Oral Medicine for undergraduate dental students in the United Kingdom and Ireland-A curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: Oral Medicine focuses on care for patients with chronic, recurrent and medically related disorders of the orofacial region that are distinct from diseases of the periodontal and tooth tissues, with an emphasis on non-surgical management. At present, there are no shared outcomes for Oral Medicine to define the standards to be achieved before new graduates become registered dentists engaged with ongoing professional development. CURRICULUM: We present a consensus undergraduate curriculum in Oral Medicine agreed by representatives from 18 Dental Schools in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The scope of Oral Medicine practice includes conditions involving the oral mucosa, salivary glands, neurological system or musculoskeletal tissues that are not directly attributable to dental (tooth and periodontium) pathology. Account is taken of the priorities for practice and learning opportunities needed to support development of relevance to independent clinical practice. The outcomes triangulate with the requirements set out by the respective regulatory bodies in the UK and Republic of Ireland prior to first registration and are consistent with the framework for European undergraduate dental education and greater harmonisation of dental education. CONCLUSIONS: This curriculum will act as a foundation for an increasingly shared approach between centres with respect to the outcomes to be achieved in Oral Medicine. The curriculum may also be of interest to others, such as those responsible for the training of dental hygienists and dental therapists. It provides a platform for future collective developments with the overarching goal of raising the quality of patient care.

Characteristics of patients with orofacial granulomatosis.

OBJECTIVES: Orofacial granulomatosis has mostly been described in reports of very small numbers of cases. Few large case groups have been described. The aim of this study was to describe the demographics, symptoms, clinical features and laboratory findings in a large cohort of cases. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Clinical and laboratory data for 119 cases of orofacial granulomatosis who attended oral medicine clinics in Dublin, Ireland, were examined for demographic characteristics at the time of first presentation. The male/female ratio was approximately 1:1, with a median age (and range) of 28 (5-84) years. RESULTS: Symptoms had been present for a median duration of 12 weeks. A food association was suspected by 30% of patients. The predominant complaint was lip swelling (77%) with only 15% reporting facial swelling, while 8% complained of both. Almost all patients had clinical evidence of lip or facial swelling (95%). Other common extra-oral manifestations were lip fissuring (30%), angular cheilitis (28%) and perioral erythema (28%). Common intra-oral manifestations were cobblestoning of the buccal mucosa (63%), ulcers (36%), granulomatous gingivitis (33%), mucosal tags (29%) and fissured tongue (17%). Over half of the biopsies (56%) performed were reported as typical of orofacial granulomatosis. CONCLUSION: This is one of the largest cohorts of orofacial granulomatosis patients to have been described in detail.

Clinical medical sciences for undergraduate dental students in the United Kingdom and Ireland - a curriculum.

The technical aspects of dentistry need to be practised with insight into the spectrum of human diseases and illnesses and how these impact upon individuals and society. Application of this insight is critical to decision-making related to the planning and delivery of safe and appropriate patient-centred healthcare tailored to the needs of the individual. Provision for the necessary training is included in undergraduate programmes, but in the United Kingdom and Ireland there is considerable variation between centres without common outcomes. In 2009 representatives from 17 undergraduate dental schools in the United Kingdom and Ireland agreed to move towards a common, shared approach to meet their own immediate needs and that might also be of value to others in keeping with the Bologna Process. To provide a clear identity the term 'Clinical Medical Sciences in Dentistry' was agreed in preference to other names such as 'Human Disease' or 'Medicine and Surgery'. The group was challenged to define consensus outcomes. Contemporary dental education documents informed, but did not drive the process. The consensus curriculum for undergraduate Clinical Medical Sciences in Dentistry teaching agreed by the participating centres is reported. Many of the issues are generic and it includes elements that are likely to be applicable to others. This document will act as a focus for a more unified approach to the outcomes required by graduates of the participating centres and act as a catalyst for future developments that ultimately aim to enhance the quality of patient care.

Uremic stomatitis mimicking oral hairy leukoplakia: report of a case.

Report on an unusual case of uremic stomatitis mimicking oral hairy leukoplakia. The similarities of the two lesions are discussed, and the differential diagnosis reviewed.

