An international survey of oral medicine practice: proceedings from the 5th World Workshop in Oral Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: (i) To define the current state of oral medicine clinical practice internationally, and (ii) to make recommendations for future modeling of the practice of oral medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was designed by an international panel of oral medicine experts to assess the current state of oral medicine practice internationally. The survey was sent to oral medicine experts across the world, and responses were electronically stored and analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Two hundred respondents completed the survey representing 40 countries from six continents. The two most common settings for an oral medicine practice were in a hospital and a dental school. More than 88% of respondents considered management of oral mucosal disease, salivary dysfunction, oral manifestations of systemic diseases, and facial pain in the definition of oral medicine. CONCLUSIONS: (i) Oral medicine clinicians diagnose and manage a wide variety of orofacial conditions; (ii) There are significant differences in the definition of oral medicine clinical practice from country to country; (iii) India has the largest expansion of oral medicine services as defined by escalating numbers of clinicians within the specialty as compared with other countries; (iv) oral medicine practitioners have a wide range of professional responsibilities.

CO2 laser in oral graft-versus-host disease: a pilot study.

This paper is the first to report the benefits of CO2 laser treatment for pain control in severe oral chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). A CO2 laser device was used during 17 treatment sessions in four patients. The CO2 laser was applied over the mucosal lesions using 1 W for 2-3 s/1 mm(2). This treatment resulted in a consistent and significant decrease in pain, measured using a standard visual analogue scale. These results suggest that the CO2 laser can be used for the alleviation of pain in oral chronic GVHD.

Ultraviolet B irradiation: a new therapeutic concept for the management of oral manifestations of graft-versus-host disease.

Ultraviolet irradiation inhibits the proliferative responses of lymphoid cells to mitogens and alloantigens by inactivation of T lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells. Its immunosuppressive capacity led to the introduction of UV irradiation into clinical practice for the treatment of dermatologic manifestations of chronic graft-versus-host disease. The cumulative experience with psoralen-UV-A rays in the treatment of cutaneous and oral graft-versus-host disease was the incentive for the application of oral UV-B rays in 2 patients with oral graft-versus-host disease signs and symptoms after allogeneic marrow transplantation. Intraoral UV-B irradiation (0.02 mJ/cm(2)) was administered 2 or 3 times per week on an ambulatory basis; the dose was increased by 0. 02 mJ/cm(2) every fourth session. Both patients responded early and satisfactorily, displaying only minimal side effects at a relatively low cumulative dose. Intraoral UV-B proved a valuable modality in the treatment of resistant chronic oral graft-versus-host disease.

Systemic absorption of lidocaine after topical application for the treatment of oral mucositis in bone marrow transplantation patients.

This paper evaluates lidocaine absorption via oral mucosa following its topical application for symptomatic treatment of bone marrow transplantation (BMT)-induced oral mucositis. Five patients with high-grade oral mucositis after allogeneic BMT were entered consecutively into the study. Five healthy individuals served as controls. All 10 participants rinsed their mouth with 5 ml of a 2% lidocaine solution for 1 min, after which they expectorated the liquid. Blood samples were drawn at 1, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min after rinsing and centrifuged. Plasma lidocaine levels were measured by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. In the BMT patients, plasma lidocaine levels were lower than the therapeutic range of this drug (0.2 microg/ml vs 1.5-5.5 microg/ml), while in the controls no detectable lidocaine levels were noted. The data from this preliminary study indicate that lidocaine prescribed as an anesthetic mouthwash in BMT patients with oral mucositis results in minor systemic absorption of the drug.

Bleeding tendency: a practical approach in dentistry.

The dental profession faces the problems of exaggerated bleeding on a daily basis. The hemostatic, as well as the fibrinolytic processes are better understood today, and the dentist should be familiar with them. The activation of coagulation factors and their clinical expression in the circulation are both described. The most frequently used blood coagulation tests are explained. Antithrombotic medications are frequently used and their implications in dentistry are accentuated. Protocols of prevention and treatment of exaggerated bleeding following dental procedures are included. Among them, the transfusion of clotting factors and the administration of antifibrinolytic medications (tranexamic acid) are recommended for both congenital or acquired bleeding tendencies.

Thalidomide-induced perioral neuropathy.

