Palatal Swelling: Exploring an Elusive Diagnostic Dilemma.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a locally invasive tumor of the major and minor salivary glands. A 29-year-old male patient reported a complaint of slow-growing, painless, non-ulcerated palatal swelling. On clinical evaluation, the swelling appeared benign; hence, the complete excision of the lesion was carried out under general anesthesia, with closure by reconstruction with a partial-thickness flap. Healing was uneventful. The histopathological evaluation revealed low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. This case report aims to highlight the importance of proper clinical and histopathological evaluation to rule out malignancy, as mucoepidermoid carcinoma can have variable presentations and mimic various benign salivary gland lesions, similar to the occurrence in the present case.

To Evaluate and Compare Periodontal Disease and Smoking as a Parallel Risk Factor for Systemic Health by Gauging the Serum C-Reactive Protein Levels.

INTRODUCTION: Physiologic and metabolic changes that occur immediately after a damage or disease are known as Acute Phase Reaction (APR). Acute Phase Proteins (APP) are blood proteins secreted by hepatocytes during APR C-Reactive Protein (CRP) being the important one. AIM: Present study was designed to estimate and compare the levels of the serum CRP in current smokers, former smokers and non-smokers, with and without periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An experimental study was planned on 165 subjects who were divided into four groups. Group 1- nonsmokers with periodontitis. Group 2- smokers without periodontitis. Group 3- smokers with periodontitis. Group 4- former smokers without periodontitis. Healthy controls were not included in the study as the normal range of CRP in health is already established. Periodontal examination was done and serum CRP was measured. After getting the acceptance to be a part of the study, written informed consent was taken from each participant. Data analysis was done by ANOVA and post-hoc tests. RESULTS: Highest level of CRP was found in smokers with periodontitis followed by non-smokers with periodontitis and smokers without periodontitis. Former smokers had minimum CRP compared to the other groups (p-value=0.03). CONCLUSION: Periodontitis alone and in combination with smoking increases the systemic inflammatory burden and associated cardiovascular risk. This fact should be communicated thoroughly to the general population, general dentist, physicians and cardiovascular specialist to enhance early screening and multidisciplinary treatment.

A Rare and Extensive Case of Oral Malignant Melanoma involving Mandibular Gingiva.

Oral malignant melanoma is an infrequent but an aggressive neoplasm of unknown etiology, seen most commonly in middle age male patients and is more frequently seen at the hard palate and gingiva. The tumor tends to metastasize or locally invade tissue more readily than other malignant tumors in the oral region. In this article, we report a rare case of extensive oral melanoma in a 55-year-old male patient, with a chief complaint of painless growth in mandibular anterior gingiva measuring about 2.6 X 1.7 X 0.8 cm and extending bilaterally till posterior mandibular gingiva and unilaterally to right buccal mucosa. The most common site being hard palate and maxillary gingiva, it is extremely rare in mandibular gingiva (less than 7%) and hence, this rare occurrence in mandibular gingiva is reported, the diagnosis of which was confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry.