Background:According to World Oral Health report 2003, the prevalence of periodontitis is 86% in India. Dental care can sometimes be a forgotten part of a healthy life style. While its importance is often underestimated, the need for regular dental care cannot be overstated. Oral health has been neglected for long in India. The scarce literature on dental health awareness, attitude, oral health-related habits and behavior among the adult population in Rajasthan prompted us to assess the preventive oral health awareness and oral hygiene practices in patients attending outpatient department of Vyas Dental College and Hospital (VDCH), Jodhpur through this study.Materials and Methods:A total of 500 patients in the age group 15–50 years were selected using random sampling technique. A self-administered structured questionnaire including 16 multiple choice questions was given to them. The results were analyzed using percentage.Results:The result of this study shows an acute lack of oral hygiene awareness and limited knowledge of oral hygiene practices. In Jodhpur, few people use tooth brush.Conclusions:Hence, there is an urgent need for comprehensive educational programs to promote good oral health and impart education about correct oral hygiene practices.

Objective: This study was designed to test the hypothesis that alterations in expression of G₁/S modulators cyclin D1, p16 and pRb occur in patients with oral epithelial dysplasia, considered to be at increased risk for malignant transformation. In addition, the analysis of expression of all three markers in the same set of oral cancer patients would provide a unique opportunity to determine whether these alterations have cooperative or synergistic effects on oral cancer development and prognosis. Patients and Methods: A prospective study was undertaken to carry out immunohistochemical analysis of cyclin D1, p16 and pRb proteins in serial paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 220 oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs), 90 potentially malignant lesions (52 oral hyperplastic lesions, 38 dysplasias) and 81 matched histologically normal oral tissues and correlated them with clinicopathological parameters. Ninety-eight OSCC patients were followed up for a maximum period of 94 months with overall median survival of 21 months. Results: Seventy-five of 90 (83%) potentially malignant lesions and 198 of 220 (90%) OSCCs showed altered expression of at least one of the proteins in the pRb pathway, while 10 of 90 (11%) patients with potentially malignant lesions and 40 (18%) of 220 OSCC patients showed all three alterations. Loss of p16 was the earliest event in oral tumorigenesis. In a multivariate model, loss of pRb was associated with transition from hyperplasia to dysplasia (OR = 3.727, p = 0.005). The transition of potentially malignant lesions to malignant stage was associated with pRb–/cyclin D1+ phenotype (OR = 2.294, p = 0.001) and p53+ phenotype (OR = 2.230, p = 0.002). Loss of pRb and accumulation of p53 (pRb–/p53+) phenotype was associated with histologic progression of the tumors and acquisition of invasive potential. Multivariate analysis using Cox’s proportional hazards model revealed that pRb–/p53+ phenotype was the most significant adverse prognosticator for disease-free survival (hazards ratio, (HR) = 2.642, p = 0.004). Conclusions: Deregulation of the p16/pRb/cyclin D1 pathway is an early event in acquisition of dysplasia, but deregulation of both pRb and p53 pathways is associated with malignant transformation and adverse prognosis in oral tumorigenesis.

This study suggests that a routine preprocedural mouthrinse could eliminate the majority of bacterial aerosols generated by the use of an ultrasonic unit, and that 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate is more effective than herbal mouthwash.

Key words: stromelysin; matrix metalloproteinase; oral cancerMMPs are a family of closely related Zn 2ϩ -dependent endopeptidases, involved in degradation of ECM and basement membrane in a substrate-dependent manner, leading to tumour invasion and metastasis. 1,2 In addition, MMPs play important roles in angiogenesis, tumour cell intravasation and malignant cell proliferation. 3,4 ST3, an MMP originally identified by its overexpression in primary breast carcinomas, 5 exhibits some characteristic features, including the inability to degrade any major ECM component, 6 intracellular processing of pro-ST3 by furin-dependent proteolytic cleavage and secretion in a potentially active form, 7 suggesting that it may have a unique role among the MMPs. Normal ST3 expression is associated with intense tissue remodelling during tissue involution, embryogenesis and wound healing. 8 -10 In a syngeneic tumorigenesis model in mice, ST3-increased tumorigenesis was shown to result from decreased cancer cell death through apoptosis and necrosis, suggesting that during malignancy the cellular function of ST3 is to favour survival of cancer cells in the stromal environment. 11 In most human cancers, ST3 expression has been observed in stromal fibroblasts surrounding malignant epithelial cells and suggested to promote tumorigenesis in a paracrine manner. 12,13 Strong ST3 expression has been correlated with increased aggressiveness of tumours and a poor clinical outcome. 14 In breast carcinomas, high levels of ST3 mRNA and protein correlated with poor clinical outcome. 15,16 ST3 expression was also observed in lung, colorectal and ovarian carcinomas. [17][18][19] Betel and tobacco consumption is the major cause of the high incidence of oral cancer, accounting for about 40% of all malignancies in the Indian subcontinent. SCC of the oral cavity is the most common cancer amongst Indian males and the third most common cancer among females. 20 The development of betel-and tobacco-associated oral SCC is a multistep process, clinically preceded by precancerous lesions, often leukoplakia, with histologic evidence of hyperplasia or dysplasia, the rate of malignant transformation being 5-10% over a period of 10 years. 21 Oral SCCs have a high potential for invasiveness leading to regional lymph node involvement and locoregional spread, causing severe morbidity. Elucidation of the factors affecting invasion and locoregional spread and identification of useful biomarkers to predict malignant potential are important for effective management of oral cancer. ST3 expression has been observed in head-and-neck cancer. 22,23 However, the role of ST3 in precancerous oral lesions remains to be comprehensively evaluated. Our aim was to determine the clinical significance of ST3 expression in early stages of oral tumour development and determine its relationship with intratumoral MVD as a parameter of angiogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Tissue specimensOur study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New D...

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