Knowledge and attitude on infant oral health among graduating medical students in kulasekaram.

AIM: This study was intended to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes regarding infant's oral health care among graduating medical students from Kulasekaram, Tamil Nadu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey research design was employed in this study. Self-administered questionnaire of the validated "Graduating medical students' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Infant's oral health care" were utilized to ascertain the baseline levels of knowledge and attitudes of graduating medical students' in Kulasekaram hospital. In this regard, a preliminary study with a convenience sample of 100 medical students was conducted so as to assess the knowledge of infant oral health care among graduating medical students in Kulasekaram. This study, while limited in sample size, benefits the general practitioners as target readers to assess the abnormalities in children at early stages of life. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that the mean percentage score overall was 65.7%. Only 3.2% of participants obtained a passing score of 80% or greater. Widespread knowledge deficits and poor attitudes among graduating medical students were noted in this study, particularly in the domain of pharmacological management of pain. Positive correlations were observed between the respondents' score and level of education. Further analysis revealed respondents had an inaccurate self-evaluation of their pain management knowledge. CONCLUSION: The results of this study reveal that there is dearth of knowledge and attitudes of graduating medical students' regarding infant oral health care. Educational and quality improvement initiatives in oral health care of infants could enhance medical student's knowledge baseline in the area of oral health care and possibly improve practices.

Salivary Amylase as a Marker of Salivary Gland Function in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy for Oral Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary amylase in patients with primary oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as the main modality of treatment. MATERIALS/METHODS: The study was conducted on ten histologically proven cases of oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Stimulated whole saliva was collected at three stages of radiotherapy-0, 3, and 6 weeks. Salivary amylase was estimated using Henry-Chiamori method and comparison was made with appropriate age- and gender-matched controls. RESULTS: Salivary amylase levels showed significant decrease in healthy subjects when compared to oral cancer patients (P < 0.001). The latter group also showed changing trend with initial decrease from 0 to 3 weeks followed by increase from 3 to 6 weeks following radiotherapy (P < 0.0528). CONCLUSIONS: The trend in changes in the levels of salivary amylase could be used as a surrogate marker of salivary gland function in patients with oral cancer undergoing radiotherapy as primary treatment.

Congenital Hemifacial Hyperplasia: Clinical Presentation and Literature Review.

Hemifacial hyperplasia is a rare congenital malformation characterized by noticeable unilateral excess development of hard and soft tissues of the face. Asymmetry in Congenital Hemifacial Hyperplasia (CHH) is usually evident at birth and accentuated at the age of puberty. The affected side grows exponentially as compared to the unaffected side. Multiple tissue involvement has resulted due to etiological heterogeneity like heredity, chromosomal abnormalities, altered intrauterine environment, and endocrine dysfunctions. As this lesion is rarely seen in our routine clinical practice, we present a case of hemifacial hyperplasia with reported orofacial features that supplement existing clinical knowledge. This paper also adds knowledge to the readers regarding detailed investigation procedures which has complemented our diagnosis. Further emphasis has been placed on periodic approach to its diagnosis and multidisciplinary management following correct diagnosis.

Effect of anti-asthmatic drugs on dental health: A comparative study.

AIMS: Bronchial asthma constitutes important problem worldwide. This chronic lung disease has detrimental effect in the oral cavity like reduction of salivary secretion, change in salivary composition and pH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted to compare the prevalence of dental caries in asthmatic children and healthy children, and also to evaluate the correlation between the Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus and dental caries in both the groups. RESULTS: In this study, the mean decayed, missing, filled teeth score of children in the study group was (4.53 ± 3.38) higher than the control group (1.51 ± 1.58) (P < 0.01). The S. mutans count of the study group was (59574.47 ± 28510.67) higher than the control group (19777.78 ± 17899.83) P < 0.01. The Lactobacillus count in study group was (43553.19 ± 58776.96) higher than the control group (8843.84 ± 7982.72) P < 0.01. Subjects using inhaled corticosteroids were more prone to develop dental caries than the control group with odds ratio = 6.26 and 95% confidence interval. CONCLUSIONS: The dental caries prevalence increases with the usage of ß2 agonist and corticosteroid inhalers for the treatment of asthma. Thus in asthmatic children, increase in caries prevalence might be due to the drug treatment and not due to the disease by itself. It can be concluded that asthmatic children have a higher prevalence of dental caries than healthy children. Hence, special oral health care is needed for asthmatic children.

