the mRNA levels of RANK, OPG, and CSF-1 were significantly elevated compared with the control group. Accordingly, the ratios of RANKL/OPG and RANKL/RANK mRNAs were significantly decreased in patients with CCD. CONCLUSION: The observed alterations in the expression and ratios of the aforementioned factors in the dental follicle of CCD individuals suggest a disturbed paracrine signaling for bone remodeling that could be responsible for the impaired tooth eruption seen in these patients.

Dental health of 5-year-old children and parents' perceptions for oral health in the prefectures of Athens and Piraeus in the Attica County of Greece.

OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken in 2001 in order to investigate the dental health status of 5-year-olds in an urban community within Attica County in Greece and the views of the carers of this age group. METHODS: Three hundred and forty-five nursery children were examined, using the WHO methods and criteria. Parents' views were recorded in a questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, 48.4% had some experience of dental decay. The mean dmft of the whole study population was 2.6, whereas the mean dmft of the subjects with active decay was 5.4; in these cases untreated decay was the highest component (mean dt = 5.0). A questionnaire using phone calls to the children's homes achieved a 100% response rate. Ninety-five per cent of parents thought that a child should visit the dentist at this early age and 79.5% of responders answered that they had already visited the dentist with their child for different reasons. Three-quarters (75.4%) of parents had received information about fluoride, whereas 72.5% answered that did not use any type of fluoride for their child at home. It was reported that 63.5% of children ate snacks, sweets, cakes, biscuits, and gums between the main meals of the day and 31% of the subjects more than once per day. CONCLUSIONS: Caries indicies were higher from the National 2003-4 survey and were attributed to the increasing number of immigrants in some areas. The population under investigation had the appropriate information for the prevention of dental decay but they appear to maintain unhealthy behaviours in their everyday living.

[Ultrasonography. Interpretation of physiologic structures of the neck and face]. / Hyperechotomographia. Apeikonise ton physiologikon morion tes tracheloprosopikes choras.

Ultrasonography is one of the newest diagnostic methods for the visualization of pathologic conditions of the soft tissues of the human body. This method has an indication also for the localization and diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions in the head and neck area. This study was done in order to inform the dentist about this new and completely safe diagnostic method and also, to present the sonographic image of the physiologic structures in the head and neck area. Ultrasonography was performed in 20 persons who had a free past medical history and no sign of disease in the head and neck area. Attention was made in order to include in the study persons of all ages, of different weight and of both sexes in order to include any possible variation of the anatomic order. The examination was done with Aloka S.S.D.-280 L.S. ultrasound camera and the probe applied was the US - 5 MHz and connected with the Echo-Coupler ECM-1, which was used for the first time in Greece. Ultrasonographic examination was made in the submandibular, sublingual, parotid and neck region and the physiologic structures, which were studied, included the thyroid, the sternocleidomastoid muscle, the carotid artery and jugular vein, muscles of the submandibular area, the sublingual, submandibular and parotid salivary glands and the masseter muscle.