Plasma Osteocalcin Levels, Status of Oral Disease and Alteration in Mandibular Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women.

AIM: The present study was undertaken for assessing plasma osteocalcin levels, status of oral disease, and alteration in mandibular bone density in postmenopausal women (PMW). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 80 premenopausal women and 80 PMW were enrolled. For analyzing the oral dryness, clinical score of oral dryness (CSOD) on a scale of up to 10 was used. Complete dental profiling of all the patients was done. Digital panoramic radiographs were taken for all the patients. Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated by measuring the following parameters: mandibular cortical index (MCI), panoramic mandibular index (PMI), mandibular cortical width (MCW), and fractal dimension (FD). Osteocalcin levels were evaluated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. All the results were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: Mean osteocalcin levels of PMW (453.12 ng/mL) were significantly higher in comparison to the premenopausal women (249.28 ng/mL). Postmenopausal women had significantly higher CSOD and number of peri-apical radiolucencies in comparison to premenopausal women. Bone mineral density as assessed by MCI was found to be negatively and significantly correlated with oral disease status and osteocalcin levels. Significant difference was obtained while comparing the MCI inbetween the two study groups. CONCLUSION: There is significantly higher prevalence of oral lesions along with oral dryness in postmenopausal women. Also, thinning of mandibular cortex is significantly higher in postmenopausal women. Higher plasma osteocalcin levels help in predicting osteopenia/osteoporosis at an early stage in such patients. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: In PMW, special considerations should be made while planning for dental implant therapy.

Spirometric Assessment of Impact of Complete Dentures on Respiratory Performance: An in vitro Study.

INTRODUCTION: Edentulism is one of the debilitating states affecting a significant portion of the geriatric population. It is often considered as the ultimate marker for predicting the pressure and burden on oral health. Respiration is also a routine vital function running continuously through the human body and most commonly assessed by a spirometer. Hence, we planned the present study to assess the impact of complete dentures on the functioning of the respiratory system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present study, a spirometric assessment of the effect of complete dentures on respiratory performance was done. A total of 100 subjects were included, and diagnostic spirometer was used for carrying out the spiro-metric test at different stages of each subject. The spirometric test was carried out at four different stages: In the absence of both the denture (AODs), with both the dentures (maxillary and mandibular) inserted in the patient's mouth (BDs), with only maxillary denture inserted in the oral cavity (UDs), and finally, by inserting only the mandibular dentures in the oral cavity (LDs). Forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% (FEF25-75) were evaluated. All the results were compiled and assessed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. RESULTS: Of the total 100 subjects included in the study, 42 were males and 58 were females. The mean FVC values of AOD, BD, LD, and UD group were 3.10, 3.02, 2.90, and 2.93 respectively. The mean PEF values of AOD, BD, LD, and UD group were 5.79, 5.60, 5.40, and 5.48 respectively; 2.39, 2.35, 2.33, and 2.32 were the mean FEV1 values observed in AOD, BD, LD, and UD group respectively. Statistically significant results were obtained while comparing AOD-FVC and BD-FVC and other oral conditions. CONCLUSION: Spirometric values of respiratory functional tests in edentulous patients might be unfavorably affected by wearing complete dentures. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Since subjects without complete dentures exhibited a maximum value of respiratory functional test, respiratory exercise protocols should also be carried in denture-wearing edentulous patients for increasing the performance of the respiratory system.

Epidemiological and Clinicopathological Analysis of 92 Odontogenic Tumors: A 5-year Retrospective Study.

INTRODUCTION: Odontogenic tumors (OTs) are a heterogeneous group of lesions that are derived from odontogenic apparatus comprised of odontogenic epithelium, ectomesenchyme, and/ or mesenchymal elements. The OTs show marked geographical variation. This study was conducted to analyze the epidemiology and clinicopathological presentation of OTs based on age, sex, and site. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology. Records were reviewed retrospectively for all the lesions of oral cavity from January 2010 to December 2015. A total of 92 lesions were found to be OTs and were classified into benign and malignant tumors. They were further subdivided into three subtypes based on the types of odontogenic tissues involved. These were epithelial OTs (EOTs), mixed OTs (MIXOTs), and mesenchymal OTs (MOTs). RESULTS: Of 92 OTs, 84 were benign (males 48, females 36) and 8 were malignant (male 2, females 6). The most common benign tumor was ameloblastoma (AME) (20), followed by keratocystic OT (KCOT) (17), calcifying EOT (CEOT) (14), compound odontome (OD-Cd) (12), complex odontome (OD-Cx) (10), odontogenic fibroma (OF) (5), odontogenic myxoma (OM) (4), and cementoblastoma (CB) (2). The most common malignant tumor was primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma (PIOSCC) (3) followed by fibrosarcoma (FS) (3) and ameloblastic carcinoma (AC). CONCLUSION: Author concluded that there was geographic and demographic variation in distribution of OTs, which may be attributed to socioeconomic and genetic factors. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Literature showing prevalence of OTs in India is negligible. By this article, we have analyzed the frequency of various OTs according to sex, age, and site. A comprehensive record of OTs should be started so that pathologists and surgeons would be able to acquire the information about the tumor for reference in the future.