Ameloblastic carcinoma: A case series.

Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare odontogenic tumor exhibiting not only features of ameloblastoma, but also features of carcinoma. Clinical dissemination of this lesion is more aggressive and rapid than that of ameloblastoma and it can metastasize to the lung or regional lymph node. Histologically, there are features of both ameloblastoma and carcinoma. <50 cases have been reported until 2011. We report a series of six cases with our treatment modalities.

Efficacy of aloe vera gel as an adjuvant treatment of oral submucous fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE: Definitive therapy is not defined for the management of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). This study evaluated the efficacy of aloe vera gel as an adjuvant treatment of OSMF. STUDY DESIGN: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted on 60 subjects with OSMF divided into medicinal treatment (submucosal injection of hyaluronidase and dexamethasone, n = 30) and surgical treatment (n = 30) categories. Each category was randomly divided into groups A (with aloe vera, n = 15 per category) and B (without aloe vera, n = 15 per category). Follow-up assessment for various symptoms was performed, and results were analyzed using paired and unpaired Student t tests. RESULTS: The group receiving aloe vera had a significant improvement in most symptoms of OSMF (P < .01) compared with the non-aloe vera group, in both the medicinal and surgical categories. CONCLUSIONS: Aloe vera gel was effective as an adjuvant in treatment of OSMF.

Facial nerve injury following surgery for temporomandibular joint ankylosis: a prospective clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the incidence and degree of facial nerve damage and time taken for its recovery following surgery for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 subjects with the TMJ ankylosis with or without history of previous surgery were included in this prospective study. House-Brackmann grading system was used to assess the function of the facial nerve post-operatively. RESULTS: Most of the subjects were in the age range of 13-15 years. Eight subjects had bilateral ankylosis and remaining 22 had unilateral ankylosis. Out of 32 joints in which gap arthroplasty was performed, 4 had Grade 1 injury, 14 had Grade 2 injury, 12 had Grade 3, and 2 with the Grade 4 injury 24 h post-operatively. Whereas, out of 6 cases of interpositional arthroplasty 4 had Grade 1 injury and 2 had Grade 4 injury. According to House-Brackmann grading system, at 24 h, 78.9% patients had different grades of facial nerve injury, which gradually improved and came to normal limits within 1-3 months post-operatively. Comparison of change in the Grade of injury at 3 months follow-up as compared to baseline (24 h) showed full recovery in all the cases (100%) showing a statistically significant difference from baseline (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: When proper care is taken during surgery for TMJ ankylosis, permanent facial nerve injury is rare. However, the incidence and degree of temporary nerve injury could be either due to the heavy retraction causing compression and or stretching of nerve fiber resulting in neuropraxia.

Anchoretic infection.

Active and passive mouth opening exercises are a very common practice in oral and maxillofacial surgery especially for various conditions causing limited mouth opening like space infections, trauma, and ankylosis. But most of the practitioners do not follow basic principles while advocating these active mouth opening exercises and also take it for granted that it would benefit the patient in the long run. Because of this, the mouth opening physiotherapy by itself can at times lead to unwanted complications. We report a case wherein due to active physiotherapy, the patient had complications leading to persistent temporal space infection which required surgical intervention and hospitalization. This could have been because of hematoma formation during physiotherapy which got infected due to anchoretic infection of unknown etiology and resulted in temporal space infection. Hence, our conclusion is that whenever mouth opening exercises are initiated, it should be done gradually under good antibiotic coverage to avoid any untoward complications and for optimum results. According to the current English literature, such a complication has not been documented before.

Lymphangioma of the tongue.

Lymphangiomas are developmental malformations and have a marked predilection for the head and neck region. They are benign proliferation of lymphatic vessels and represents hamartomas of malformed lymphatics. The most common location in the mouth is the dorsum of tongue, followed by lips, buccal mucosa, soft palate, and floor of the mouth. In the tongue, they may present as a localized or a diffused growth which may enlarge to cause macroglossia, impaired speech and difficulty in mastication. These tumors are typically present at birth, but may go unnoticed until after dentition erupts or even after puberty. Presenting here is a case of localized lymphangioma of the tongue in a five year old child and its surgical management.