Objectives: To estimate the nicotine content of some popular Indian brands of smoking tobacco (cigarettes and bidis) and pan masalas (chewable tobacco). Materials and Methods: Commercially available cigarettes, bidis, and pan masalas (chewable tobacco) were obtained from local retail outlets for the study. Nicotine was estimated using gas-liquid chromatography. Results: The analyses showed relatively higher levels of nicotine in tobacco from bidis (26.9 mg gm) as compared to cigarettes(15 mg/gm); the difference is stastically significant ( P < 0.001). The nicotine concentration of tobacco from filtered cigarettes averaged 14.5 mg/gm whereas unfiltered cigarettes averaged 15.6 mg/gm; the difference was not stastically significant ( P > 0.01). Nicotine concentration in chewing tobacco was 3.4 mg/gm. Conclusion: The study concludes that the nicotine content of Indian brands of smoking tobacco was slightly high compared to other international brands. Higher concentration of nicotine was found in bidis compared to cigarettes. The nicotine content in commercially available chewing tobacco products was found to be much lower than in the smoking form of tobacco, but the average daily consumption made it comparable to the smoking form.

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Bleeding is a common sequela of oral and periodontal surgery. Generally, bleeding is self-limiting. Following traumatic injury or surgical procedures, hemorrhage can range from a minor leakage or oozing at the site, to extensive bleeding leading to complete exsanguinations. Significant postsurgical hemorrhage following periodontal surgery is uncommon due to the primary closure of the soft tissues. This case report describes the unique formation of a "liver clot" or "currant jelly clot" following periodontal flap surgery. The likelihood of this may be attributed to many factors, like infection, intrinsic trauma, presence of foreign bodies like splinter of bone, a fleck of enamel, or a piece of dental restorative dressing material that may cause repeated, delayed organization of blood coagulum.

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Background: Oil pulling has been used extensively as a traditional Indian folk remedy for many years for strengthening teeth, gums, and the jaw and to prevent decay, oral malodor, bleeding gums, dryness of the throat, and cracked lips. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of oil pulling with sesame oil on plaque-induced gingivitis and to compare its efficacy with chlorhexidine mouthwash. Materials and Methods : A total of 20 age-matched adolescent boys with plaque-induced gingivitis were selected for this study. They were divided randomly into the study or oil pulling group (Group I) and the control or chlorhexidine group (Group II) with 10 subjects in each group. Plaque index and modified gingival index scores were recorded for the 20 subjects and baseline plaque samples were also collected. The plaque samples were used to identify the microorganisms and to measure the total colony count of the aerobic microorganisms present. The study group was subjected to oil pulling with sesame oil and the control group was given chlorhexidine mouthwash everyday in the morning before brushing. Reassessment of the index scores and collection of plaque for measuring the colony count of the aerobic microorganisms was done after 10 days. Results: There was a statistically significant reduction of the pre- and post-values of the plaque and modified gingival index scores in both the study and control groups ( P < 0.001 in both). There was a considerable reduction in the total colony count of aerobic microorganisms present in both the groups. Conclusion: The oil pulling therapy showed a reduction in the plaque index, modified gingival scores, and total colony count of aerobic microorganisms in the plaque of adolescents with plaque-induced gingivitis.

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The interrelationship between periodontal and endodontic disease has aroused confusion, queries and controversy. Differentiating between periodontal and endodontic problems can be difficult. A symptomatic tooth may have pain of periodontal and/or pulpal origin. The nature of that pain is often the first clue in determining the etiology of such a problem. Radiographic and clinical evaluation can help clarify the nature of the problem. In some cases, the influence of pulpal pathology may create periodontal involvement. In others, periodontal pathology may create pulpal pathology. This review article discusses the various clinical aspects to be considered for accurately diagnosing and treating endo-perio lesions.

