Fibrous growths in the gingiva with the histopathological presence of calcifications are a common occurrence in the oral cavity. These lesions can be neoplastic in nature with either odontogenic or non odontogenic origin or they can be reactive lesions. This is a case report of an unusual presentation of peripheral ossifying fibroma , unusual because of its abnormally large size with review of literature.

Context:The study was designed to evaluate the effect of a hypofractionated, palliative conformal radiotherapy regimen of 5250 cGy in 15 fractions in inoperable/incurable oral cavity carcinoma.Aims:The primary objective was to assess the change in the quality of life (QOL) with respect to pain and mouth opening pre- and post-radiotherapy using standardized questionnaires. The secondary objective was to assess overall QOL using the same questionnaires and also to assess response rates, survival, compliance, early and late toxicity.Settings and Design:This was a single-arm, prospective trial. Patients with incurable oral cavity cancer referred for palliative intent radiotherapy to the Department of Radiotherapy, RCC, JIPMER were recruited into the study.Subjects and Methods:Forty-eight patients were recruited and twenty-five patients were given conformal radiotherapy to a dose of 52.5 Gy in 15 fractions. QOL was assessed using the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaires before and 2 months after the completion of radiotherapy. The response assessment was made using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria 2 months after radiotherapy. The early and late toxicities were assessed at 2 months and 6 months after radiotherapy completion, respectively.Statistical Analysis Used:Sample size was calculated to be 53. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare QOL scores pre- and post-radiotherapy. Median survival was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier method.Results:There was a significant improvement in the pain, mouth opening, speech, social contact, social eating, felt ill items of the EORTC QLQ-H and N35 questionnaire and role functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, fatigue, pain, insomnia, appetite loss, financial difficulties, and Global QOL subscales of the QLQ-C30 questionnaire. 72% of the patients had grade 3 acute radiation oral mucositis and 36% had grade 3 acute radiation dermatitis. There were no significant treatment breaks due to toxicity. There were no grade 3 late toxicities observed. Overall median survival was 5.1 months. The overall response rate was 47%. The median time to treatment completion was 24 days.Conclusions:The improvement in QOL parameters suggests that the regimen of 52.5 Gy in 15 fractions is suitable for palliative intent radiotherapy in late-stage oral cavity cancer for effective palliation for short periods.

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Aim: The aim of the systematic review was to assess the influence of dental prostheses on cognitive functioning in elderly population. Materials and Methods: This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. The initial electronic search was conducted using the following search databases: MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and EMBASE. The search was limited to English language using the search items/keywords: “dental prostheses and cognitive functioning,” “dental prostheses and brain function,” “Tooth loss and cognitive loss,” “mastication and prefrontal activity,” and “prostheses on mental state.” The search strategy was followed using the PICOS framework. Results: A total of 19 studies were selected according to the selection criteria. Out of 19 studies, 15 studies were included and 4 studies were excluded from the review. Conclusion: With the available evidence in the literature, it can be concluded that dental prostheses have a very significant role in preventing the cognitive impairment and act as a protective factor in enhancing the cognitive function in patients with dementia-related diseases and neurodegenerative diseases.

Schwannomas or neurilemmomas are benign, slow growing, usually solitary and encapsulated tumor, originating from Schwann cells of the nerve sheath. Intraoral schwannomas account for 1% of head and neck region and are commonly seen at the base of the tongue. Most of the literature, reports of schwannomas in the tongue region are common. In this article we report a rare occurrence of schwannoma in the maxillary alveolus region and its management. A 45 year old female patient reported to the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery with a complaint of swelling in the left maxillary alveolus in relation to molar teeth that had been present for more than 3 months. Apparently the swelling was small one initially, which gradually increased in size. Such a rare cas e of intraoral schwannoma should be followed up periodically to look for any malignant transformation and recurrences. An important conclusion that has evolved from the reviewed articles, is that the differential diagnosis of painless nodules in head and neck must include schwannomas.

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), which feature infrastructureless broadband network configurations, are attracting attention as an elemental technology when it comes to the extension of current WLAN infrastructures. State of the art solutions addressing WMNs usually assume the use of omnidirectional antennas.In this paper we evaluate the performance improvements obtained when using directional antennas. By using simulations, we analyze the gains in terms of throughput, delay and fairness, considering a grid network topology used to extend an infrastructure network. Simulation results show that by changing the type of antenna in use from omnidirectional to directional, the average throughput of a WMN can increase about 56% and the average network delay can be reduced by approximately 40%, without compromising fairness.

In IEEE 802.11 based wireless networks adding more access points does not always guarantee an increase of network capacity. In some cases, additional access points may contribute to degrade the aggregated network throughput as more interference is introduced. This paper characterizes the power interference in CSMA/CA based networks consisting of nodes using directional antenna. The severity of the interference is quantized via an improved form of the Attacking Case metric as the original form of this metric was developed for nodes using omnidirectional antenna.The proposed metric is attractive because it considers nodes using directional or omnidirectional antenna, and it enables the quantization of interference in wireless networks using multiple transmission power schemes. The improved Attacking Case metric is useful to study the aggregated throughput of IEEE 802.11 based networks; reducing Attacking Case probably results in an increase of aggregated throughput. This reduction can be implemented using strategies such as directional antenna, transmit power control, or both.

In IEEE 802.11 based wireless networks interference increases as more access points are added. A metric helping to quantize this interference seems to be of high interest. In this paper we study the relationship between the improved attacking case metric, which captures interference, and throughput for IEEE 802.11 based network using directional antenna. The y 1=3 ¼ a þ b ðln xÞ 3 model was found to best represent the relationship between the interference metric and the network throughput. We use this model to predict the performance of similar networks and decide the best configuration a network operator could use for planning his network.