Evaluation of DNA damage in tobacco associated human buccal cells using comet assay.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To assess the DNA damage in tobacco associated human buccal cells using comet assay. METHODS: The study included 75 study subjects, which were divided into 3 groups on the basis of tobacco usage. Group I - 25 individuals with no history of tobacco usage, Group II - 25 individuals with tobacco usage but without oral lesions and Group III - 25 individuals with tobacco associated oral lesions. Cytological smears collected from these individuals were used to assess the tobacco associated DNA damage by measuring the tail length in the comet assay method. RESULTS: The average tail length was found to be 1.46 µm in the normal mucosa, 2.86 µm in tobacco users without oral lesions, 3.86 µm in the lesional sites of tobacco users and 3.67 µm in the non-lesional sites of these individuals. Factors like age, gender, duration and different forms of tobacco habit had their own impact on the oral mucosa. CONCLUSION: Comet assay helps assess the subclinical genetic changes of oral mucosa even before the clinical manifestations of the precancerous lesions appeared due to tobacco usage. Thus, comet assay may bloom out as a novel adjuvant tool for the prevention of oral cancer in the near future.

Molecular Pathogenesis and Diagnostic Imaging of Metastatic Jaw Tumors.

Metastasis is the spread of malignant cells from a primary tumor to distant sites through lymphatics or blood vessels. Malignant lesions metastasizing to the oral and perioral region are a rarity indeed. Malignant lesions could metastasize to both soft tissue of oral cavity and the hard tissues of the jaws and recent meta-analysis showed that metastasis is more common in the jaws than oral soft tissues because of rich vascular supply. The incidence is very low when compared to the incidence of primary oral cancers; nevertheless, one has to include in the diagnostic workup, metastatic malignant lesions, when an irregular ill-defined radiolucency or radiodensity with ragged edges in noted. It could be a challenging task for a diagnostician, in cases with the presence and location of the primary tumor is unknown. Advanced oral imaging technologies and biochemical markers play a vital role in diagnosing such lesions.

Configuration of frontal sinuses: A forensic perspective.

BACKGROUND: Identification of an individual whether living or deceased is of paramount importance in maintaining the integrity of the society. A simple, reliable, and efficacious method always finds a way for easier acceptance and inclusion in any discipline. Likewise, identification of an individual using the radiographic frontal sinus patterns is a simple technique which emphasized to conduct the study with a proven result. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to evaluate the radiographic configurations of frontal sinuses for their uniqueness based on different parameters. STUDY GROUP AND METHODS: Study group consisted of thirty individuals (15 males and 15 females) of age between 20 and 30. Individuals with the history of sinusitis, surgery, or any trauma were not included in the study. Paranasal sinus views were taken using standard exposure parameters, and the radiographs were assessed for their uniqueness. RESULTS: The radiographs were assessed for area size, area asymmetry, superiority of the upper border, outline of the upper border, presence or absence of partial septa and supraorbital cells, and based on these results, a unique code number was assigned to each individual to prove the uniqueness. CONCLUSION: A frontal sinus comparison is particularly useful when no other means of an individual identification are available. Caution must be taken regarding the physiological and pathological changes (trauma, infection, old age, surgery, etc.) and postmortem changes and about the technical issues while taking a radiograph (distance, angle, orientation of the skull). In spite of all these issues, the configuration of frontal sinus is an excellent individualizing feature.

Role of proteomics in physiologic and pathologic conditions of dentistry: Overview.

Proteomics is the study of structure and function of proteins in a large scale. For any living organism, preteins are considered to be the vital part because of its role in metabolic pathways of cells. These proteins not only play a role in physiological condition of the cell but also in altered manner during pathologic conditions. These altered proteins in diseased conditions are called as biomarkers. Several such biomarkers were identified in oral diseaes. This review is a brief note on proteins involved in odontogenesis and list of altered proteins proteins identified in various dental and oral diseases. The knowledge about the role of proteomics in dentistry and the importance of proteomic studies in early diagnosis and prognostic part of oral diseases helps in appliction of precised and sucessful treatment.

Harvesting dental stem cells - Overview.

Dental stem cells have recently become one of the widely researched areas in dentistry. Ever since the identification of stem cells from various dental tissues like deciduous teeth, dental papilla, periodontal ligament and third molars, storing them for future use for various clinical applications was being explored. Dental stem cells were harvested and isolated using various techniques by different investigators and laboratories. This article explains the technical aspects of preparing the patient, atraumatic and aseptic removal of the tooth and its safe transportation and preservation for future expansion.

A clinical study on oral lichen planus with special emphasis on hyperpigmentation.

BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a unique disorder affecting generally the older age group. Numerous studies have been done on various aspects of OLP such as pathogenesis, rate of malignant transformation, etc. However, very few studies are available with respect to clinical features especially association of hyperpigmentation and OLP. This study aims at studying the clinical aspects of OLP and study the association between hyperpigmentation and OLP in a south Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 58 patients with OLP who attended the outpatient department of our institution were included in the study and a complete history, followed by thorough intraoral examination was done. All the data were recorded and assessed for statistical analysis using SPSS software. RESULTS: We found that the male to female ratio affected with OLP was 1:1 and the most common form of OLP that was seen was the reticular subtype. Also, buccal mucosa was the most common affected site and more than 60% patients had hyperpigmentation associated with the site affected by OLP. We found a statistically significant relation between the reticular type of OLP and the older age group (51-70 years) with hyperpigmentation. CONCLUSION: Although further studies are required to say anything conclusively, post-inflammatory changes occurring the mucosa due to OLP could be a cause for hyperpigmentation in the sites affected.

Dermatoglyphic patterns and salivary pH in subjects with and without dental caries: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Dermatoglyphic patterns, which are regularly used in judicial and legal investigations, can be valuable in the diagnosis of many diseases associated with genetic disorders. Dental caries although of infectious origin, may have a genetic predisposition. Hence, we evaluated the correlation between dental caries and dermatoglyphic patterns among subjects with and without dental caries and evaluated its association with environmental factors such as salivary pH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Totally, 76 female students within the age group of 18-23 years were clinically examined, and their decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) score and oral hygiene index-simplified were recorded. Based on their DMFT score, they were divided into following three groups; group I (n = 16, DMFT score = 0), group II (n = 30, DMFT score <5), and group III (n = 30, DMFT score ≥5). Their fingerprint patterns and salivary pH were recorded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Dermatoglyphic pattern distribution in caries-free group showed more ulnar loops than high caries group (group III) while high caries group showed more whorl patterns. Presence of whorl with double loop, whorl within a loop was associated with high DMFT score. The total finger ridge count was lower in caries group. The mean salivary pH was higher in caries-free group than high caries group. Thus, we conclude that dermatoglyphic patterns may be potential diagnostic tool for detecting patients prone to develop dental caries.