Students' motivations in choosing a career in the health professions are of great interest for educators and admission committees, particularly in the ield of dentistry. This study conducted in four private dental institutions in India was designed to investigate dental students' motivations in their choice of dentistry as a career and their perceptions regarding dentistry in India. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 369 students responded in a combination of selected responses to the questions, for a response rate of 92.3 percent. In the results, 53.7 percent of the students reported pursuing dentistry because it offers stable work (p<0.002); 38.7 percent because the profession is highly paid; and 7.6 percent due to the ease in inding a regular job in dental schools or hospitals. The survey also found that 44.4 percent of the students pursued dentistry because they can determine their own hours of work and 36.6 percent said they liked to be their own boss. Among these students, 64.5 percent said they were content to be joining dentistry as a professional course, but 35.5 percent were discontented (p<0.001). Regarding the specialties, 79.1 percent said they want to become specialists in the ield of dentistry (p<0.001); oral surgery was the leading choice followed by orthodontics. Only 11.7 percent reported wanting to pursue dentistry for research purposes. Overall, this study found that inancial and professional factors were the chief criteria for students' pursuing dentistry in India; however, the strongest inluence in the choice of dentistry was the students' parents or family.

The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is increasing worldwide and so are its consequences. Its oral manifestations are infrequent, occurring in approximately 3% of all cases. Although the primary lesion occurs as a pulmonary infection, the extrapulmonary infections have also shown an increase over the past few years. These infections generally involve the head and neck through haematogenous or lymphatic routes. The clinical presentation may be as an ulcer, granuloma, orofacial TB, TB of the salivary glands or tuberculous lymphadenitis. Rarely, secondary oral manifestations associated with pulmonary infection are seen, which can appear as lesions on the gingiva, palate, lips, tongue, buccal mucosa, frenulum and in the jaw bones. Owing to the rarity of orofacial TB, it seldom arouses clinical suspicion, especially when a positive history of a systemic infection or therapy is denied. Tuberculous involvement of the mandibular condyle is even rarer, and only two such cases are reported so far, both in English-language literature. Further, the diagnosis of such a case is extremely difficult as there are no specific signs pathogonomic of infection. The only manifestation may be a localized painful swelling of the jaw. The presented case is of osteomyelitis of the mandibular condyle in a 20-year-old male patient in whom TB was later suspected. In this case report the role of diagnostic techniques is emphasized as the osteomyelitis of the condyle has the risk of being easily missed owing to its atypical signs and symptoms and atypical radiographic appearance. Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (2012) 41, 169-174. doi: 10.1259/dmfr/56238546 Keywords: tuberculosis; osteomyelitis; condyle Case reportA 20-year-old male patient presented with a gradually progressive swelling at the side of his face in front of the right ear for about 15 days (Figure 1). 2 months beforehand, there was a sudden onset of dull pain at the right temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region which aggravated during mouth opening; it was associated with reduced mouth opening. The patient's medical history was non-contributory. There was no history of any trauma to the TMJ region. He was moderately built and nourished, and afebrile at the time of examination. He otherwise reported weakness and malaise over the past month along with some weight loss. General physical and systemic examinations were unremarkable. All the vital signs were in normal range. He was a gutka chewer (a preparation of tobacco mixed with areca nut) and had chewed it 5-6 times a day for 3 years.Extraorally, a unilateral solitary swelling was seen at the right TMJ region measuring 1.5 6 1.5 cm in size. It was oval with normal overlying skin. On palpation, the swelling was firm, tender and non-fluctuant. There was a localized rise in temperature. Tenderness was elicited in the temporalis muscle of the same side with no obvious lymphadenopathy of the head and neck region. Intraorally, the buccal mucosa of the left side was opaque and blanched. There were no other significant findings. The occlusion w...

Objectives : Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction is a common condition that is best evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The first step in MR imaging of the TMJ is to evaluate the articular disk, or meniscus, in terms of its morphologic features and its location relative to the condyle in both closed- and open-mouth positions. Disk location is of prime importance because the presence of a displaced disk is a critical sign of TMJ dysfunction. However, disk displacement is also frequently seen in asymptomatic volunteers. It is important for the maxillofacial radiologist to detect early MR imaging signs of dysfunction, thereby avoiding the evolution of this condition to its advanced and irreversible phase which is characterized by osteoarthritic changes such as condylar flattening or osteophytes. Further the MR imaging techniques will allow a better understanding of the sources of TMJ pain and of any discrepancy between imaging findings and patient symptoms. Henceforth, the aim of the study was to evaluate whether MRI findings of various degrees of disk displacement could be correlated with the presence or absence of clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. Materials and Methods : In this clinical study, 44 patients (88 TMJs) were examined clinically and divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 22 patients with clinical signs and symptoms of TMDs either unilaterally or bilaterally and considered as study group. Group 2 consisted of 22 patients with no signs and symptoms of TMDs and considered as control group. MRI was done for both the TMJs of each patient. Displacement of the posterior band of articular disc in relation to the condyle was quantified as anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDR), anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDWR), posterior disc displacement (PDD). Results : Disk displacement was found in 18 (81.8%) patients of 22 symptomatic subjects in Group 1 on MRI and 4 (18.1%) were diagnosed normal with no disc displacement. In Group 2, 2 (9.1%) of 22 asymptomatic patients were diagnosed with disc displacement while 20 (90.1%) were normal. Sensitivity and Specificity tests were applied in both the groups to correlate clinical findings of TMD and MRI characterstics of disc displacement and results showed Sensitivity of 90% and Specificity of 83.3%. Conclusion : Disk displacement on MRI correlated well with presence or absence of clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders with high Sensitivity and Specificity of 90% and 83.3% respectively.

