Background: Aging is associated with both physical impairment and functional disability. One of the areas of concerns is a derangement in the activities of daily living (ADL) where the elderly people are unable to perform their basic personal care tasks. The present study was planned with the aim to evaluate functional impairment among rural elderly using ADL scale. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a cross-sectional population-based survey using multistage randomized sampling technique from August 2015 to October 2015 in Miran Sahib Health Zone of R S Pura health block in Jammu District in North-West India. The study involved 418 elderly individuals above 60 years of age. Results: A higher proportion of elderly (378/418; 90.43%) were classified as functionally independent. Among the study participants 9.54% (40/418) were found to have some had some impairment. Among the elderly impaired individuals, 5.26% (22/418) were moderately impaired while 2.64% (11/418) were severely impaired. However, importantly only a small proportion (7/418; 1.67%) of elderly individuals was completely dependent on others. Conclusion: The total impairment prevalence reported among the geriatrics in the current study was 9.5%. With the increase in the geriatric population expected in near future, this number will be significant. Policies with a clear focus on geriatric health-care need to be developed to reduce the dependency among elderly.

Background: Orofacial tumors are tumors that can affect any tissue in the oral and maxillofacial region. They constitute a major health problem in Africa because of late presentation. Aim: This was a retrospective study designed to determine the pattern of histologically diagnosed orofacial tumor and those actually managed. Materials and Methods: The department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology of a University Teaching Hospital in South West Nigeria. Histological diagnoses file and theater register booklet was retrieved from 2010 to 2014. Age, sex, diagnosis, and occupation of the patients were extracted. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 (SPSS 16 Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results were presented as descriptive frequencies (%). The value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 188 data analyzed, 98 (52.1%) were females, whereas 90 (47.9%) were males with male: female ratio 1:1.08. Age groups 21–30 and 31–40 constitute the highest age group with tumor presentation (41 [21.8%]). Most of the patients were traders (62 [33%]). Plexiform ameloblastoma was the most common benign tumor (23 [12.2%]), whereas moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was the most common malignant tumor (9 [4.8%]). Only 58 (30.9%) were treated while 91 (48.4%) were not treated and only 39 (20.7%) were referred. Conclusion: Ameloblastoma was the most common odontogenic tumor while moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was the most common malignant lesion. Most of the diagnosed tumors were not treated and reason is due to low financial status of the patients. Negligence on the part of patient could also be a contributing factor.

Background: Hepatitis B is highly infectious, but preventable diseases and dentists are at increased risk of exposure to saliva and blood of patients during their clinical practice, and so it is of utmost importance that they follow standard guidelines for infection control. Aims: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding infection control measures among dental students of Government Dental College in Punjab. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered pretested questionnaire to dental students and responses were statistically analyzed. The analysis of variance was used to compare means of knowledge, attitude, and practice scores between four groups of study subjects and P < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Results: Although the students have sufficient knowledge regarding hepatitis B, still there are gaps in putting their knowledge into practice. Third and final year students have significantly less mean knowledge and practice scores compared to interns and postgraduate students. The majority of students have a positive attitude and were willing to perform any procedure on hepatitis B-infected patients. Conclusions: Dental students have adequate knowledge and good attitude but still there are some misconceptions. There is poor implementation of standard infection control measures in their practice. Rigorous training programs on preventive practices and regular workshops must be organized on an annual basis in dental colleges. Moreover, hepatitis B vaccination must be made mandatory for students before they start their clinical practice.

Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare odontogenic malignancy that combines the histological features of ameloblastoma with cytological atypia, even in the absence of metastases. The major prognostic factor is the clinical course of the disease which includes its aggressiveness, local destruction, and distant metastatic spread preferentially through hematologic route if neglected. Histologically, ameloblastic carcinoma retains the features of ameloblastic differentiation and exhibits cytological features of malignancy in a primary or recurrent tumor. Because it is a very rare lesion, it poses a great difficulty in diagnosis. En bloc removal with 1–2 cm of normal bone margin has been regarded as the safest surgical modality to ensure disease-free survival. Literature search was carried out using the Boolean operator “And” between ameloblastoma and carcinoma on PubMed. Retrieved articles were extensively reviewed for epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis of ameloblastic carcinoma.

Progress in understanding the role of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in craniofacial and tooth development, the demonstration of stem cells in dental pulp, and accumulating knowledge on biomaterial scaffolds have set the stage for tissue engineering and regenerative therapy of the craniofacial complex. Furthermore, the recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Rockville, MD, USA) of recombinant human BMPs for accelerating bone fusion in slow-healing fractures indicates that this protein family may prove useful in designing regenerative treatments in dental applications. In the near term, these advances are likely to be applied to endodontics and periodontal surgery; ultimately, they may facilitate approaches to regenerating whole teeth for use in tooth replacement. Early on, scientists focused on creating a suitable environment that favored the innate potential for regeneration. However, complex clinical protocols and extended treatments, in addition to inconsistent results, often brought treatment protocols out of favor. Predictable outcomes and minimally invasive protocols have become fundamental to clinicians and patients. Thus, novel regenerative concepts with improved or superior outcomes, predictability, and minimally invasive protocols are being developed and considered.

