Dietary interventions and nutritional impact on oral health and development: a review.

Food and nutrients play a pivotal role in the development of dentition and oral health. While diet includes the overall forms of consumed foods, the nutrients include specific micro- (vitamins and minerals) and macro- (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) nutrients. As much as the assimilation of macro and micronutrients depends on proper oral health for ingesting food, oral health, in turn, depends on the availability of nutrients in the food so ingested. Age, certain medical conditions, socioeconomic status, and overall changes in the evolution of society determine the type of diet which in turn influences oral health. This article has touched upon certain salient aspects of these nutrients and their bearing on overall oral health and development.

Primary Malignant Melanoma of Oral Mucosa - Report of Two Cases.

Primary malignant melanoma of oral mucosa is a rare and aggressive tumor. It is usually seen in the 5th and 6th decades of life. Its mainstay of treatment is surgery. It has a very poor prognosis, which is attributed to its late detection and distant metastasis. Dentists are often the first clinicians to come across these lesions and need to be able to identify them at the earliest for a better prognosis. In this article, we present two cases of extensive primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity. Clinically, both the cases had a similar appearance of grayish-black pigmented nodular swelling on the buccal aspect and grayish-black discoloration on the palatal aspect. There were no significant radiological changes in both cases, indicating the superficial spread of the lesion. A positron emission tomography scan was performed in the second patient, which did not show any distant metastasis. Surgery was advised as a treatment for both the patients.

Assessment of the Need for Routine Distolingual Local Anesthetic Infiltration in Addition to Traditional Inferior Alveolar, Lingual and Long Buccal Nerve Blocks in Mandibular Third Molar Extractions.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Persistent pain during the removal of mandibular third molars is often due to accessory nerve supply causing inadequate local anesthesia. This study aims to assess the requirement of routine distolingual infiltration anesthesia in addition to traditional inferior alveolar, lingual, and long buccal nerve block in mandibular third molar extractions. METHODOLOGY: Sixty patients requiring mandibular third molar extraction were randomly divided into two equal groups; Group A (Classic inferior alveolar, lingual, and buccal nerve block) and Group B (with an additional 0.2 ml distolingual infiltration). During various steps of the procedure, any complaint of pain was recorded and graded on a subjective Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in regard to age (P = 0.666) and sex (P = 0.432). And also, no difference was found in angulation (P = 0.757), class (P = 0.417) and position (P = 1.000) of third molars. Mean VAS scores in Group B (0.153) were significantly lower (P = 0.004) than that of Group A (0.600). VAS scores during procedural steps were significantly lower in Group B during mucoperiosteal elevation (P = 0.050), bone guttering (P = 0.037), and tooth splitting (P = 0.052). CONCLUSION: Routine distolingual infiltration anesthesia, in addition to classic inferior alveolar, lingual, and long buccal nerve block, is recommended for the extraction of mandibular third molars.

Assessment of Healing Using Alvogyl and Platelet Rich Fibrin in Patients with Dry Socket - An Evaluative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Dry socket is one of the most common postoperative complications following the extraction of permanent teeth, which is characterized by pain and exposed bone. The usual protocol followed for its management is irrigation of the socket and packing of the socket with medicated gel or paste to provide relatively faster pain relief and allow normal wound healing. In this study, we evaluated the outcome of management of dry socket with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and intraalveolar alvogyl dressing, in terms of improvement in pain and socket epithelialization after the treatment. METHODOLOGY: Thirty participants with established dry socket were randomly divided into two groups: Group A and Group B. The participants in Group A were treated with alvogyl and those in Group B were treated with PRF. Clinical parameters were assessed for both groups on the 1st day of the procedure and on the 3rd and 10th-day postoperatively for the reduction in pain and wound healing. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in pain and the number of socket wall exposure in both the groups by the 3rd postoperative day. In both the groups, the pain had completely resolved and socket fully epithelialized by the 10th postoperative day. DISCUSSION: The use of PRF in the present study yielded promising results in terms of both pain reduction and improved wound healing which was comparable to the conventional alvogyl dressing. It may be concluded that PRF is an effective modality for the management of dry socket.

Enriched vascularity in ameloblastomas, an indeterminate entity: Report of two cases.

Vascularity is a highly essential element that is required for the growth, development, and functioning of the body and variations in it can cause pathologies. It is one of the prime features of a proliferating lesion, where it aids in the growth of the lesion through its nutrition supply. Highly increased vascularity in a disease can itself affect the prognosis of the lesion, and in malignancies, it can induce tumor seeding and secondaries. Most of the pathologies including tumors, related to blood vessels, and vascularity are well established. There are some conditions, wherein altered vascularity is one of the prime components along with other diagnostic components of an established disease. In such cases, these lesions are diagnosed with special names, with varying biological behavior and prognosis in comparison to that of established entity. However, there still are few similar conditions whose nature is uncertain due to the rarity of the lesion and the insufficient scientific evidence which eludes the diagnostician. Here is the report of two cases of ameloblastoma, an established entity, with significant vascularity whose nature is indeterminate.

Fiberoptic assessment of laryngeal mask airway placement: a comparison of blind insertion and insertion with the use of a laryngoscope.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare the frequency of ideal anatomic placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) using the traditional blind insertion approach with one where placement was facilitated by the use of a laryngoscope. Laryngeal Mask Airway is a supraglottic device in providing general anaesthesia. METHODS: A prospective comparison of 60 patients divided into 2 groups (30 with the blind technique and 30 with the direct technique) were evaluated with 2 airway assessment methods, Wilson and Mallampati. We also considered whether there was a relationship between these criteria and the successful placement into an ideal position. Other variables were considered, including hemodynamics. Five placement visual ordinals were used to grade the LMA position. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between group 1 and group 2 (P=0.279) in terms of Campbell category. There was no statistically significant relation between Wilson airway score or Mallampati class and Campbell category (p=0.633 and 0.239 respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in systolic and diastolic BP at 1, 2 and 5 min post insertion between the two groups, but there was a statistically significant difference in 1 and 2 minute post insertion pulse rate (P=0.004). CONCLUSION: Blind insertion technique is easier and simpler method for insertion of LMA and has a reasonable success during insertion, so it is recommended to be used.