• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.317-322
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• 2008

The moderners of industrial society suffer from various stresses, which bring about increase in prevalence of temporomandibular disorders, oral mucosal disease and chronic neuropathic pain, therefore, the number of patients seeking help of those symptoms tend to increase. The purpose of this study was to discuss the importance of oral medicine related disease by investigating questions that appeared in cyber consultation of Kangnung National University Dental Hospital web site. Among the nearly 2000 questions, the rate of questions related to oral medicine was 20.92%, and the rate of questions related to other departments were oral and maxillofacial surgery 16.87%, conservative dentistry 16.67%, orthodontics 14.02%, prosthodontics 12.25%, periodontics 8.36%, pediatric dentistry 4.93%, preventive dentistry 2.08% and otherwise questions 3.90%. Among the 403 questions related to oral medicine, the frequent questions were oral mucosal diseases 44.17%, temporomandibular disorders 41.19%, halitosis 4.47%, xerostomia 3.23%, other orofacial pain 2.23%, forensic dentistry 1.49% and otherwise questions 2.98%. From the higher rate of questions related to oral medicine compared with other fields of dentistry, we would consider that the people are considerably concerned about the oral medicine related disease, such as oral mucosal diseases and temporomandibular disorders.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2016

Purpose: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic pain condition involving the oral and perioral regions, often characterized by a burning sensation and pain in elderly patients. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of pharmacological agents for the treatment of BMS patients through a retrospective chart review. Methods: We enrolled 61 BMS subjects (57 females, 4 males; $66.4{\pm}10.9$ years of age) from among consecutive patients treated pharmacologically from January 2014 to June 2015 at Chonnam National University Dental Hospital. Patients with secondary BMS associated with local factors were excluded. The treatment period, number of pharmacological agents tried, and effectiveness of the drugs administered to each subject were analyzed. Results: The mean treatment period for the management of BMS was 2.5 months. More than three agents were tried to control BMS symptoms in 17 subjects (27.9%); two agents were used in 10 subjects (16.4%), and a single agent in 24 subjects (39.3%). Clonazepam was prescribed most frequently and was effective at relieving symptoms in 30 of 39 subjects (76.9%). Paroxetine was moderately effective, relieving symptoms in 7 of 17 subjects (41.2%). Some of the subjects benefited from tricyclic antidepressants, gabapentin, and lipoic acid. A topical local anesthetic used to supplement other systemic agents had ameliorating effects in four of six subjects. Conclusions: Within the study limitations, clonazepam was the most effective drug and antidepressants were efficacious in some subjects for relieving the symptoms of BMS. These pharmacological agents could be considered as first-line drugs for the management of BMS.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate Tension-type headache associated with pericranial tenderness and Headache attributed to temporomandibular joint disorder among Characteristic pain index, Disability points, Chronic pain grade, Depression index, Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items included), Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items excluded), Jaw disability score using RDC/TMD Axis II. Eighty five patients who visited the Kyung Hee University Dental Hospital were diagnosed as Tension-type headache associated with pericranial tenderness(n=48) and Headache attributed to temporomandibular joint disorder(n=37) by the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd Edition, and were administered the Korean versions of the RDC/TMD Axis II- Characteristic pain index, Disability points, Chronic pain grade, Depression index, Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items included), Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items excluded), Jaw disability score. Then it was analyzed statistically by SPSS(ver. 10.0). T-test, The Wilcoxon-signed rank test and Mann-Whitney U test (p<0.05) were used. There were no significant differences in Characteristic pain index, Disability points, Chronic pain grade, Depression index, Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items included), Nonspecific physical symptoms (pain items excluded), Jaw disability score between two groups. Tension type headache associated with pericranial tenderness and Headache attributed to temporomandibular joint disorder showed similar Axis II feature. Tension-type headache associated with pericranial tenderness may be related to Headache attributed to temporomandibular joint disorder.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.233-242
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• 2012

