How to improve retromandibular transmasseteric anteroparotid approach for mandibular condylar fractures: our clinical experience.

Fractures of the mandibular condyle are common and account for 25-35% of all mandibular fractures reported in the literature. Even with the development of a consensus on the preference for open reduction and internal fixation of these fractures, the clinician is still faced with a dilemma concerning the optimal approach to the ramus-condyle unit. Limited access and injury to the facial nerve are the most common problems. The most commonly used extraoral approaches are the submandibular, retromandibular and preauricular methods. In this study, we propose a modified cosmetic preauricular incision with a short end in the neck, to improve the transmasseteric anteroparotid (TMAP) approach previously described by Wilson et al. in 2005. We retrospectively analysed 13 patients treated in our department for mandibular condylar fractures. Post-operative complications, occlusal status, interincisal opening and joint tenderness were evaluated at 3 months after surgery. The wider skin incision described here provides a convenient approach for open reduction and rigid internal fixation, and good results were obtained. The follow-up ranged from 6 to 40 months.

[Evaluation of the biocompatibility of grafts for bone defects]. / Valutazione della biocompatibilità del fisiograft per difetti ossei.

BACKGROUND: This paper examines a new material composed of polylactic and polyglycolic acids mixed with destrane easy to handle in bone defect reconstruction in periodontology and implantology: its name is fisiograft. METHODS: According to the European directives, fisiograft was checked for some biological tests selected for its specific use. In particular, tests of cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, sensitization and implantation in rabbit's femurs were carried out. RESULTS: The results show that the composite material is not cytotoxic when it is in direct and indirect contact with murine fibroblasts. It is not genotoxic and not allergenic. The implantation in rabbit, already after 30 days, shows that around the material there is a rapid bone growth and the material is reabsorbing. The degradation is suitable for its clinical use. CONCLUSIONS: Fisiograft showed to be biocompatible, easy to handle and its degradation kinetics in bone is appropriate.

[Experimentation and clinical analysis of the interrelationships between dental damage and celiac disease]. / Sperimentazione ed analisi clinica dei rapporti intercorrenti tra il danno dentale e la malattia celiaca.

Celiac disease is characterized by gluten-dependent atrophy of the intestinal tufts. Aetiologically the genetic "habitus" of the subject has particular importance and, as rear as the pathogenesis is concerned, many theories, among which the most accredited one is "immunopathological", exist. According to what this last one provides, the cell-mediated immunity component is to be considered the true mediator of intestinal injury, whereas the antibody-mediated component and, in particular, anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) and anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA), has a particular and pre-eminent diagnostic role. Just from this point of view the celiac disease appeared, with the progress of the studies, to be more and more fleeting, because of growing symptomatologic diversification. It is then interesting to take into account that the celiac disease seems to be able to maintain itself asymptomatic for the greatest part of life, perhaps, forever, configuring the appearance of silent celiac disease and contributing to specify the outline of the above-mentioned celiac "habitus". Recently, besides, close associations have been found between many different diseases and celiac disease. Even for such reasons we relied upon the indication of the ESPGAN in order to achieve a sure and standardized diagnosis of celiac disease. Early diagnosis of celiac disease is very important because it allows a normal psychophysical development and it avoids the strong incidence of lymphomas and other neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tractus which can characterize the natural story of celiac patients. From a more specifically odontological point of view, interesting manifestations exist in the ambit of celiac disease. This last may in fact appear associated particular signs, such as recurrent aphthae or plainly autoimmune diseases with even oral verification. There, however, a more frequent association between celiac disease and some lesions of the tooth enamel which occur in the period of the two stages of histodifferentiation and mineralisation, and they are, respectively, hypoplasias and opacities. Alteration of the enamel, in such stages, both in deciduous and in permanent sets of teeth may be caused by different "noxae"; hence it will be necessary to know how to distinguish between the dental lesions typical of celiac disease and the others. It is helpful the fact that the dental lesion, observed in the course of celiac disease, remembers conceptually the Chronologic Hypoplasia of the enamel. This pathologic form damages the enamel which is depositing, and evolving contemporaneously to the local or systemic "noxa" which is its remote cause.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

[Precancerous conditions of the oral cavity. Note I. General considerations. Critical review of the literature]. / Stati cancerizzabili del cavo orale. Nota I. Considerazioni generali. Rassegna critica della letteratura.

The authors deal with the current topic of precancerous states of the oral cavity, considering various aspects such as etiopathology, diagnosis, the clinical picture and therefore, nosological classifications. The region of the Air Passages and Superior Digestive Tract (APSDT) should be considered as a single system and it is affected by a set of genetic and environmental conditions common to the various anatomical regions of which it consists. The significance of several irritating agents, which are also habitually used (e.g. tobacco), has been demonstrated for some time, whereas, the actual harmful effects of other factors such as immunodepression in particular, are only now being evaluated and detected. The discussion concerning precancerous lesions of the oral cavity, should actually refer to lesions that do not present the histologic, biological and clinical characteristics of malignant neoplasms, but that have the objective possibility of developing them. Some lesions that traditionally belong to this pathological grouping often present dysplastic aspects, if not the actual characteristics of "carcinoma in situ". Therefore, the availability of a set of indexes is of primary importance and it should be capable of providing an orientation for diagnosis and clinical practices in a precise, standardized manner. The authors hold these indexes to be divisible into three groups as follows. The first group is composed of the "parameters of cellular kinetics" and includes the percentage of cells in phase S (LI), phase S time (Ts), cell cycle duration (Tc), and the growth fraction (GF). The second group consists in the "parameters of cellular morphology", including the nuclear content in DNA, the value of the nuclear surface and the ploidy. The third group is more specific for the existence of a pathologic mass. However, given the uncertainties of the borderlines traditionally attributed to precancerous pathology, this group is definitely useful. It is composed of the potential doubling time (Tpot) and the tumor volume doubling time (Td). Moreover, biopsy is held to be an indispensable tool and the procedure should be conducted in the various manners possible according to well-defined conditions. A correct evaluation of these parameters allows for a correct approach to precancerous pathology and the prevention of the clinical risks of "rapid proliferation" even in the diagnostic biopsy phase.

