Clinical Outline of Oral Diseases.

Oral diseases are pathologic conditions that affect oral and maxillofacial tissues. Dental caries and periodontal diseases are the most common forms of oral diseases, but there are a wide variety of diseases that can occur in oral and maxillofacial tissues. These oral diseases range from metabolic, inflammatory, infectious, neoplastic, autoimmune, developmental, to idiopathic origin. Numerous oral conditions have overlapping clinical signs and symptoms, which make the diagnosis and management challenging for the dentist. However, a comprehensive understanding of clinical behavior will help in differentiating the various oral diseases and will provide a logical pathway to formulating a diagnosis.

Proposed Clinico-Pathological Classification for Oral Exophytic Lesions.

Oral exophytic lesions often have proven to be diagnostically challenging due to the varied clinical presentation. The exophytic growth of the oral lesions is due to the type of pathology and histological changes. Careful clinical interpretation with a better histological understanding of exophytic lesions may ease the diagnosis from the differential diagnosis panel. The purpose of proposing classification system is to categorize the exophytic lesions of interest under specific clinical and/or histological explanation; and this will eventually lead to better understanding of the pathological condition that is described. To the best of our knowledge, there is no such classification system available for oral exophytic lesions and hence proposal of classification system is attempted in this study. Further, proposing a new classification system is not just to influence the academic contribution, but also to assist at greatest extent for diagnosis during clinical practice.

Preterm low birth weight and periodontal disease among African Americans.

African Americans consistently experience higher rates of preterm and low birth weight (LBW) deliveries than do whites. LBW and preterm infants are more likely to die before their first birthday and survivors may suffer from a number of health problems. Therefore, identification of modifiable risk factors for preterm deliveries and LBW has considerable public health significance. Pregnant women's poor periodontal healtlh is emerging as one such factor. Maternal clinical periodontal status and bacteriologic and immunologic profiles related to periodontal disease have been associateted with risk of fetal growth and preterm LBW, and periodontal treatment during pregnancy has reduced the incidence of preterm deliveries. This article reviews the literature on the above association and presents data from a previously published prospective study of predominantly African Americans to show that preterm LBW deliveries are associated with higher midtrimester maternal serum antibody levels against Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Periodontal Infection as a Possible Risk Factor for Preterm Low Birth Weight.

Periodontal diseases are Gram-negative anaerobic infections that can occur in women of childbearing age (18 to 34 years). In the present investigation we sought to determine whether the prevalence of maternal periodontal infection could be associated with preterm low birth weight (PLBW), controlling for known risk factors and potential covariates. A case-control study of 124 pregnant or postpartum mothers was performed. PLBW cases were defined as a mother with a birth of less than 2,500 g and one or more of the following: gestational age <37 weeks, preterm labor (PTL), or premature rupture of membranes (PROM). Controls were normal birth weight infants (NBW). Assessments included a broad range of known obstetric risk factors, such as tobacco use, drug use, alcohol consumption, level of prenatal care, parity, genitourinary infections, and nutrition. Each subject received a periodontal examination to determine clinical attachment level. PLBW cases and primiparous PLBW cases (n = 93) had significantly worse periodontal disease than the respective NBW controls. Multivariate logistic regression models, controlling for other risk factors and covariates, demonstrated that periodontal disease is a statistically significant risk factor for PLBW with adjusted odds ratios of 7.9 and 7.5 for all PLBW cases and primiparous PLBW cases, respectively. These data indicate that periodontal diseases represent a previously unrecognized and clinically significant risk factor for preterm low birth weight as a consequence of either PTL or preterm PROM. J Periodontol 1996;67:1103-1113.