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Fungal infections in humans occur as a result of defects in the immune system. An increasing emergence in oral Candidal and non-Candidal fungal infections is evident in the past decade owing to the rise in the immunodeficient and immunocompromised population globally. Oral Candidal infection usually involves a compromised host and the compromise may be local or systemic. Local compromising factors include decreased salivation, poor oral hygiene, wearing dentures among others while systemic factors include diabetes mellitus, nutritional deficiency, HIV infection/AIDS and others. Oral candidiasis is generally a localized infection and rarely appears as a systemic fungal disease whereas oral non-Candidal fungal infections are usually signs of disseminated disease. Some of the non-Candidal fungi that were once considered exotic and geographically restricted are now seen worldwide, beyond their natural habitat, probably attributed to globalization and travels. Currently infections from these fungi are more prevalent than before and they may present either as primary oral lesions or as oral manifestations of systemic mycoses. This review discusses the various predisposing factors, clinical presentations, clinical differential diagnosis, diagnosis and management of oral candidiasis, as well as briefly highlights upon a few of the more exotic non-Candidal fungi that infect the oral mucosa.

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The aim of this paper is to review the literature and identify orofacial manifestations of hematological diseases, with particular reference to anemias and disorders of hemostasis. A computerized literature search using MEDLINE was conducted for published articles on orofacial manifestations of hematological diseases, with emphasis on anemia. Mesh phrases used in the search were: oral diseases AND anaemia; orofacial diseases AND anaemia; orofacial lesions AND anaemia; orofacial manifestations AND disorders of haemostasis. The Boolean operator "AND" was used to combine and narrow the searches. Anemic disorders associated with orofacial signs and symptoms include iron deficiency anemia, Plummer-Vinson syndrome, megaloblastic anemia, sickle cell anemia, thalassaemia and aplastic anemia. The manifestations include conjunctiva and facial pallor, atrophic glossitis, angular stomatitis, dysphagia, magenta tongue, midfacial overgrowth, osteoclerosis, osteomyelitis and paraesthesia/anesthesia of the mental nerve. Orofacial petechiae, conjunctivae hemorrhage, nose-bleeding, spontaneous and post-traumatic gingival hemorrhage and prolonged post-extraction bleeding are common orofacial manifestations of inherited hemostatic disorders such as von Willebrand's disease and hemophilia. A wide array of anemic and hemostatic disorders encountered in internal medicine has manifestations in the oral cavity and the facial region. Most of these manifestations are non-specific, but should alert the hematologist and the dental surgeon to the possibilities of a concurrent disease of hemopoiesis or hemostasis or a latent one that may subsequently manifest itself.

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Turmeric has been used for thousands of years as a dye, a flavoring, and a medicinal herb. In India, it has been used traditionally as a remedy for stomach and liver ailments, as well as topically to heal sores. Ancient Indian medicine has touted turmeric as an herb with the ability to provide glow and luster to the skin as well as vigor and vitality to the entire body. Since turmeric has antimicrobial, antioxidant, astringent, and other useful properties, it is quite useful in Dentistry also. The objective of this article is to highlight various uses of turmeric in the dental field along with its use in medical problems.

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Dental caries is one of the most common diseases in humans. In modern times, it has reached epidemic proportions. Dental caries is an infectious microbiologic disease of the teeth that results in localized dissolution and destruction of the calcified tissue. Dental caries is a mulitifactorial disease, which is caused by host, agent, and environmental factors. The time factor is important for the development and progression of dental caries. A wide group of microorganisms are identified from carious lesions of which S. mutans , Lactobacillus acidophilus , and Actinomyces viscosus are the main pathogenic species involved in the initiation and development of dental caries. In India, surveys done on school children showed caries prevalence of approximately 58%. Surveys among the U.S. population showed an incidence of 45.3% in children and 93.8% in adults with either past or present coronal caries. Huge amounts of money and time are spent in treating dental caries. Hence, the prevention and control of dental caries is the main aim of public health, eventually the ultimate objective of public health is the elimination of the disease itself. Recently, dental caries vaccines have been developed for the prevention of dental caries. These dental caries vaccines are still in the early stages.

