Introduction: Oral premalignant lesions are conditions having high potential tendency for transformation into malignancy. The use of a conservative and effective treatment modality is one of the best strategies for cancer prevention. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a noninvasive method for topical and selective treatment of oral precancerous lesions. The present study was taken up to determine the efficacy of PDT in oral precancerous lesions. Methods: The study consisted 13 patients with 24 oral leukoplakia (OL) lesions and 8 with 20 oral lichen planus (OLP) lesions, divided into control and study groups. These lesions were affecting various intraoral sites, the buccal mucosa being the most common site followed by tongue and gingiva. The treatment regimen of PDT included 98% 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) which is topical applied and irradiated with light emitting diode (LED) of 420 nm wavelengths at several sessions. Results: In OL 16.6% of cases showed complete response, 66.6% partial response and 16.6% no response of the lesions to the treatment. In OLP 80% and 20% of the lesions showed partial and no response respectively. The differences with control groups for OL + OLP were found to be significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, we can conclude that PDT appears to be a feasible alternative to conventional therapy for oral premalignant lesions.

Ameloblastoma is a benign odontogenic neoplasm which frequently affects the mandible. The term ameloblastoma includes several clinicoradiological and histological types. Apart from the most commonly encountered clinicopathologic models, there are few variants, whose biological profile is unknown or not elicited. Among these types, unicystic ameloblastoma is the least encountered variant of the ameloblastoma. Unicystic ameloblastoma refers to those cystic lesions that show clinical, radiographic, or gross features of a jaw cyst but on histologic examination show a typical ameloblastomatous epithelium lining the cyst cavity, with or without luminal and/or mural tumor proliferation. Unicystic ameloblastoma is a less encountered variant of the ameloblastoma and is believed to be less aggressive. As this tumor shows considerable similarities with dentigerous cysts, both clinically and radiographically, the biologic behaviour of this tumor group was reviewed. Moreover, recurrence of unicystic ameloblastoma may be long delayed, and a long-term postoperative followup is essential for proper management of these patients. Here we are presenting a case of unicystic ameloblastoma in an 18-year-old female patient.

Background and Objectives: Human identification is the forensic odontologist’s primary duty in the fields like violent crime, child abuse, elder abuse, missing persons and mass disaster scenarios. In each context, dental traits may produce compelling evidence to aid victim identity, suspect identity and narrow down the outcome of investigative casework. Sometimes it becomes necessary to apply some least known and less popular techniques in identification procedure where lip prints, rugae patterns and canine odontometrics can give us comparatively valid conclusions pertaining to person’s identification. This study elucidates the significance of cheiloscopy, palatoscopy and canine odontometry in sex prediction and discrimination. Materials and Methods: A cross- sectional study involving a total of 60 subjects, 30 males and 30 females were selected from the outpatient department of oral medicine and radiology. Lip prints were recorded using lipstick, palatal impressions were taken with alginate and odontometric measurements were taken with digital vernier calipers from every subject. All the obtained records were analyzed by two observers.Results: Reliability of lip prints was assessed using Kappa coefficient. Comparison of rugae patterns was done using Chi-square test. Mean canine and inter canine width was compared using t test. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Statistically significant difference was found with the different lip print patterns analyzed in males and females, while no significant difference was observed in the rugae patterns but a significant difference in the mesio-distal width of mandibular canines in males and females was found with right mandibular canine(3.73%) showing greater sexual dimorphism compared to left mandibular canine(3.06%).Conclusion: This study shows the uniqueness of the lip prints and rugae patterns with the lip prints showing sensitivity of 81.7% giving reliable prediction of sex over palatoscopy. Hence, cheiloscopy along with the canine odontometrics aid in sex determination and can be considered as an ancilliary forensic tool in identification.

Background and aims. Many oral squamous cell carcinomas develop from potentially malignant disorders (PMDs)which include a variety of lesions and conditions characterized by an increased risk for malignant transformation. Thisstudy evaluated the quantitative expression of EGFR in normal oral mucosa, oral leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis to predict the malignant risk in compliance with the intensity of staining with EGFR.Materials and methods. Thirty subjects were included in the study, consisting of 10 oral leukoplakia (OL), 10 oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and 10 normal oral mucosa (NOM) as the control group. Owing to the histopathological confirmation of precancerous state of tissue, 4-μm-thick sections of tissue were taken from paraffin-embedded wax blocks for immunohistochemical staining for EGFR.Results. All the control cases showed positive expression for EGFR, while 20% of oral leukoplakia and 40% of OSMF cases showed strong expression (3+), 40% of OL and 30% of OSMF cases showed weak expression (2+), and 40% of OLand 30% of OSMF cases showed poor expression (1+) compared to controls (P=0.012).Conclusion. EGFR expression levels in the premalignant lesion appear to be a sensitive factor in predicting the neoplastic potential. This suggests that EGFR may serve as a biological marker to identify high-risk subgroups and guide prophylactic therapy with chemopreventive drugs or surgical intervention to prevent progression to carcinoma. Hence, further investigations in the direction of chemopreventive trials with a larger sample size are suggested to determine its role in the head and neck tumorigenesis.

In the field of medicine or dentistry, cancer is one of the most common causes for death of the individual worldwide, in which oral cancer accounts for about 10% of it. One of the most important treatment modalities for cancer includes radiotherapy. During radiotherapy, exposure of the normal tissue to these ionizing radiations, results in mutagenesis and cell death. Several modalities and clinical approaches have been made to reduce these early and late complications of the radiotherapies and one among them is, by the means of pharmacological agents. Many experimental and clinical studies have given rise to new concepts of chemical and molecular pharmacological agents that could be effective in protection and treatment of radiation damage to surrounding normal tissues. Clinical Significance:To reduce the significant complications in irradiated patients, the clinical implication of these radioprotective agents have emerged as potential drugs and with anti-tumour effect in the radiotherapy of various cancers including oral carcinomas.