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Introduction: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is the most common neuralgia in the head and neck region and a common cause of orofacial pain. It is routinely treated with carbamazepine. Laser, acupuncture and radiofrequency are among other treatment modalities for this condition. This study sought to assess the efficacy of laser therapy in conjunction with carbamazepine for treatment of TN. Methods: A total of 30 patients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into 2 groups of cases and controls (n = 15) by double blind randomized controlled clinical trial. All patients received 100 mg carbamazepine at baseline and another 100 mg after 2 days for pain control. In the case group, low level laser therapy (LLLT) was also performed in addition to pharmaceutical therapy. Sham laser was used in the control group instead of LLLT. Treatment was continued for 9 sessions (3 days a week). The intensity of pain was measured and compared in the 2 groups using visual analog scale (VAS) in 3 period. The qualitative variables among the groups were compared using the repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The severity of pain was lower at the end of treatment in the case compared to the control group so this difference was statistically significant (P = 0.003). The severity of pain decreased in both groups over time. Significant difference was noted in this regard between the 2 groups either (P = 0.003). At the end of treatment pain intensity dropped in the intervention group from 6/8 to 1/2 and control group from 6/6 to 2/7. Conclusion: Laser therapy did add to the value of pharmaceutical therapy for treatment of TN. Both groups experienced significant improvement over time. So it is better to used laser complementary therapy to reduce side effects and the medicine dosage.

Background: Knowledge regarding risk factors and primary signs of oral cancer in the general population can help them to avoid risky behaviour and seek timely advice from a physician. The aim of this study was to survey adult knowledge about risk factors and signs of oral cancer in Shiraz Dental University. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study using an investigator-made questionnaire, 783 adults who were referred to Shiraz Dental University participated. Questionnaire data were analyzed by ANOVA and T-test. Results: The results showed that 32.3% of participants were aware of oral cancer and gained their knowledge from the media. The risk factors mentioned by these participants was as follows: sunlight 30.8%, hot and peppery food 40.7%, alcoholic drinks 47.4% and smoking 73.6% (there was significant relationship for drinking alcohol and gender, education and times of using dental service, p<0.05). They also mentioned the primary signs of oral cancer as follows: red patch without pain 27.8%, white patch without pain 13.5% and prolong scarring without pain 56.7% (there was significant relationship between these three signs and education and times of using dental service, p<0.05). The mean knowledge about the risk factors and signs of oral cancer were 1.94 from 5 with 1.14 standard deviation and 0.96 from 3 with 0.93 standard deviation. Conclusions: The observed low level of knowledge of people regarding both risk factors and signs of oral cancer emphasizes the need for more efforts to be made about the above mentioned issues by the media.

We found no significant level of efficacy for the GaAs laser in the management of common orofacial pain. Further studies are suggested to evaluate the efficacy of other types of lasers with different parameters in the management of orofacial pains.

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Introduction: The removal of ceramic veneers is a time-consuming procedure in a dental office. Little research has been done in alternative removal techniques for ceramic veneers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of feldspathic and lithium disilicate reinforced glass ceramic veneers by Er, Cr: YSGG and to measure debonding time and pulpal temperature increase during veneer removal. Methods: Fifty-seven bovine incisor teeth were prepared and divided into 3 groups. Ceramic specimens with a thickness of 0.7mm, a width of 4mm and a length of 8 mm were fabricated from feldspathic ceramic, lithium disilicate reinforced glass ceramic HT (high translucency) and lithium disilicate reinforced glass ceramic MO (medium opacity) (19 for each group). Specimens were cemented on the labial surface of incisors using resin cement. The Er, Cr: YSGG laser was applied to each specimen at 2.5 W and 25 Hz. Debonding time was measured for each specimen, and the intrapulpal temperature was detected in 3 specimens for each group. Data were analyzed via one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at significance level of 0.05 (α = 0.05). Results: Mean debonding time was 103.68 (26.76), 106.58 (47.22) and 103.84 (32.90) seconds for feldspathic, lithium disilicate MO, and lithium disilicate HT respectively. There was no significant statistical difference among the groups (P value = 0.96). The intrapulpal temperature increase was less than 1°C in all groups. Conclusion: Er, Cr: YSGG can successfully be used to efficiently debond feldspathic and lithium disilicate reinforced glass ceramic veneers. There was no significant difference for debonding time among these ceramic materials. During ceramic laminate veneer removal by laser irradiation, no irritating temperature rise was detected.

Background: HER2/neu, a member of EGFR family, is over expressed in some tumors .The purpose of this study was to determine the salivary level and tissue expression of HER2/neu in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and any correlation with clinicopathologic parameters. Methods: An enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to evaluate the salivary level and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to assess tissue expression of HER2/neu in 28 patients with HNSCC and 25 healthy controls. Results: The salivary levels of HER2/neu in HNSCC patients was not significantly higher than in the healthy controls (p>0.005). There was no apparent correlation in salivary HER2/neu level with clinicopathological features such as age, sex, grade, tumor size and nodal status. All HNSCC specimens were positive (membranous or/and cytoplasmic) for HER2/ neu, except one sample. Only one HNSCC specimen was stained in cytoplasm purely. All control specimens were membranous and cytoplasmic positive for HER2/neu. There was a significant difference between cytoplasmic staining in case and control groups (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: In our cases, no overexpression of HER2/neu was observed. Thus, our findings suggested that the use of Her-2 as a salivary marker of HNSCC cannot be recommended.

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