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Nail biting is a stress removing habit adopted by many children and adults. People usually do it when they are nervous, stressed, hungry, or bored. All of these situations are having a common phenomenon between them is anxiety. Onychophagia is also a sign of other emotional or mental disorders. It is a habit that is not easy to quit and reflection of extreme nervousness or inability to handle stressful conditions. This abnormal habit may cause various malocclusions associated with dentoalveolar segment of the oral cavity. Crowding and rotations of incisors are common with this habit.

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Denture stomatitis, periodontitis, and peri-implantitis are the growing problems in restorative dentistry. Chemicals play an important role as an adjuvant to mechanical cleaning of teeth, implants, surrounding tissues, and prostheses. Current mouth rinses are reported to affect the tissues and prostheses if used on a long-term basis. Sodium bicarbonate, the common baking soda, has been reported to be versatile. A search of the resources through Medline and Google Scholar was made to understand the current status of the mouth rinses and the use of sodium bicarbonate. Different MeSH and search criteria were used for the different search engines. Baking soda, being a common household item, with its ready availability, safety, minimal abrasivity, and bactericidal property makes it a patient-friendly mouthwash, component in the dentifrice, or chewing gum, which can be used on a long-term basis as an adjunct virtually free of any side effects.

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Eruption cyst is a benign cyst associated with a primary or permanent tooth in its soft tissue phase after erupting through the bone. It is most prevalent in the Caucasian race. Intraoral examination of four patients revealed eruption cyst. Among these, in three patients it occurred in the maxillary arch and one had it in the mandibular arch. All were associated with permanent tooth. Surgical treatment was done in three cases and in one case the cyst disappeared gradually and tooth erupted in normal pattern. Four cases of eruption cyst from India are presented and literature on this condition is reviewed. It is clinically significant in that knowledge among general dentists is very essential regarding this developmental disturbance to reach the correct diagnosis and to provide proper treatment.

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Aim: To give notation for quadrants, tooth position, and the type of supernumerary teeth for both permanent and deciduous dentition. Tooth numbering provides dentists with an essential shortcut in clinical record keeping. Materials and Methods: Three systems are favored worldwide: the Zsigmondy/Palmer system, the Universal system, and the Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) Two-Digit system. Histories of all tooth-numbering methods were traced and the strengths and deficiencies of each system were reviewed. The FDI Two-Digit system is widely used throughout the world, except USA, and is the only method that makes the visual sense, cognitive sense, and computer sense. Conclusion: On review it was noticed that all tooth notation systems in vogue have a drawback as they do not provide any information or notations for supernumerary teeth such as paramolar, distomolar, mesiodens, and fused teeth.

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Background: Gingival recession is one of the most usual esthetic concerns associated with the periodontal tissues. Classification of such condition is important to diagnose, determine the prognosis, and frame the treatment plan. Various classifications have been put forward since decades to classify gingival recession. Miller's classification is the widely used classification among all classifications, but certain drawbacks have been noted in this classification. Therefore, an effort is made to review most commonly used classification systems for gingival recession, and their drawbacks further come up with a proposal of new classification system for gingival recession.

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Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a platelet concentrate that has been used widely to accelerate soft-tissue and hard-tissue healing. The preparation of PRP has been described by several authors. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) was first described by Choukroun et al. in France. It has been referred to as a second-generation platelet concentrate, which has been shown to have several advantages over traditionally prepared PRP. Its chief advantages include ease of preparation and lack of biochemical handling of blood, which makes this preparation strictly autologous. This article describes the evolution of this novel platelet concentrate, referred to as PRF.

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This article, the fourth in the series titled 'Dentistry and Ayurveda,' describes in brief the panchakarma therapy, which is a distinctive feature of the Ayurvedic method of detoxifying the body. The various therapies and medicines used in Ayurveda have been elaborated. Further, an attempt has been made to correlate dental diseases in Ayurveda with the modern-day classification, clinical features, and management.