Clinical management of oral lichen planus.

Oral lichen planus is a relatively common chronic disease of the mucous membranes which may have more transient cutaneous manifestations. It has a number of well-recognized clinical signs and a wide range of symptoms from none through mild discomfort to severe debilitating intra-oral erosions and ulceration. It often does not respond to treatment and, in a small proportion of cases, undergoes malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma. Although there is an array of treatments, they are palliative rather than curative. Corticosteroids in various forms remain the mainstay of treatment but newer immunomodulatory agents have an increasing role. In this paper, we review current thinking about the management of oral lichen planus and summarize a recent European consensus protocol.

Oral lichenoid drug eruptions.

OBJECTIVES: To identify, from amongst drugs reported as causing lichenoid drug eruptions, those affecting the oral mucous membranes and to review the clinical, histological and immunological features of such oral lichenoid drug eruptions in comparison to oral lichen planus, amalgam contact lesions and lichen planus-like eruption in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). DATA SOURCES: Ovid Medline data searches on CD-Rom were carried out for the years 1966-1996 to identify reports of oral lichenoid drug eruptions and their clinical, histological and immunological features. Articles retrieved were examined for further appropriate references in the period 1940-1996. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Each paper was critically examined for evidence of a clinically verifiable lichenoid drug-eruption affecting the oral mucous membranes and the effects of subsequent drug withdrawal. Available clinical, histological and immunological features were recorded. The papers examined were too diverse in nature to permit a structured criticism. The extracted data have been tabulated where appropriate. CONCLUSIONS: The reports of oral lichenoid drug eruptions are considerably fewer than those of cutaneous eruptions and fewer drugs have been reported as causing oral rather than cutaneous lichenoid eruptions. Histology and immunology cannot be used reliably to differentiate lichenoid drug eruptions from idiopathic lichen planus, amalgam contact lesions and lichen planus-like eruption in GVHD. Lichenoid drug eruptions may also show some histological characteristics of oral discoid lupus erythematosus. An accepted protocol agreed by a number of international centres would permit the gathering of substantial information on LDE and could lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms involved.

Antifungal drug susceptibilities of oral Candida dubliniensis isolates from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and non-HIV-infected subjects and generation of stable fluconazole-resistant derivatives in vitro.

Candida dubliniensis is a recently described species of Candida associated with oral candidiasis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. Nineteen oral isolates of C. dubliniensis recovered from 10 HIV-positive and 4 HIV-negative individuals and one vaginal isolate from an additional HIV-negative subject were assessed for fluconazole susceptibility by broth microdilution (BMD), hyphal elongation assessment, and Etest. The susceptibilities of these 20 isolates to itraconazole and amphotericin B and of 10 isolates to ketoconazole were also determined by BMD only. Sixteen of the C. dubliniensis isolates were susceptible to fluconazole (MIC range, 0.125 to 1.0 microgram ml-1), and four (recovered from two AIDS patients) were fluconazole resistant (MIC range, 8 to 32 micrograms ml-1). Fluconazole susceptibility data obtained by hyphal elongation assessment correlated well with results obtained by BMD, but the corresponding Etest MIC results were one to four times higher. All of the isolates tested were found to be sensitive to itraconazole, ketoconazole, and amphotericin B. Sequential exposure of two fluconazole-sensitive (MIC, 0.5 microgram ml-1) C. dubliniensis isolates to increasing concentrations of fluconazole in agar medium resulted in the recovery of derivatives which expressed a stable fluconazole-resistant phenotype (BMD-determined MIC range, 16 to 64 micrograms ml-1), even after a minimum of 10 consecutive subcultures on drug-free medium and following prolonged storage at -70 degrees C. The clonal relationship between the parental isolates and their respective fluconazole-resistant derivatives was confirmed by genomic DNA fingerprinting and karyotype analysis. The results of this study demonstrate that C. dubliniensis is inherently susceptible to commonly used antifungal drugs, that fluconazole resistance does occur in clinical isolates, and that stable fluconazole resistance can be readily induced in vitro following exposure to the drug.