Dental profile of a community of recovering drug addicts: Biomedical aspects. Retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: to obtain a biomedical oral profile of a community of adult drug addicts in treatment by analysing their dental health, with a view to determining whether the state of their oral health could be attributed primarily to their lifestyle and the direct consequences of drug abuse on their overall condition, rather than to the effects of the drugs used. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The study was conducted under the terms of an agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid's (UCM) Odontology Faculty and the City of Madrid's Substance Abuse Institute. Seventy drug addicts and 34 control group subjects were examined. The study assessed oral hygiene habits, systemic pathology, type of drugs used and the duration of use, oral pathology, oral health indices, risk of caries based on saliva tests, oral candidiasis and periodontal microbiology. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the test and control groups for practically all the variables analysed. In the drug users group, dental hygiene was wanting, systemic and oral pathology prevailed and the decayed/missing/filled teeth or surface (DMFT/S) indices denoted very poor buccodental health. The saliva tests showed a substantial risk of caries and candidiasis rates were high. By contrast, with a single exception, the microbiological studies detected no statistically significant difference between drug users and control groups periodontal flora. CONCLUSIONS: Drug-dependent patients had poor oral health and a significant increase in oral pathology, essentially caries and periodontal disease. Their risk of caries was high and the presence of candidiasis was representative of their poor general and oral health. Drug users' poor buccodental condition was more closely related to lifestyle than to drug abuse itself.

Epidemiology of the most common oral mucosal diseases in children.

Dentists who treat children must be alert to the possibility of finding diseases of the oral mucosa, especially in younger children. The present study aimed to review the most updated information and the experience of our group in order to yield epidemiological data that assist diagnosis of the most common diseases of the oral mucosa in children. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown a wide variability in the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in different regions of the world and have led researchers to draw disparate conclusions. Moreover, studies have not been designed using standard criteria, further explaining the wide variability in the percentage of different groups of children with oral lesions, which ranges from 4.1 to 52.6%. The lesions most frequently considered by authors and that most often appear in the different studies are: recurrent aphthous stomatitis (0.9-10.8%), labial herpes (0.78-5.2%), fissured tongue (1.49-23%), geographic tongue (0.60-9.8%), oral candidiasis (0.01-37%) and traumatic injury (0.09%-22.15%). Dentists must be able to detect any of the numerous possible disorders and perform the correct differential diagnosis, key to the treatment plan. The aim of this paper, based on a review of the different national and international studies, is to contribute data on the most important oral mucosal diseases in the paediatric population in terms of prevalence and differential diagnosis.

Dental profile of a community of recovering drug addicts: Biomedical aspects. Retrospective cohort study

Objectives: to obtain a biomedical oral profile of a community of adult drug addicts in treatment by analysing their dental health, with a view to determining whether the state of their oral health could be attributed primarily to their lifestyle and the direct consequences of drug abuse on their overall condition, rather than to the effects of the drugs used. Experimental Design: the study was conducted under the terms of an agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid's (UCM) Odontology Faculty and the City of Madrid's Substance Abuse Institute. Seventy drug addicts and 34 control group subjects were examined. The study assessed oral hygiene habits, systemic pathology, type of drugs used and the duration of use, oral pathology, oral health indices, risk of caries based on saliva tests, oral candidiasis and periodontal microbiology. Results: statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the test and control groups for practically all the variables analysed. In the drug users group, dental hygiene was wanting, systemic and oral pathology prevailed and the decayed/missing/filled teeth or surface (DMFT/S) indices denoted very poor buccodental health. The saliva tests showed a substantial risk of caries and candidiasis rates were high. By contrast, with a single exception, the microbiological studies detected no statistically significant difference between drug users and control groups periodontal flora. Conclusions: drug-dependent patients had poor oral health and a significant increase in oral pathology, essentially caries and periodontal disease. Their risk of caries was high and the presence of candidiasis was representative of their poor general and oral health. Drug users' poor buccodental condition was more closely related to lifestyle than to drug abuse itself (AU)

Epidemiología de la patología de la mucosa oral más frecuente en niños / Epidemiology of the most common oral mucosal diseases in children

El odontólogo responsable de tratar al niño debe tener en cuentala posibilidad de encontrar cualquier condición patológica anivel de la mucosa oral sobre todo a edades tempranas. Por ello,hemos tratado de aunar en nuestro estudio tanto la informaciónmás actualizada como nuestra propia experiencia para intentarofrecer los datos de mayor interés, desde el punto de vista epidemiológico,que nos permita diagnosticar la patología de lamucosa oral más frecuente en la población infantil. Los estudiosepidemiológicos realizados estos últimos años han mostradola dispar apreciación de los diferentes investigadores y unagran variabilidad en las prevalencias de las lesiones mucosasorales en las diferentes zonas del mundo. Tanto lo expuestocon anterioridad como la falta de uniformidad en los criteriosde elaboración de los estudios epidemiológicos explica que elporcentaje de las lesiones orales observadas en los diferentesgrupos de niños estudiados nos ofrezcan una gran variabilidadcon porcentajes comprendidos entre el 4,1% y 52,6%. Laslesiones que más frecuentemente han sido tenidas en cuentapor los diferentes autores y que más aparecen en los diferentesestudios son: la estomatitis aftosa recurrente, el herpes labial,la lengua fisurada, la lengua geográfica, la candidosis oral ylas lesiones traumáticas, con prevalencias que respectivamentemuestran rangos de 0,9% al 10,8%, del 0,78% al 5,2%, del1,49% al 23%, del 0,60% al 9,8% y del 0,01% al 3,7%. Frentea la gran cantidad de alteraciones que podemos encontrarnos,debemos ser capaces de detectar dichas lesiones y llevar a caboun correcto diagnóstico diferencial, eslabón esencial del plande tratamiento.La siguiente exposición tiene como fin, basándonos en una revisión de los diferentes estudios nacionales e internacionales, aportar datos sobre la patología de la mucosa oral mássignificativa de la población infantil en cuanto a prevalencia ydiagnóstico diferencial

Dentists who treat children must be alert to the possibility of findingdiseases of the oral mucosa, especially in younger children.The present study aimed to review the most updated informationand the experience of our group in order to yield epidemiologicaldata that assist diagnosis of the most common diseases of the oralmucosa in children. Recent epidemiologic studies have showna wide variability in the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions indifferent regions of the world and have led researchers to drawdisparate conclusions. Moreover, studies have not been designedusing standard criteria, further explaining the wide variability inthe percentage of different groups of children with oral lesions,which ranges from 4.1 to 52.6%. The lesions most frequentlyconsidered by authors and that most often appear in the differentstudies are: recurrent aphthous stomatitis (0.9-10.8%), labialherpes (0.78-5.2%), fissured tongue (1.49-23%), geographictongue (0.60-9.8%), oral candidiasis (0.01-37%) and traumaticinjury (0.09%-22.15%). Dentists must be able to detect any of thenumerous possible disorders and perform the correct differentialdiagnosis, key to the treatment plan.The aim of this paper, based on a review of the different nationaland international studies, is to contribute data on the mostimportant oral mucosal diseases in the paediatric population interms of prevalence and differential diagnosis