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Fluoride has been described as an essential element needed for normal development and growth of animals and extremely useful for human beings. Fluoride is abundant in the environment and the main source of fluoride to humans is drinking water. It has been proved to be beneficial in recommended doses, and at the same time its toxicity at higher levels has also been well established. Fluoride gets accumulated in hard tissues of the body and has been know to play an important role in mineralization of bone and teeth. At high levels it has been known to cause dental and skeletal fluorosis. There are suggested effects of very high levels of fluoride on various body organs and genetic material. The purpose of this paper is to review the various aspects of fluoride and its importance in human life.

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Removal of a permanently cemented crown or fixed partial denture is a cumbersome procedure for a prosthodontist, especially when there is no purchase point available to remove it. The technique described in this article consists of sectioning of a crown on facial surface followed by removal of the crown with orthodontic plier. This technique does not damage the gingival/periodontal tissues or underlying tooth structure as the crown need not to be removed with jerky back-action force.

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Lichen planus (LP) is a mucocutaneous disease with well-established clinical and microscopic features. The oral mucosa and skin may present clinical and microscopic alterations similar to those observed in LP, called lichenoid reactions (LRs), which are triggered by systemic or topical etiological agents. The difficulties faced to establish the differential diagnosis between the two pathologies were investigated in the literature. It was observed that the etiology of LP is still under discussion, with a tendency to self-immunity, while the etiology of LRs is related to the contact with specific agents, such as metallic restorative materials, resins, and drugs, allowing the establishment of a cause-effect relationship. In this case, the disease is caused by the antigen fixation in the epithelial cells, which are destructed by the immune system. Based on these data, protocols are suggested for this differentiation. The important role played by the integration between the clinician and the oral pathologist in the diagnostic process is highlighted. The treatment of LP comprises mainly the utilization of corticosteroids and the LR is treated by removal of the causal factor. Differentiation between the two diseases allows an effective and correct therapeutic approach.

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Statement of Problem: The use of osseointegrated implants as a foundation for the prosthetic replacement of missing teeth has become widespread in the last decade. Owing to the remarkable success of dental implants, there has been growing interest in identifying the factors associated with implant failure. Given the well-documented deleterious effect of smoking on wound healing after tooth extraction and its association with poor quality bone and periodontal disease, a negative effect of tobacco use on implant success is to be expected. Purpose: To establish the relationship between smoking and implant-related surgical procedures (i.e, sinus lift procedures, bone grafts and dental implants), including the incidence of complications related to these procedures and the long-term survival and success rates of dental implants among smokers and nonsmokers based on relevant literature. Materials and Methods: Relevant clinical studies published in English between 1990 and 2006 were reviewed. The articles were located through Medline and, manually, through the references of peer-reviewed literature. This was supplemented with a hand search of selected dental journals and text books. Results: The majority of the past and current literature implicates smoking as one of the prominent risk factors affecting the success rate of dental implants with only a handful of studies failing to establish a connection. Most of the studies report the failure rate of implants in smokers as being more than twice that in nonsmokers. These findings are difficult to ignore. There is a statistically significant difference between smokers and nonsmokers in the failure rates of dental implants. Smoking also has a strong influence on the complication rates of implants: it causes significantly more marginal bone loss after implant placement, it increases the incidence of peri-implantitis and affects the success rates of bone grafts. The failure rate of implants placed in grafted maxillary sinuses of smokers is again more than twice that seen in nonsmokers. Conclusion: Smokers have higher failure rates and complications following dental implantation and implant-related surgical procedures. The failure rate of implants placed in grafted maxillary sinuses of smokers is more than twice that seen in nonsmokers.

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Titanium and its alloys are used in dentistry for implants because of its unique combination of chemical, physical, and biological properties. They are used in dentistry in cast and wrought form. The long term presence of corrosion reaction products and ongoing corrosion lead to fractures of the alloy-abutment interface, abutment, or implant body. The combination of stress, corrosion, and bacteria contribute to implant failure. This article highlights a review of the various aspects of corrosion and biocompatibility of dental titanium implants as well as suprastructures. This knowledge will also be helpful in exploring possible research strategies for probing the biological properties of materials.

