• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.93-97
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• 2021

The limited mouth opening, also known as trismus, can result from temporomandibular joint disorders, infection, neoplasm, trauma, and abnormal anatomic structure like coronoid hyperplasia. Head and neck cancer patients often complain of limited mouth opening, which is usually induced by myofibrotic contracture of masticatory muscle. But clinicians should consider any reasons such as infection or cancer growth and metastasis if trismus gets worse or pain develops. We report the case of the patient, who was diagnosed with myxofibrosarcoma on nasal cavity. He had suffered from trismus after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. However, pain had developed and trismus had worsened. He was diagnosed with infratemporal space abscess and myositis of masticatory muscles.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.123-126
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• 2019

Vestibular schwannoma, also known as acoustic neuroma, is a rare benign brainstem tumor surrounding the vestibular division of the 8th cranial nerve. The presenting symptoms are hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness. Unabated growth can compress 5th (trigeminal nerve) and 7th (facial nerve) cranial nerve, which can cause nerve dysfunction such as orofacial pain, sensory abnormalities, or trigeminal neuralgia. We report a 51-year-old woman who presented with orofacial dysesthesia on her left side of the face with abnormal findings on 5th cranial nerve and 8th (vestibulocochlear nerve) cranial nerve examination. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed cerebellopontine angle tumor. She was referred to a neurosurgeon and diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제40권2호
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• pp.41-46
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate a correlation among oral hygiene habits, dryness of mouth, and self-perceived oral malodor and therefore to find out self-care methods which could be a help to reduce oral malodor. Methods: A survey of 296 dental undergraduate students of School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, who wrote consents voluntarily and participated in this study, was conducted using a questionnaire consisting of 17 questions and analyzed to investigate a correlation among oral hygiene habits (frequency of tooth brushing, water gargling, and drinking water, etc.), dryness of mouth indicating the amount of salivary secretion, and self-perceived oral malodor. Results: There was no significant correlation between mechanical cleaning factors and self-perceived oral malodor. The factor showing a strong correlation with severe self-perceived oral malodor was dryness of mouth (p=0.000). Conclusions: There was no correlation between mechanical cleaning habits and self-perceived oral malodor. Participants who felt self-perceived oral malodor more tended to have rather good mechanical cleaning habits. The factor showing a strong correlation with severe self-perceived oral malodor was dryness of mouth. Therefore trying to increase salivary secretion is considered to be a help to reduce self-perceived halitosis.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.174-180
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• 2023

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a chronic autoimmune bullous disease caused by autoantibodies to proteins in the oral mucosa and skin. It is a rare disease with an annual incidence of 2.059 per million in South Korea. In many patients with PV, oral mucosal lesions precede other lesions elsewhere, and oral lesions can be the only manifestation. Early diagnosis is important because the disease has a high mortality rate if untreated appropriately in the early stages, and rapid treatment initiation is associated with rapid disease control. Oral PV lesions are clinically variable. In this study, we describe oral PV lesions in a 60-year-old woman, a 75-year-old man, and a 60-year-old man presenting with various clinical presentations. Oral PV lesions can affect any part of the oral mucosa, including the buccal mucosa, gingiva, tongue, palate, and free mucosa, and can vary in appearance from desquamative gingivitis, painful ulcers, and erosions to aphthous-like stomatitis. Clinicians should be aware of the difficulty of early diagnosis in PV, particularly when oral lesions are the only manifestation, and should consider many factors, including the patient's age, to make an accurate diagnosis and manage oral lesions to improve the patient's quality of life and avoid delayed diagnosis.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제49권3호
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• pp.65-70
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• 2024

