The objective of this study was to assess the oral health status of users of illicit drugs such as marijuana and cocaine/crack and compare it with individuals not using these chemical substances.Questionnaires were applied to 35 illicit drugs users to gather information on demographic status, general health, and use of drugs. Then, a clinical assessment of the oral health condition was performed to collect data on decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index, salivary flow rate (SFR), and mucosal lesions. The control group was composed of 35 non-illicit drug users. In the experimental group, 91.43% were males, 80% were smokers, and 42.85% were alcoholics. Cocaine was the most common drug used (77.15%), followed by marijuana (68.6%), and crack (51.4%). The average DMFT index was 9.8 and the SFR was reduced in 60% of subjects. Mucosal alterations were detected, but no potentially malignant disorders or oral cancer were diagnosed. Compared to control group, significantly higher values for gender (40%, p = 0.0001), smoking (22.86%) and heavy drinking (5.7%) habits (p = 0.0001), SFR (31.4%; p = 0.0308), and oral lesions (p = 0.0488) were found for the experimental group, although significantly higher values were found in the control group for DMFT index (p = 0.0148). It can be concluded that the use of illicit drugs contributed to an increased prevalence of oral mucosa lesions. In addition, a decline on SFR and a reduced DMFT index was observed for illicit drug users.

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The objective of the present study was to verify the association between oral lichen planus (OLP) and chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) in two distinct populations in the municipality of São Paulo. A total of 308 patients were evaluated distributed in two study groups: group HCV, comprising 275 patients (132 men and 143 women; average age = 49.8 years old) with chronic HCV infection; and group OLP, comprising 33 patients (10 men and 23 women; average age = 52.9 years old) with OLP. In group HCV, the diagnosis of chronic infection was established through serology for anti-HCV (MEIA, kit AxSYM ® HCV version 3.0, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois) confirmed by RNA-HCV research through qualitative PCR testing (Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor TM test, version 2.0, Roche Diagnostic Systems, NJ, USA). In group OLP, the diagnosis of oral lesions followed the criteria established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1978 and later modified by van der Meij

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The Code of Dental Ethics can be understood as a set of behavioral norms that are established in the development of professional practice and govern its practice. With this, it aims to highlight the ethical nature of work and ensure important values for society in the context of professional practice. The purpose of this study was to verify the complaints and ethical processes in the Regional Dentistry of Santa Catarina (CRO-SC), relating them to their causes. The research, after approval by UFSC's Research Ethics Committee, found the complaints and the ethical processes established with the CRO-SC from January 2013 to December 2017, verifying their growing, identifying their motivations and ascertaining the respective procedural situations. The results obtained showed an increase from 7.1% to 60.7% in complaints and from 6.2% to 58.4% in ethical processes. The main cause of complaints was due to irregular advertising (65%), resulting in 68% ethical processes based on this irregularity; 39.2% of the complaints resulted in the opening of ethical processes; 17% were archived; 21.3% of the ethical proceedings initiated were closed by judgment or filing, and 74.7% are in progress. About 20.3% of the complaints were classified as other infringements; 4.8% as illegal exercise of profession, 2.4% as exercise irregular profession and 7.4% as a probable technical error. The results indicate the importance of a dentist's view of the ethical and social values in dentistry in order to conduct their work from a more humanized perspective.