Thalidomide was administered as a therapeutic agent for chronic graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in a patient with breast cancer. Although side effects of thalidomide have been described earlier, this is the first instance of perioral neuropathy associated with thalidomide treatment. Awareness of this specific side effect may contribute to early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

The use of tretinoin as oral mucositis prophylaxis in bone marrow transplantation patients: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: The examination of prophylactic efficacy of tretinoin on oral mucositis, post bone marrow transplantation (BMT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 11 patients undergoing BMT. Six tretinoin topically-treated patients (0.25 mg daily of 0.1% tretinoin cream) were matched with five non-treated control patients comparing mucositis severity, duration and analgetic (morphine) requirements. Concomitant follow-up included conditioning parameters associated with mucositis and engraftment. RESULTS: The mean of oral mucositis peak scores was significantly lower in the tretinoin-treated patients vs the non-treated patients (score 1.5 vs 3.6; P < 0.02). In the majority of cases the duration of the most severe phase of oral mucositis was shorter in the tretinoin-treated group as compared with the control. Only one patient in the experimental group required morphine analgesics compared with four patients in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study indicates that the severity of oral mucositis, both objective and subjective, in BMT patients may be reduced by 0.1% topical tretinoin cream, 0.25 mg, administered daily from the beginning of the BMT conditioning regimen until marrow engraftment.

Dental health care workers at risk.

Healthy DHCWs do not seem to be at significantly higher risk for occupationally acquired diseases when compared with other HCWs. Special attention should be paid to DHCWs who are more susceptible to diseases potentially transmitted in a dental setting. These DHCWs include pregnant women, due to their immunologic changes, and the developing fetus; DHCWs; those with habits such as excessive intake of alcohol; DHCWs following splenectomy, radiotherapy, and long-term corticosteroid therapy; and DHCWs suffering from diseases that have an impact on the first and secondary defense against infections, such as diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, sickle cell anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, or HIV.

Pulmonary edema: a complication following dental treatment under general anesthesia.

This article describes pulmonary edema in two young, physically healthy individuals following routine intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia. The etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment are discussed. This paper demonstrates that young, healthy patients may develop pulmonary edema in the perianesthesia period or even during anesthesia itself. Obstructive events, which occur especially in the post extubation period, may trigger this condition, as may other well-known phenomena. Early diagnosis and intensive treatment are mandatory in order to effectively resolve the situation.

Salivary immunoglobulins in recipients of bone marrow grafts. III. A longitudinal follow-up of CMV specific antibodies.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major complication of BMT. The oral cavity is a common route for CMV infection, whose protection is provided by salivary anti-CMV antibodies. We developed an ELISA assay for the detection of CMV-specific antibodies in parotid saliva. Saliva of patients receiving BMT from CMV-positive donors was transiently reconstituted with IgG and IgA anti-CMV antibodies shortly after transplantation. The concentration of these antibodies gradually decreased during the 2 months after transplantation and increased again around day 80. A remarkable rise in the salivary concentrations of IgG and IgM anti-CMV was observed shortly after i.v. administration of Sandoglobulin. These results demonstrate, for the first time accurate monitoring of CMV-specific antibodies in saliva using a quantitative ELISA assay. The study suggests that secretion of CMV-specific antibodies in saliva of immunocompromised patients can be reconstituted by donor-derived B and plasma cells transferred with the BM or by i.v. administration of pooled Ig.

A longitudinal follow-up of salivary secretion in bone marrow transplant patients.

Salivary gland dysfunction is a common sequela of the bone marrow transplantation procedure. We determined the effect of different bone marrow transplantation protocols on parotid salivary flow rate. Salivary secretion was substantially reduced during conditioning of all the recipients. A gradual flow rate reconstitution could be detected as soon as a few days after the bone marrow transplantation. Eight patients conditioned with total lymph node irradiation and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone displayed earlier and complete recovery of saliva secretions 2 to 5 months after the grafting. Recovery was delayed and incomplete when total body irradiation was added to the conditioning regimen (seven patients). Six of these patients also developed graft-versus-host disease. The results suggest that total body irradiation induces irreversible damage to the parotid glands resulting in profound xerostomia followed by opportunistic infections. Chemotherapy with or without total lymph node irradiation does not induce such damage.

Surveillance of oral cultures for Enterobacteriaceae during bone marrow transplantation.

