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Introduction: Enhancing students' pragmatic skills as an enabling means brings about changes in their curriculum, which should be reconciled with the students' educational needs. Thus, this study seeks to examine the viewpoints of last-year dentistry students on the need for the instruction of laser application as an independent credit in the general dentistry curriculum. The findings of this study can help determine the educational priorities of students while providing and compiling their curriculum. Methods: This descriptive study was done on 91 last-year dentistry students of Shahid Beheshti University in a full census manner. The data collection tool was a fieldwork questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which were evaluated. To report the findings, frequency distribution, frequency percentage, and average tableaux were utilized. Results: Amongst the 91 participants, regarding the average figures of value assignment from 1 to 10 to respond to questions, the highest value was assigned to learning the side effects of lasers (7.99 ± 0.01) and the lowest value was assigned to learning about the history of lasers and light physics (4.53 ± 0.47). Conclusion: The findings indicate that students have a positive attitude toward the incorporation of an independent laser credit in their curriculum and thus the necessity of incorporating this credit in their curriculum can be posed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP), a relatively common chronic inflammatory disease of the oral mucosa, is considered to be a premalignant disorder of the oral cavity. Previously, several biomarkers have been tested for their diagnostic potential. Here, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic potential of four miRNAs, miR-21, -125a, -31 and -200a, known to be involved in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) development, in the saliva of OLP patients as also their putative relation to OSCC development in these patients.Materials and methods: Saliva samples from 30 patients with OLP were collected, 15 of whom were diagnosed with dysplasia upon histopathologic examination. In addition, 15 saliva samples from patients with OSCC and 15 saliva samples from healthy donors were collected. After RNA extraction, the respective miRNA levels were assessed by quantitative RT-PCR.Results: We found that the miR-21 levels were significantly increased in saliva samples derived from patients with OLP, dysplastic OLP and OSCC, compared to those from healthy controls (p = 0.012, p = 0.0017 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Conversely, significant decreases in miR-125a levels were found in the OLP, dysplastic OLP and OSCC samples, compared to those from healthy controls (p < 0.0014, p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0001, respectively). In addition, significant increases in miR-31 levels were found in samples derived from dysplastic OLP and OSCC patients, but not in those from nondysplastic OLP patients, compared to those in healthy controls (p = 0.01 and p = 0.004, respectively). Finally, we found that the miR-200a levels were significantly decreased only in samples derived from OSCC patients (p < 0.0001).Conclusions: From our data we conclude that increased miR-21 levels in conjunction with decreased miR-125a levels in saliva of OLP patients may be indicative for a poor prognosis. Conversely, we conclude that lack of significant alterations in miR-31 and miR-200a levels in saliva of OLP patients may be indicative for absence of malignant transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common inflammatory disease with unknown etiology. Depression, stress and anxiety are psychological factors that their influence on the expression of lichen planus by affecting the immune system's function has been confirmed. There is a probable relationship between anger and OLP expression. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the association of "anger" and OLP. In this descriptive study 95 subjects were included in 3 groups. A: patients with oral lichen planus, B: positive control, C: negative control. Anger and its indices were assessed by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) questionnaire, and pain was measured via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The collected data were analyzed statistically using SPSS 18 software. The lichen planus and positive control groups bore higher total anger index (AX index) values compared with the negative control. Comparing anger expression-in (AXI) among the lichen planus and negative control groups revealed higher grades in lichen planus group. Evaluating the pain severity index (VAS) data and anger indices in lichen planus group, Spearman's Rank Correlation Test revealed a significant correlation between TAngR (reactional anger traits) and pain severity. The findings of this study indicated that there was a significant correlation between anger control and suppression of lichen planus development. On the other hand, the patients with more severe pain mostly expressed their anger physically. Based on the findings, we can make the claim that anger suppression and its control-in (gathering tension) may play a role in the development of lichen planus as a known psychosomatic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pyogenic granuloma (PG) is one of the inflammatory hyperplasia seen in the oral cavity. It is a reactional response to minor trauma or chronic irritation. The most common treatment of PG is surgical excision but alternative approaches such as laser excision have also been proposed especially for pediatric patients. Case report: Herein, we present a case of gingival pyogenic granuloma in a 6-year-old patient. The lesion was excised successfully with diode laser as a conservative and non-stressful method in a pediatric patient. Results and conclusion: The use of laser as modern medicine offers a new tool for treatment of oral lesions as comfortable as possible in pediatric patients, which results in less stress and fear in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Objective: Lichen planus is a mucocutaneous disease which is relatively common and in 30-70% of patients, mucosal lesions can be seen and known as a precancerous lesion but its etiology is not completely understood. Desmogleins I and III are the main desmosomal transmembrane proteins. These proteins have been identified as the autoantigen of the autoimmune disease. The aim of this study was evaluation of serum autoantibodies against desmogleins I, III in oral lichen planus. Methods: We attempted to determine the etiology of this disease with evaluation of these serum factors. Thirty-five patients with oral lichen planus and 35 healthy controls were recruited and tested for serum autoantibodies against desmogleins I, III and indirect immunofluorescence also performed. Data were analyzed by statistical-analytical methods (Independent sample t-test) with using the SPSS.15 software. Results: Serum autoantibody against desmoglein ? had no significant difference in the two groups (P=0.31) but significant increase in serum autoantibody to desmoglein III was found in patients with oral lichen planus (P=0.00). Conclusion: It seems that autoantibody against desmoglein III has a significant role in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]