Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Metronidazole/therapeutic use , Mouth Diseases/drug therapy , Tooth Diseases/drug therapy , Administration, Oral , Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/adverse effects , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Clinical Trials as Topic , Humans , Metronidazole/adverse effects , Metronidazole/pharmacology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The need and demand for oral medicine services in the United States and Canada was determined by a prospective survey of American Academy of Oral Medicine practitioners who attended the Academy's 1996 annual meeting. Of the 50 surveys returned from 149 eligible registrants, it was determined that, on the average, oral medicine practitioner respondents practiced 2.3 days per week and treated 8.7 patients per day; this amounts to more than 40,000 patient-care visits per year. Almost 90% of patients were treated because of medically compromising conditions, oral mucocutaneous disease, or chronic orofacial pain. Most of the care (52%) was provided in non-university settings. Most treatment involved the comprehensive evaluation of complex oral problems (36.7%), the prescription of medications (24.2%), or comprehensive dental treatment (21.8%) for patients with severe and life-threatening medical conditions. These results suggest that oral medicine services are needed and that demand for these services is high.
Subject(s)
Dental Health Services/statistics & numerical data , Health Services Needs and Demand/statistics & numerical data , Oral Medicine/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Canada/epidemiology , Comprehensive Dental Care/statistics & numerical data , Critical Illness/epidemiology , Dental Care for Chronically Ill/statistics & numerical data , Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data , Facial Pain/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mouth Diseases/epidemiology , Patients/statistics & numerical data , Professional Practice/statistics & numerical data , Prospective Studies , Societies, Dental , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Oral manifestations of drug therapies in the geriatric patient must be considered in a multifactorial approach. A logical pattern of individual "normality" must be perceived, and variation from this pattern, with the aid of both physical examination and adequate drug history, will enable the clinician to interpret protean manifestations of untoward actions of chemotherapeutic agents in and about the oral cavity.
Subject(s)
Dental Care , Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions , Health Services for the Aged , Mouth Diseases/chemically induced , Aged , Aging/physiology , Drug Hypersensitivity/etiology , Female , Fenoprofen/adverse effects , HumansABSTRACT
Complicating infectious processes and manifestations of immunosuppression were either cured or symptoms were decreased with aggressive therapy in 24 patients with acute leukemia and five with chronic leukemia. Oral surgical intervention combined with histocompatability-matched transfusion therapy can safely eliminate sources of sepsis and alleviate pain in patients who have undergone immunosuppressive and myelosuppressive treatment.
Subject(s)
Leukemia/complications , Mouth Diseases/therapy , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Bacterial Infections/chemically induced , Bacterial Infections/etiology , Bacterial Infections/surgery , Bone Marrow Cells , Bone Marrow Transplantation , Candidiasis, Oral/drug therapy , Gingivitis/surgery , Gingivitis/therapy , Humans , Leukemia/drug therapy , Leukemia/surgery , Maxillary Diseases/etiology , Mouth Diseases/chemically induced , Mouth Diseases/etiology , Mouth Diseases/surgery , Oral Hygiene , Osteomyelitis/etiology , Patient Care Planning , Periodontal Diseases/etiology , Pseudomonas Infections/etiology , Transplantation, HomologousABSTRACT
One hundred hemophiliacs were examined at a formal comprehensive health care clinic. Sixty-eight percent had abnormal results of liver function tests, and 26% had spleens that were palpable. Measurement of range of motion of knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, and elbows showed a high incidence of hemophilic arthropathy and established a precise baseline by which to judge efficacy of therapy. Results of dental examination disclosed a 14% incidence of multiple severe caries, which is an incidence lower than that of the population as a whole. Examples of inadequate dosage of replacement therapy (16%) and chronic delay in application of self-therapy (14%) were discovered. An 8% incidence of hypertension was noted; prior experience suggests that the combination of hypertension and hemophilia may be lethal. Other clinical and laboratory data also illustrate the importance of a periodic, formally structured, comprehensive examination of hemophiliacs.