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The fracture of an endodontic instrument is an obstacle in completion of a routine successful pulp space therapy. Ni-Ti instruments corrode when in contact with sodium hypochlorite which leads to their deterioration and ultimately fracture during use. Removal of separated instrument from root canal is often a very difficult procedure. This procedure is more complicated when the instrument separated is closer to the mandibular canal. A case is presented in which a separated hand instrument was retrieved from the mesio buccal of a second molar approximating the mandibular canal root by replantation.

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Code of practice is dangerous and ever-changing in today's world. Relating this to complete denture impression technique, we have been provided with a set of philosophies - "no pressure, minimal pressure, definite pressure and selective pressure". The objectives and principles of impression-making have been clearly defined. Do you think any philosophy can satisfy any operator to work on these principles and achieve these objectives? These philosophies take into consideration only the tissue part and not the complete basal seat, which comprises the periphery, the tissues and the bone structure. Under such circumstances, should we consider a code of practice dangerous or should we develop an evidence-based approach having a scientific background following certain principles, providing the flexibility to adapt to clinical procedures and to normal biological variations in patients rather than the rigidity imposed by strict laws?

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Radiotherapy is regarded as one of the most important therapeutic modality for the treatment of malignant lesions. This field is undergoing rapid advancements in the recent times. With the use of radiosensitizers and radioprotective agents, the course of radiotherapy has improved the sensitization of tumor cells and protection of normal cells, respectively. The aim of this paper was to critically review and analyze the available compounds used as radiosensitizers, radioprotectors, and radiation mitigators. For reviewing, the author used the electronic search for the keywords 'Radiosensitizers', 'Radioprotectors', 'Radiation mitigators' on PubMed for inclusion of previously published articles and further search of reference papers on individual radiosensitizing and radioprotecting agents was done. Radiosensitizers are agents that sensitize the tumor cells to radiation. These compounds apparently promote fixation of the free radicals produced by radiation damage at the molecular level. The mechanism of action is similar to the oxygen effect, in which biochemical reactions in the damaged molecules prevent repair of the cellular radiation damage. Free radicals such as OH ⁺ are captured by the electron affinity of the radiosensitizers, rendering the molecules incapable of repair. Radioprotectors are compounds that are designed to reduce the damage in normal tissues caused by radiation. These compounds are often antioxidants and must be present before or at the time of radiation for effectiveness. Other agents, termed mitigators, may be used to minimize toxicity even after radiation has been delivered. This article tries to discuss the various aspects of radiosensitizers, radioprotectors, and radiation mitigators including the newer agents.

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It is believed that the crew of Columbus had introduced tobacco from the 'American India' to the rest of the world, and tobacco was attributed as a medicinal plant. It was often used to avert hunger during long hours of work. But in reality, tobacco causes various ill effects including pre-malignant lesions and cancers. This article aims at reviewing the literature pertaining to the effect of tobacco smoking upon the outcome of various surgical procedures performed in the oral cavity. Tobacco affects postoperative wound healing following surgical and nonsurgical tooth extractions, routine maxillofacial surgeries, implants, and periodontal therapies. In an experimental study, bone regeneration after distraction osteogenesis was found to be negatively affected by smoking. Thus, tobacco, a peripheral vasoconstrictor, along with its products like nicotine increases platelet adhesiveness, raises the risk of microvascular occlusion, and causes tissue ischemia. Smoking tobacco is also associated with catecholamines release resulting in vasoconstriction and decreased tissue perfusion. Smoking is believed to suppress the innate and host immune responses, affecting the function of neutrophils - the prime line of defense against infection. Thus, the association between smoking and delayed healing of oral tissues following surgeries is evident. Dental surgeons should stress on the ill effects of tobacco upon the routine postoperative healing to smoker patients and should aid them to become tobacco-free.

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