This paper highlights the importance of oral manifestations as indicators for early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) detection through two case studies. HIV, responsible for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), damages CD4+ T-lymphocytes, leading to severe immunosuppression and increased vulnerability to various infections. Oral lesions often appear early in HIV infection and can signal disease progression. The study underscores the role of dentists in identifying these lesions, which can serve as crucial markers for HIV. We used two cases to illustrate the importance of screening in HIV patients. The first was a patient presented with oral soreness and a mass on his tongue. Despite having a positive HIV test result in a previous medical examination, but patient had intentionally concealed his infection. The second was a patient experienced dry mouth and burning sensation, with symptoms unresponsive to repeated antifungal treatments and suspected esophageal fungal infection. This led to the discovery of an HIV-positive status in a patient previously unaware of his infection. In both cases, oral manifestations played a crucial role in the early diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. These manifestations can be particularly useful for identifying HIV in patients who are asymptomatic or unaware of their status. Although oral lesions, such as oral candidiasis and oral hairy leukoplakia, are not exclusive to HIV but are more prevalent and severe in HIV-positive individuals. The findings support routine HIV screening and the critical role of dentists in recognizing oral signs of HIV infection to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.54-62
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• 2021

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterized by the presence of lymphocytic infiltration of exocrine glands and other organs. Due to the rarity of SS, it is frequently overlooked by dentists as a cause of xerostomia. Clinicians should be aware that patients may have oral complications from SS including oral mucosal pain caused by frictional damage. Use of the latest diagnostic criteria approved by the American College of Rheumatology/European League against Rheumatism in 2016 for SS diagnosis provides the advantage of early identification of patients who have not yet developed dry mouth symptoms. A case of primary SS with the chief complaint of oral mucosal pain caused by mucosal damage associated with dry mouth is presented here. This case represents the importance of recognizing oral complications of xerostomia caused by SS, and illustrates use of the latest diagnostic criteria to diagnose the suspected symptoms by dental clinicians, who typically might be the first medical professional to encounter these symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.331-341
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• 2022

This systematic review evaluates current evidence regarding the feasibility of using needleless jet injection instead of a conventional local anesthetic needle. EBSCO, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to identify relevant literature published in English from 2005 to 2020. Ten studies were selected. Five of them were randomized clinical trials, 3 case-control studies, and 2 equivalence trials. Using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist, 6 studies scored between 67% and 100%, and 4 studies scored between 34% and 66%. According to Jadad's scale, 2 studies were considered strong, and 8 studies were considered moderate in quality. The results of the 10 studies showed differences in patient preference for needleless jet injection. Needleless injection technique has been found to be particularly useful in uncooperative patients with anxiety and needle phobia. Needleless jet injection is not technique sensitive. However, with needleless jet anesthesia, most treatments require additional anesthesia. Conventional needle anesthesia is less costly, has a longer duration of action, and has better pain control during dental extraction. Needleless jet anesthesia has been shown to be moderately accepted by patients with a fear of needles, has a faster onset of action, and is an efficient alternative to conventional infiltration anesthesia technique.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.49-52
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• 2017

Leukemia is a malignant disease characterized by uncontrolled clonal proliferation of white blood cells. It is classified depending on clinical course of disease (acute or chronic) and the primary hematopoietic cell line affected (myeloid or lymphoid). Leukemia is often associated with orofacial manifestations, such as oral bleeding, petechiae, oral ulceration, gingival enlargement, mucosal pallor and mental nerve neuropathy. However, trismus has been rarely reported as a sign of leukemia. We present a case of trismus caused by acute lymphoblastic leukemia and emphasize the importance of orofacial manifestations in the early diagnosis of leukemia.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.318-323
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• 2000

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.63-68
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• 2021

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is a heterogeneous group of chronic, autoimmune subepithelial blistering diseases, predominantly involving oral mucosal membrane. Because of its pathophysiology of autoimmune reaction, MMP-related gingivitis would not respond to conventional periodontal treatments. We present a case of a 65-year-old female with a chief complaint of chronic generalized buccal gingivitis, unimproved after periodontal treatment for four months. Based on the clinical findings, histological examination, and direct immunofluorescence microscopy, it was diagnosed as MMP. The symptoms were relieved with immunomodulatory therapy using corticosteroids and the supportive management of professional plaque control. MMP can cause pathological involvement throughout the oral and other mucosae of the body, thus leading to functional impairment through repeated inflammatory cascades. Therefore, accurate diagnosis is essential to properly manage local and possible systemic complications of MMP.