No abstract

The craniofacial region consists of several different tissue types. These tissues are quite commonly affected by traumatic/pathologic tissue loss which has so far been traditionally treated by grafting procedures. With the complications and drawbacks of grafting procedures, the emerging field of regenerative medicine has proved potential. Tissue engineering advancements and the application in the craniofacial region is quickly gaining momentum although most research is still at early in vitro/in vivo stages. We aim to provide an overview on where research stands now in tissue engineering of craniofacial tissue; namely bone, cartilage muscle, skin, periodontal ligament, and mucosa. Abstracts and full-text English articles discussing techniques used for tissue engineering/regeneration of these tissue types were summarized in this article. The future perspectives and how current technological advancements and different material applications are enhancing tissue engineering procedures are also highlighted. Clinically, patients with craniofacial defects need hybrid reconstruction techniques to overcome the complexity of these defects. Cost-effectiveness and cost-efficiency are also required in such defects. The results of the studies covered in this review confirm the potential of craniofacial tissue engineering strategies as an alternative to avoid the problems of currently employed techniques. Furthermore, 3D printing advances may allow for fabrication of patient-specific tissue engineered constructs which should improve post-operative esthetic results of reconstruction. There are on the other hand still many challenges that clearly require further research in order to catch up with engineering of other parts of the human body.

The incidence of head and neck cancer was reported to be higher in more developed countries with an increase in incidence lately among younger age groups. The need for improvement of awareness of oral cancer and potentially malignant oral disorders is crucial. This study aims to identify the level of awareness of diagnostic and management protocols in the dental community. An English survey was arranged and sent via email to undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and faculty members at the dental school Cairo University. The questions focused on the early detection and level of awareness of oral cancer. Results were then analyzed to assess levels of awareness at the different education levels of the participants. Eight hundred sixty-eight responded out of the sent 5052 during the period between October 2015 and January 2016. The average results of the faculty staff members were higher than that of the student groups and participants with regular continuous assessment and knowledge refreshment achieved higher results. The results of this survey have pointed out areas of lack of awareness among the targeted population. The results have been brought up to the knowledge of policy makers to enable the improvement of level of awareness and assessment of risk factors for oral cancer.

Rapidly developing digital dental technologies have substantially simplified the documentation of plaster dental models. The large variety of available scanners with varying degrees of accuracy and cost, however, makes the purchase decision difficult. This study assessed the digitization accuracy of a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and an intraoral scanner (IOS), as compared to a desktop optical scanner (OS). Ten plaster dental models were digitized three times (n = 30) with each scanner. The generated STL files were cross-compared, and the RMS values were calculated. Conclusions were drawn about the accuracy with respect to precision and trueness levels. The precision of the CBCT scanner was similar to the desktop OS reference, which both had a median deviation of 0.04 mm. The IOS had statistically significantly higher deviation compared to the reference OS, with a median deviation of 0.18 mm. The trueness values of the CBCT was also better than that of IOS—median differences of 0.14 and 0.17 mm, respectively. We conclude that the tested CBCT scanner is a highly accurate and user-friendly scanner for model digitization, and therefore a valuable alternative to the OS. The tested IOS was generally of lower accuracy, but it can still be used for plaster dental model digitization.

AIM:Different lesions affecting the midfacial regions require surgical reconstruction. The aim of this study was to assess the different methods used in midfacial reconstruction after maxillectomy procedures. The various reported surgical reconstructive techniques focusing on the esthetic and functional outcomes are to be reviewed in this article.MATERIAL AND METHODS:A thorough PUBMED and hand-search of journals of relevance was performed on related terms and yielded 772 titles of which 45 abstracts were selected and obtained as full articles for further evaluation while the rest were excluded by title/abstract. According to the inclusion criteria; 14 of these studies were used to complete this article.RESULTS:In this review we showed that fibular and radial vascularized grafts were the most commonly reported methods in literature with a few other options. Computer aided design and surgical planning has been also reviewed and seems to be a rapidly evolving option for maxillofacial reconstruction. Lack of RCTs (randomized controlled trials) and large scale case series was noticed in this review making the evidence of poor quality.CONCLUSION:Methods of evaluation of reconstruction options mainly qualitative and subjective made the evaluation of the techniques in this review difficult.