The purposes of this study were to compare psychological profiles, to investigate the differences in the clinical characteristics, and to compare treatment outcomes between myogenous pain and arthrogenous pain subgroups of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) based on Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD). Two hundred and fifty two patients diagnosed as TMD were divided into three groups based on the RDC/TMD axis I diagnostic guidelines; myogenous pain group, arthrogenous pain group, and mixed pain (both myogenous pain and arthrogenous pain) group. RDC/TMD history questionnaire was administered to each patient and depression, somatization, jaw disability, pain intensity, disability days, and graded chronic pain scale were analyzed. Bruxism, clenching, insomnia, headache, and unilateral chewing were assessed in a standardized TMD dysfunction questionnaire and the duration of onset, chronicity of pain, treatment period, the effectiveness of the treatment, and improvement of symptoms also analyzed. Myogenous pain group had higher depression (p=0.002), and somatization scales (p<0.001) than the arthrogenous pain group. Mixed pain group showed higher pain intensity (p=0.008), disability days (p<0.001), graded chronic pain scale (p=0.005), somatization (p<0.001), and depression scores (p=0.002) than the arthrogenous pain group. Jaw disability did not show any significant differences among the three groups (p=0.058). Arthrogenous pain group reported more limitation of mouth opening than myogenous pain group (p=0.007). Duration of onset showed that the arthrogenous pain group had lowest prevalence of chronicity among three groups (p=0.002). Mixed pain group patients showed lowest symptom improvements among three groups (p=0.007). Multiple linear regression analysis results showed that the treatment effectiveness was significantly associated with somatization score (${\beta}$=-0.251, p=0.03).

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2015

The activation of glial cells in the spinal cord has been contribute to the initiation and maintenance of pain facilitation induced by peripheral inflammation and nerve injury. The present study investigated effects of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A), injected subcutaneously or intracisternally, on the expression of microglia and astrocytes in rats. Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammation was employed as an orofacial chronic inflammatory pain model. A subcutaneous injection of $40{\mu}L$ CFA into the vibrissa pad was performed under 3% isoflurane anesthesia in SD rats. Immunohistochemical analysis for changes in Iba1 (a microglia marker) and GFAP (an astrocyte marker), were performed 5 days after CFA injection. Subcutaneous injection of CFA produced increases in Iba1 and GFAP expression, in the ipsilateral superficial lamia I and II in the medullary dorsal horn of rats. Subcutaneous treatment with BoNT-A attenuated the up-regulation of Iba1 and GFAP expressions induced by CFA injection. Moreover, intracisternal injection of BoNT-A also attenuated the up-regulated Iba1 and GFAP expressions. These results suggest that the anti-nociceptive action of BoNT-A is mediated by modulation activation of glial cells, including microglia and astrocyte.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aims to assess the psychological characteristics of patients with iatrogenic damage of the trigeminal nerve using Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Methods: A total of 22 patients who visited the clinic of Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Chosun University were evaluated in the months from December 2012 to December 2014. Patients were included in the study if they presented with reported sensory changes due to iatrogenic trigeminal nerve injury. A total of 37 control group who has no symptoms of pain and sensory change were included in the study. All participants filled out the SCL-90-R instrument to assess psychosocial symptoms. Results: The T-scores of most of the SCL-90-R symptom dimensions were within normal range (less than 55) in the patients and the control group. The patients group showed higher T-scores of SCL-90-R than those of the control group, with statistically significance of somatization, anxiety, psychoticism, and positive symptoms distress. Female patients group had higher Tscores of SCL-90-R than those of male patients group, but there was no statistical difference, except for the positive symptom global index. The chronic patients group showed higher Tscores of SCL-90-R than those of the acute patients group, but there was no statistical difference, except for the Positive symptom global index. Conclusions: According to the psychological assessment of iatrogenic trigeminal nerve injury patients using SCL-90-R, the patients group, as compared to the control group shows a significantly higher score for somatization, anxiety, and psychoticism. Therefore, assessment of psychological state would be considered to treat patients with iatrogenic trigeminal nerve injury.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2013

With Korea's rapid entry to aged society, elderly population has become a major age group both in the whole society and medical field and its importance will be constantly stressed out. Elderly population is also important in the field of oral medicine which deals with chronic and recurrent diseases in the orofacial region of non-dental origin but there exist few studies indicating epidemiology of elderly patients in this regards. This study aimed to investigate change of age distribution of new patients in a university-based dental hospital and oral medicine clinic for last decade and to investigate clinical epidemiology of elderly patients (${\geq}$ 65 years) of oral medicine clinic. This study was performed retrospectively using medical records of the new patients in Dankook University Dental Hospital in 2001 and 2011. According to the study, percentage of elderly new patients increased in both dental hospital and oral medicine clinic and degree of the increase was greater in oral medicine clinic than in the whole hospital (p=0.000). 13.5% of adult patients ${\geq}$ 18 years of oral medicine clinic were elderly patients ${\geq}$ 65 years. 83% of elderly patients were suffering from one or more systemic diseases. Although TMD was the most common reason for elderly patients who visited oral medicine clinic, oral soft tissue diseases, dry mouth, burning mouth syndrome and oromandibular dystonia was more frequently diagnosed in elderly patients compared to adult patients aged 18 to 64 years. Pain severity and interference of Brief Pain Inventory and depression and anxiety scores of Hospital Anxiety Depression Scales were higher in elderly patients than in the adult patients (p<0.05). Increase of elderly patients with chronic oral diseases and pain needs more attention of dentists and specialists of oral medicine to improvement of assessment and development of tailored management because large portion of the elderly patients have systemic diseases, polypharmacy and impaired communication, possibly restricting treatment options.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2010