Defects in the maxillary jaw can be congenital, developmental, acquired, traumatic or surgical involving the oral cavity and related anatomic structure. Absence or loss of some or all of the soft palate and / or hard palate results in insufficient structure or altered function of the remaining tissues. Defects can cause disruption of articulation and airflow during speech production and also nasal reflux during deglutition. Patients after surgical resection have altered anatomy due to scaring, tissue contracture, lack of bony support and tissue edema. These patients have problem of regurgitation of water and food through nose and difficulty in speech. These changes require the fabrication of prosthesis and also sometimes repeated prosthesis adjustments to confirm to the soft tissue changes. To prevent this and to help the patient in deglutition and speech defects must be restored with prosthesis. In such situation an obturator is designed to close the opening between the residual hard and / or soft palate and the pharynx. The prosthesis provided for these patients are called as obturators. An obturator is a prosthesis which is fabricated for the patients with the palatal defects in the form of cleft lip and palate, oroantral fistula or surgical resection after removable of pathology like tumor or cancer. This review article will highlight on the Prosthetic Rehabilitation of the maxillary defects and the types of obturators.

A severely atrophic maxillary arch exhibits reduced denture bearing area and increased inter-ridge distance, thus, affecting retention of the complete denture. Such clinical situations necessitate the fabrication of a hollow complete denture to reduce the weight of the prosthesis and increase retention. This article describes a simple technique to fabricate a hollow maxillary complete denture using salt and thermoplastic poly (methyl methacrylate) sheet. The vacuum-formed thermoplastic matrix regulates the quantity of salt and determines its placement in the unpolymerized denture base material during the denture packing stage. The matrix lining the hollow cavity also aids to reinforce the hollow denture base.

Calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (CEOT), also known as Pindborg's tumor, is a rare benign odontogenic tumor of locally aggressive behavior. The most frequent location is the mandibular premolar and molar area; less frequently, the lesion is found in the maxilla, typically in the fourth to fifth decades. It usually starts as a painless swelling and is often concurrent with an impacted tooth. A case of CEOT in a 21-year-old male showed up in the right body of the mandible and ramus region was described. Clinical, radiological, histopathological features and treatment were discussed. This tumor was managed by surgical removal and reconstruct of the mandible using a reconstruction plate. The case was followed up for 3 months postoperatively.

Albinism consists of a group of genetically inherited autosomal recessive conditions which are typically characterized by a congenital reduction or absence in melanin pigment biosynthesis which gives the natural color in the skin, iris of the eyes, and hair. A person with albinism may have one or many of the following symptoms: absence of color in the hair, skin, or iris of the eye, lighter than normal skin and hair, patchy, missing skin color, crossed eyes (strabismus), light sensitivity (photophobia), rapid eye movements (nystagmus), vision problems, or functional blindness, severe gingivitis, oral mucosal ulceration, and periodontal disease. A dentist can play a significant role in successfully treating albino patients if he/she has basic knowledge of the symptoms of albinism. We present a case report of a 14-year-old child suffering from oculocutaneous albinism who was reported to the Department of Periodontology, Himachal Pradesh Government Dental College and Hospital, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, with a chief complaint of bleeding gums and oral malodor.

Lipomas are soft tissue benign mesenchymal tumors and are composed of mature adipocytes. They can occur anywhere on the human body where fat is found and thus called it is called “universal tumor” or “ubiquitous tumor.” However, its representation in the oral cavity is rare, i.e., 1%–4% only. Most of the patients affected are above 40 years of age with no gender predilection, but some studies reported male predilection and is uncommon in children. The size of the tumor rarely exceeds 25 mm in diameter and is mostly asymptomatic until secondarily infected or grow to a large size and interfere with mastication and speech. The most common site of occurrence intraorally is buccal mucosa, tongue, lips and floor of the mouth. Here, we report a case of intraoral lipoma occurring at an unusual site (retromolar area) in a 35-year-old female patient with a histopathologically confirmed diagnosis.

Florid cemento-osseous dysplasia (FCOD) is a fibro-osseous lesion that affects jaw bones of middle-aged women affecting two or more quadrants of the jaw. The disease is known to be periodontal ligament in origin which is asymptomatic, characterized by multiple, confluent, and nonexpansile radio-opacities, often with circumferential radiolucency. This case report describes two cases diagnosed with FCOD on the basis of radiographic findings which includes intraoral periapical radiograph, orthopantomograph as well as cone-beam computed tomography images.