Bone marrow-transplanted patients can suffer from severe life-threatening infections. Oral bacterial cultures were collected from a group of 40 patients prior to and following bone marrow transplantation every 3 days, following initial preparation and eradication of oral infections. The samples were grown on the Titertek-Enterobac kit specific for Enterobacteriaceae. In 426 oral cultures 30.5% grew gram-negative bacteria, 76.6% of them were Enterobacteriaceae. young male patients had 8.3% positive cultures at the study start, a percentage which constantly increased during later periods. Older patients did not follow the same pattern. Also, the allogeneic transplantation group had a higher percentage of Enterobacteriaceae than the autologous group (49.0 versus 19.5%). In blood cultures 18 out of the 94 positive ones showed the presence of Enterobacteriaceae. The most commonly found microorganisms in oral cultures were Klebsiella oxytoca (23%), Enterobacter cloacae (18%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (15%). The decrease in the positive oral cultures from 35.0% during the pretransplantation period to 5.4% close to the transplantation, demonstrates that the preparatory protocol used for the prevention of oral infections was highly effective.

Salivary immunoglobulins in recipients of bone marrow grafts. I. A longitudinal follow-up.

Patients receiving bone marrow transplantation (BMT) are prone to a variety of bacterial, viral and fungal infections in their oral cavity. We have therefore followed alterations in salivary Ig levels associated with BMT. Most of the patients were transplanted with allogeneic, MHC-matched BM after T cells were depleted by ex vivo treatment with an anti-lymphocytic monoclonal antibody (Campath-1) and autologous complement. Parotid saliva was collected at various time intervals before and after BMT, and IgM, IgG and IgA concentrations were determined by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A gradual fall in Ig levels was detected following patient's conditioning with a combination of chemo- and radiation therapy beginning 10 days prior to BMT. A rise in the titer of salivary Ig could be detected as early as 4 days post-BMT, which increased continuously and reached plateau levels within 2-3 weeks. However, about 3 weeks later the Ig titers decreased again and persisted at low levels for variable periods of time. A second increase in salivary Ig was detected approximately 2 months post-BMT, which persisted for prolonged periods of time. These results suggest that Ig secreted by donor B-lymphocytes and plasma cells passively transferred with the BM can rapidly reconstitute the salivary IgM, IgG and IgA of the immunocompromised recipient. However, when these cells cease to produce Ig the patients are still immunoincompetent and therefore enter a second phase of salivary Ig deficiency which may render them highly susceptible to opportunistic oral infections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inhibition of tissue plasminogen activators and urokinase by human saliva.

The fibrinolytic activity found in body fluids is mediated through the generation of plasmin from plasminogen by plasminogen activator. Mixed fresh human saliva was found to have plasminogen activator inhibitory activity that has not yet been characterized. In the present study, mixed fresh human saliva was found to contain an inhibitor for tissue plasminogen activator and for urokinase. The plasminogen activator inhibitory activity was mainly found in the mixed fresh human saliva cellular pellet containing buccal epithelial cells and not in the supernatant salivary fluid. Saliva collected by Stenson's duct cannulation does not have any PA-inhibitor activity, although saliva collected from submandibular glands contains small amounts of such activity. The salivary plasminogen activator inhibitor is unstable, and its activity is lost during storage.

Oral complications in bone marrow transplantation patients: recent advances.

This paper presents some of the oral aspects encountered in bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients, as reflected in recent research conducted in the Department of Oral Medicine. Oral infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae were found to be responsible for a large proportion of positive cultures, during different stages of the transplantation process. Mucositis was constantly detected concomitant with the infections. It correlated with granulocytopenia and fever. The mucositis improved together with the immune system reconstitution. Immunoglobulins in saliva of BMT patients showed a drastic reduction following the patients' conditioning protocol and a return to normal levels soon after the transplantation. IgA, IgM and IgG were studied. Saliva was also shown to play an important role in the fibrinolytic system, through its plasminogen activator inhibitory contents. It seems that the active molecules are contained in the oral epithelial cells.

Dental treatment in very high risk patients with active ischemic heart disease.

A new method of predental treatment and management for patients with active ischemic heart disease is reported. Patients with unstable angina pectoris or who have just had a myocardial infarction underwent full treatment for pain-induced dental problems, with the use of an incremental three-level antiangina and antianxiety medication: before dental treatment; in the waiting room, and c) during dental treatment. The setting was a tertiary referral oral medical service and hospital dental clinic. Twenty-six patients were treated, 16 men, 10 women, ranging in age from 45 to 68 years. Ten patients with unstable angina pectoris and 16 patients less than 3 months after a myocardial infarction. All patients underwent comprehensive dental treatment. Good cardiovascular control was achieved, and all the procedures were uneventfully completed. This study indicates the need to reconsider the absolute versus relative contraindications for dental treatment in patients with active ischemic heart disease and recommends the use of a gradual three-level therapy.