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Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the fifth most common type of cancer in the world. The effect of some etiological factors is well established in the literature, such as consumption of tobacco and alcohol. However, approximately 15 to 20% of all oral cancer cases occur in patients without the traditional risk factors, reflecting in numerous cases of OSCC in non-smokers and non-alcoholic drinkers. Also, several studies have suggested a possible association between human papillomavirus and OSCC. Under these aspects, the purpose of this study is to address cases of oral cancer in non-smokers and non-drinkers focusing on the role of HPV, thus contributing to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of OSCC. A computer database search was performed using the Pubmed database. The search key words were: epidemiology, oral squamous cell carcinoma, risk factors and human papillomavirus. It is important to assess patients without the potential risk factors, since this knowledge may help identifying other features associated with the occurrence of oral cancer, enabling an appropriate clinical management and monitoring.

Dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1) is an acidic phosphoprotein that plays an important role in mineralized tissue formation by initiation of nucleation and modulation of mineral phase morphology. The purpose of the present study was to examine the immunoexpression of DMP1 in tooth germs of 7 human fetuses at different gestational ages (14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23 and 24 weeks) comparing with completed tooth formation erupted teeth. The results showed the presence of DMP1 in the dental lamina, as well as in the cells of the external epithelium, stellate reticulum and stratum intermedium of the enamel organ. However, in the internal dental epithelium, cervical loop region and dental papilla some cells have not labeled for DMP1. In the crown stage, DMP1 was expressed in the ameloblast and odontoblast layer, as well as in the dentinal tubules of coronal dentin near the odontoblast area. Erupted teeth with complete tooth formation exhibited immunolabeling for DMP1 only in the dentinal tubules mainly close to the dental pulp. No staining was observed in the enamel, predentin or dental pulp matrix. DMP1 is present in all developing dental structures (dental lamina, enamel organ, dental papilla) presenting few immunoexpression variations, with no staining in mineralized enamel and dentin.