Introduction:Recurrent Aphthous Ulcers (RAU) is one of the most common oral ulcerative Disease of the oral mucosa with high recurrence rate. Standard topical treatment options provide symptomatic relief with few have been found to be effective in treating or relieving the symptoms.Aim:The study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of various topical agents in order to find the better treatment modality so as to decrease the number, size, exudate level and discomfort associated with pain with RAU.Materials and methods:The patients diagnosed with minor recurrent aphthous ulcers fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. All the baseline parameters were measured by the principal investigator. The treatment modality was assigned by generating a randomization list by computer software, double-blinded in consecutively numbered sealed envelopes. The topical treatment modalities that were included: 5% Amlexanox, 0.1% Triamcinolone Acetonide, 20% Benzocaine gel, 100 mg Doxycycline hyclatemixed with denture adhesive and normal saline (20:2:1); The study was placebo controlled in which placebo gel 10 gm was used. The size, no of ulcers, pain, erythema and exudate level were measured by the principal investigator at days 1, 4, 8 and 10. All quantitative variables were estimated using measures of central tendency (mean, median) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation). Qualitative or categorical variables were described as frequencies or proportions. Proportions were compared using Post Hoc Test and N Par Tests. Effectiveness was checked using p-value (< 0.005).Results:It was observed that 0.1% Triamcinolone Acetonide and 5% Amlexanox proven to be more efficacious in the reduction of size, Number, Pain, Erythema and Exudate Levels at day 8, (p = .000*) and at day 10 (p =. 000*) as compared to single application of 100 mg Doxycycline Hyclate, 20% Benzocaine gel and the placebo, which was statistically significant. VAS scale was significant for 100 mg Doxycycline Hyclate and 20% Benzocaine gel.Conclusion:The selected topical treatment modality can deliver cheap, effective and safe drug therapy which benefits the patient in refining their regular activities and everyday events of life.

In the present study the results indicate that for minimizing any unnecessary radiation, attempts should be made to improve dentists' knowledge about radiation-dose-reduction techniques.

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Prognosis of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma depends on early diagnosis, despite advanced surgical techniques, the 5-year survival rate remains ~40-50%. Unfortunately, it is usually detected when it becomes symptomatic. This requires treatment which gives rise to a high rate of morbidity and mortality and, furthermore, early detection of oro-pharyngeal pre-malignant lesions is important to improve the survival rate and quality of life. Since dysplasia and in situ carcinoma contain much more DNA and RNA than the normal surrounding epithelium, the use of in vivo staining, by means of toluidine blue dye, is based on the fact that it is an acidophilic dye that selectively stains acidic tissue components such as DNA and RNA. Toluidine blue staining is considered to be sensitive in identifying early oro-pharyngeal premalignant and malignant lesions. In the present study, the use of toluidine blue staining was taken into consideration to identify clinically doubtful oro-pharyngeal lesions and to compare toluidine blue stain and with the histological evaluation. Key words:Early detection, improved survival, pre-cancer, toluidine blue, vital staining.

Correlation of serum oestrogen with salivary calcium in post-menopausal women with and without oral dryness feelingObjective: The aim of this study was to verify the association between salivary calcium and serum oestrogen levels with oral dryness in post-menopausal women. Also, the correlation between these variables was evaluated. Methods: A case-control study was carried out on 60 selected menopausal women with and without oral dryness feeling (30 as case and 30 as control) conducted in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Maharishi Markandeshar University, Mullana, India. Paraffin-stimulated saliva samples were obtained by expectoration. Salivary calcium concentrations were assessed colorimetrically using Arsenazo III reaction. The serum oestrogen concentration was measured using ELISA. Statistical analysis of Student's t-test and Pearson correlation was used. Results: There was significant difference in mean values of both salivary calcium concentration and serum oestrogen between case and control groups. The result obtained also showed that an inverse correlation was found between salivary calcium concentration and serum oestrogen levels in both the groups and in total sample size. Conclusion: Oral dryness in post-menopausal women is associated with high levels of salivary calcium and low levels of serum oestrogen. The concentrations of salivary calcium and serum oestrogen are inversely correlated in post-menopausal women, regardless of the presence or absence of oral dryness.