Chronic alcoholism: a common risk factor in oral cancer and alcoholic cirrhosis.

Oral cancer and alcoholic cirrhosis are relatively common diseases encountered in medical and dental practices. This article reviews the clinical, pathophysiological, and epidemiological characteristics of these two conditions. A major risk factor common to both oral cancer and alcoholic cirrhosis is the excessive use of alcohol. A challenge for practitioners and researchers is to become mindful of the connection between oral cancer and alcoholic cirrhosis. Earlier studies exploring these relationships and potential mechanisms are discussed.

Chloral hydrate sedation: a simple technique.

Chloral hydrate is an oral sedative commonly used in pediatric dentistry when providing extensive treatment in the young child. This article reports the results of a clinical trial using an orally administered dose of chloral hydrate at 75 mg/kg of body weight plus nitrous oxide and oxygen. A method for administering the drug that minimizes initial drug expectoration and vomiting is also presented. Because a reliable method for delivery of chloral hydrate is essential in a study of the ideal effective dose, the authors describe a technique that makes this portion of the treatment process as pleasant as possible by associating the drug with a product known to be pleasing to most children of this age group. The results of the clinical trial of 50 patients revealed that 29 children (58%) slept through the entire procedure and 14 (28%) of the children presented only mild resistance either during anesthesia and/or treatment. If some mild resistance is acceptable to the practitioner then there was an approximately 85% success rate. The authors concluded that chloral hydrate used at a 75 mg/kg dose and supplemented by nitrous oxide/oxygen is a safe and reliably effective sedative for the preschool child.

The Sturge-Weber syndrome: a case involving a 13-year-old black male.

A 13-year-old black male patient with Sturge-Weber Syndrome is presented. The report describes the classic presentation of the syndrome, emphasizing the oral manifestations. The case presentation includes a discussion of the differential diagnosis of gingival enlargement, and suggestions for subsequent therapy.

Dentin dysplasia: review of the literature and a proposed subclassification based on radiographic findings.

The literature is reviewed to determine the radiographic appearance of the reported cases of dentin dysplasia. The sometimes confusing nomenclature is rationalized. Four distinct forms of dentin dysplasia type I and one form of dentin dysplasia type II are identified. There seems to be no need to identify more than two distinct types of this relatively rare inherited defect of human dentin, but a proposed subclassification of type I dentin dysplasia could make identification of the two types easier.

Type I dentin dysplasia: report of two cases.

Dentin dysplasia is a rare developmental disturbance of dentin affecting approximately 1:100,000 people. It has been classified as an autosomal dominant disease. Two distinct forms of dentin dysplasia have been described. As more cases of dentin dysplasia were reported these categories seemed inadequate; subclassification of type I dentin dysplasia were proposed based on root length and the presence or not of a pulpal remnant. This paper presents two cases demonstrating the classic features of type I dentin dysplasia in the mixed and permanent dentitions and discusses the suggested subclassifications. The authors suggest that while differences in root length may be useful in determining treatment options, thinking of these variables as separate types of dentin dysplasia is not warranted at this time. Justification of a subcategory of type I dentin dysplasia should be based on a different disease process, different histology, significantly different symptoms, or different etiologies, and until researchers can clearly prove from a genetic or chromosomal standpoint that the subcategories are separate entities, we should accept, as we do for many other genetic disorders, that some patients are more severely affected than others.

Delay in hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis by aspirin and indomethacin.

Aspirin and indomethacin, administered systemically by oral route, were found to delay the development of hamster buccal pouch epidermoid carcinomas induced by thrice weekly topical applications of a 0.5 percent solution of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) in mineral oil. Forty male and female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were divided into four equal groups. In Group 1 animals the left buccal pouch was painted thrice weekly with DMBA. Group 2 animals were painted thrice weekly with DMBA and received 12 mg. aspirin daily by oral route. Group 3 animals were painted thrice weekly with DMBA and received 1 mg. indomethacin daily by oral route. Group 4 animals were maintained as untreated controls. Two animals in each of the four groups were killed with ether at 8, 10, 12, 13, and 14 weeks after the start of the experiment. At the time of sacrifice the buccal pouches were photographed and the average number of tumors and the average size of tumors in each group were noted. The left and right buccal pouches were dissected, fixed in 10 percent formalin, sectioned in paraffin, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Autopsies were also performed on each animal. Both left and right buccal pouches and major organs were studied histologically. Both aspirin and indomethacin in the dosages used were found to delay DMBA buccal pouch carcinogenesis. A suggested mechanism of action is the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by the role of both aspirin and indomethacin as inhibitors of prostaglandin synthetase. Indomethacin appeared to exert a greater tumor-inhibiting effect than aspirin in the dosages used.