Burning mouth syndrome(BMS) is a chronic oral pain and a symptom complex disorder usually unaccomplished by mucosal lesion or other clinical and laboratory signs of organic disease. BMS is characterized by a spontaneous burning sensation that mainly affects middle-aged and postmenopausal women. The etiology of BMS is poorly understood even though evidence for a possible neuropathic pathogenesis. BMS cause from various local or systemic factor, including nutritional deficiencies, hormonal change, local infection, dental procedure, dry mouth, medication and systemic disease including diabetes mellitus. Many studies suggest peripheral alteration in sensory of trigeminal nerve system. BMS patients with supertaster indicates pathologies of central and peripheral nerve system induced by an alteration in the taste system at the level of chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal nerve. The author discuss our current understanding of etiology and pathogenesis of BMS that refered chronic oral pain.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2012

To evaluate the treatment outcome of occlusal stabilizing splint in patients with TMJ osteoarthritis, the 76 subjects were chosen among the patients who presented to the Department of Oral medicine of Pusan National University Hospital, diagnosed as TMJ osteoarthritis by cone beam computed tomography, x-ray and clinical exam, and treated with occlusal stabilizing splint from 2009 to 2011. They were treated with physical therapy and medication before occlusal stabilizing splint delivery and checked monthly after occlusal stabilizing splint delivery. Subjective symptoms and clinical findings were investigated to evaluate and compare the subjects' status at the first visit, splint delivery visit and the last visit. The results were as follows; 1. Pain, noise, LOM and MCO were significantly improved between the first visit and occlusal stabilizing splint delivery visit, and between occlusal stabilizing splint delivery and the last visit. 2. In the acute group, pain and noise were significantly improved between the first visit and occlusal stabilizing splint delivery visit. Pain, LOM and MCO were significantly improved between splint delivery visit and the last visit 3. In the chronic group, pain, noise and LOM were significantly improved between occlusal stabilizing splint delivery visit and the last visit.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.141-152
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• 1996

Oral Lichen Planus(OLP) is a idiopathic chronic inflammatory disease with more difficult to clear and higher recurrent rate than cutaneous lesions. But, there has been no estabilished theories about the proper treatment for OLP. The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical feature, relationship with systemic disease and dental treatment of OLP patients of Korea and to gain helpful information about clinical characteristics and treatment of OLP. The subjects chosen for the study were 54 patients who had visited Department of Oral Diagnosis & Oral Medicine at Yonsei University Dental Hospital Dental Hospital and diagnosed as OLP. Previous clinical records has been reviewed and questionnaires, oral examination, laboratory examination were done and recorded. The following results were obtained : 1. Of the 54 patients, 21 were men and 33 were women with an average age of 47.8 years. 2. The most common intraoral site was bilateral buccal mucosa, followed by unilateral buccal mucosa, gingiva, vesibule, lip mucosa, glossal mucosa, palatal mucosa and mouth floor. 3. The mixed, erosive and reticular form of OLP was most frequent(83.3%) clinical form. 4. OLP patients with liver disease were 5, and drug medication patients were 7. But, we could not find its evidence of association with OLP. 5. Associated events on onset of symptom were stress, denture wearing, dental treatemtn, and common cold. 6. Associated symptoms were dry mouth, tingling, sore throat, and altered taste perception. 30.8% of patients had no specific associated symptoms. 7. Aggravating factors of symptom were peppery food, hot food, fatigue, toothpaste, salty food, sour food, tension, and conversation. Reducing factors were cold food, sleeping. 69.2% of patients had no specific reducing factors. 8. There were no significant differences between normal papulation and OLP patients in CBC, SGOT< SGPT, Serum iron, Total iron binding capacity. 66.7% of subjects were positive response to fungus study for Candida Albicans. The incidence of stress and dental treatment on onset of symptom appeared high in OLP patients. Especially, high incidence of positive response to fungus study for Candida albicans, prescription of anti-fungal agents and dental treatment considerations may be helpful to treatment of OLP.