[Precancerous conditions of the oral cavity. Note II--Pathology and clinical course. Critical review of the literature]. / Stati cancerizzabili del cavo orale. Nota II--Patologia e Clinica. Rassegna critica della letteratura.

The authors examine some specific forms of precancerous states of the oral cavity, selecting them from among the 4 classes defined by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Precancerous Lesions. The immunological system is given particular emphasis. In fact, as studies progress, it appears to be more and more involved not only in the increase in the incidence of such pathologies, but also in the most difficult, if not unknown, genesis of these pathologies. Highly significant examples of this involvement are: Kaposi's Sarcoma, Hairy Cell Leukoplakia, Lichen and Mycoses. Particularly significant aspects for Erythroplasia consist in the following: slow development, frequent and rapid changes in the clinical aspects and its strict connection with Bowen's Disease and Queirat's Erythroplasia. The latter lend further confirmation of its definite precancerous nature and as such, it requires radical surgical treatment. Compared to other forms, the Epidemic variety of Kaposi's sarcoma more frequently affects the oral-salivary glands and structures, the lymph nodes and the laterocervical area. Together with non-Hodgkin tumors, this represents the class of neoplasms most frequently occurring in subjects affected by AIDS. Its "atypical" aggressiveness involves the liver and pancreas and develops over much shorter time periods than the other varieties. In any case, when possible, the treatment required is the excision of the lesions. Neither radiation therapy nor polychemotherapy have yielded encouraging results as yet. In the case of Leukoplakia, it should be kept in mind that today, this pathology is defined "negatively" be exclusion that is the condition must exist that this lesion cannot be clinically or pathologically defined as another lesion. It thus follows that the clinician must maintain an extremely cautious approach in such cases. As concerns prognosis, particular attention should be given to raised, hardened, irregular and fissured forms, which manifest the greatest degenerative capacity. for the classic forms, the treatment adopted is complete exeresis, whereas the use of antiviral drugs is recommended for Hairy Cell Leukoplakia. Lichen Ruber Planus is a papuliferous eruption that is relatively common and affects the skin and mucosa often exclusively involving the oral cavity in the great majority of cases. Besides the clinical picture, the diagnosis of this disease is based on the triad consisting of hyperkeratosis, destruction of the cells of the stratum basale and subepithelial lymphocyte infiltration at distinctly low levels. In uncertain cases, however, the detection of Fluorescent Bodies grouped in large clusters near the hyaline membrane, acquires particular importance for the specification of the diagnosis.

In vivo evaluation of an experimental dental HA-Ti implant.

A new design of Titanium dental implant, coated with Titanium oxide and with a Hydroxyapatite apex, was experimented in a Beagle dog's jaw for one year to evaluate the biocompatibility of the materials used and the biomechanical efficiency of the design. The explanted prosthesis and the surrounding bone were embedded in methylmethacrylate resin and the sections observed under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), with an X-ray microprobe to check the interface with bone and the occurrence of ionic release. The results showed that the pin was well accepted by the bone. New bone grew on the metal surface developing a mechanical bond with the prosthesis. No ionic release of the metal was seen.

[Total atrophy of the mandibular alveolar crest. A new therapeutic proposal (the use of a tissue expander) and a clinical case report]. / Le atrofie totali della cresta alveolare mandibolare. Nuova proposta terapeutica (uso dell'espansore tissutale) e presentazione di un caso clinico.

Atrophy of the alveolar crest, meant as a syndrome due to a certain variety of pathogenetic episodes developing in a more or less marked framework of resorption of the alveolar to the maxillary processes, represents an issue of debated and uncertain solution, especially in a view of the extreme degrees of the phenomenon. Various kinds of surgical approach have been suggested over time: among them mention should be made of the onlay graft technique, the osteotomy intervention visor type, the osseous interposition sandwich type, and other methods, which were often the result of a pontered mediation of the above mentioned, and which should have therefore enjoyed their single advantages. In consideration of the different techniques, the results were more or less noteworthy and it was clear, however, that a certain "gap" was still existing between the results aimed to and the results reached. Today, thanks to the tissue-expander technique, combined with the use of alloplasty materials (hydroxylapatite), we can give a new contribution to the solution of this invalidating pathology, thus reaching more complete and lasting results in the plastic reconstruction of the alveolar crest, and avoiding at the same time the disadvantages, even of iatrogenic kind, of an osteotomy intervention.

[Hemimandibular reconstruction via an autologous transplant of vascularized fibula. A report of a clinical case]. / Ricostruzione di un emicorpo mandibolare mediante trapianto autologo di perone vascolarizzato. Presentazione di un caso clinico.

The authors illustrate the advantage of vascularised as opposed to conventional edges in the reconstruction of the jaw, focusing in particular on the use of a fibular autologous transplant. After a rapid description of the surgical technique used to remove the graft, they report a case of mandibular reconstruction in a young patient who had been involved in a shooting accident which had led to the loss of the left of this jaw.