Traumatic ulcerative granuloma with stromal eosinophilia - Mystery of pathogenesis revisited.

Oral ulcers are a common symptom in clinical practice. Among various causative factors, different types of ulcers in oral cavity exist. Among this, traumatic ulcerative granuloma with stromal eosinophilia (TUGSE) appears to be quite neglected by the clinicians due to the limited knowledge and awareness. On reviewing with a detailed approach to titles and abstracts of articles eliminating duplicates, 40 relevant articles were considered. Randomized studies, review articles, case reports and abstracts were included while conference papers and posters were excluded. Of importance, TUGSE cases been reported only to a minimal extent in the literature. Lack of its awareness tends to lead clinicians to a misconception of cancer. Thus, this particular lesion needs to be differentiated from other malignant lesions to provide a proper mode of treatment. The present article reviews various aspects of the TUGSE with emphasis on the clinical manifestation, pathogenesis, histological, and immunohistochemical study. This study provides the clinician contemporaries, a humble expansion to their knowledge of the disease, based on the searched literature, enabling a more comprehensive management of this rare occurrence.

Pseudoepitheliomatous Hyperplasia: Relevance in Oral Pathology.

Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH), a neglected entity by oral pathologist possesses utmost importance in the field of research. Of all the investigative challenges, PEH, a reactive epithelial proliferation is seen secondary to lesions with infectious, inflammatory, reactive, and degenerative origin. Small sized samples, incomplete excision, improper orientation, and dense inflammatory changes render diagnostic confront to the oral pathologist in exclusion of frankly invasive malignant lesions like squamous cell carcinoma from lesions exhibiting PEH. The diagnosis can occasionally be difficult as they mimic other lesions also, on clinic-pathological assessment. Thus, this article gives an insight regarding the various concepts of etiopathogenesis, histopathology, differential diagnosis, and malignant potential of PEH. A combined effort of a clinician and pathologist benefits every patient to rule out malignancy and render appropriate treatment as the only local conservative approach is essential to remove PEH associated lesions.

Prognostic efficacy of nuclear morphometry at invasive front of oral squamous cell carcinoma: an image analysis microscopic study.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer is revisited on a pathologist perspective with advanced imaging technique. OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed the new malignancy grading system at tumor proper (TP) and Bryne's grading system at invasive tumor front (ITF), morphometric features using software, to clarify their associations with prognosis of oral cancers. METHODS: Histologically confirmed oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with 5-year follow-up was assessed morphometrically using image analysis at TP and ITF, correlated with the prognosis of patient. RESULTS: On comparison of grading systems, a moderate agreement between both (Bryne and Anneroth) was seen. Among all histological parameters, we noted inverse correlation between degree of mitosis at invasive front and decrease in lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate at ITF with increase rate of recurrence and event of death. An increase in nuclear area, diameter, and perimeter along with decrease circularity in advancing OSCC was seen. Correlation of parameters showed higher values for maximum nuclear diameter, perimeter, and circularity at TP and ITF with recurrence. CONCLUSION: This study, while limited in sample size, concluded that a combined assessment of clinical TNM staging, histopathological grading system {excluding the parameter "mitotic activity" (due to its inverse relation)}, and nuclear morphometry at the ITF are better prognosticators. This combination proved to be an accurate predictive factor in eliciting the varied molecular characteristics of tumor heterogeneity.