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Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the effects of melatonin administration on the post-extraction alveoli of rats exposed to alendronate. Materials and methods: This was a pre-clinical cohort study of adult male Wistar rats, conducted over a period of 5 months in an animal facility suitable for animal experiments.Rats in groups 1 and 2 received melatonin and vitamin D respectively per os at a rate of 1 mg/kg/week and 0.25 mg/kg twice a week for 4 weeks. Group 3 received saline subcutaneously. All rats received alendronate at a dose of 0.05 mg/kg twice/week for 8 weeks. Four weeks after drug administration, a dental extraction was performed along with blood sampling to determine serum levels of RANKL and OPG. At eight weeks, the rats were sacrificed and the jaw blocks were removed for CT and histological examination. Results: Overall, three groups of 12 rats were formed. From the fourth to the eighth week, the frequency of stage 3 osteonecrotic lesions in the post-extraction sockets had increased in the control group from 8.33% to 66.6%. In the melatonin and vitamin D groups, the frequency of corresponding stage 3 osteonecrotic lesions increased from 0 to 17% and 0–8.33% respectively. Conclusion: Oral administration of melatonin prior to tooth extraction in alendronate-exposed rats reduces the risk of developing osteonecrotic jaw lesions.

Introduction: The exact pathogenesis of drug-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw is still unknown. The aim of this study is to develop a reliable rat model of alendronate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw and to determine the CT profile of bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw. Materials and methods: 98 Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups. Rats in the test groups received, in addition to 0.05 mg/kg alendronic acid orally (twice a week for 8 consecutive weeks), 1 mg/kg/day subcutaneously of dexamethasone for 2 weeks and 150 mg/kg cyclophosphamide orally twice and once a week before and after dental avulsion. Results: From week 4 to week 8 after drug administration, the frequency of stage 3 osteonecrotic lesions increased in the test groups from (G1 = 5 (18.5%); G2 = 11 (39.2%); G3 = 6 (21.4%)) to (G1 = 8 (32%); G2 = 12 (42.8%); G3 = 13 (46.4%)) respectively. However, healing was not impaired in the control group (p = 0.003).Scannographic analysis showed that the difference in bone mineral density was greater in rats exposed (G2 = 486.22 ± 94.76; G3 = 584.9 ± 42.47) to the drug combinations than in rats exposed (G1 = 421.61 ± 125.81) to alendronate alone. Conclusion: Based on this study, the rat treated with alendronate in combination or not with dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide and dental extraction can be considered as a new, reliable and reproducible model to better understand the pathophysiology of osteonecrosis of the jaws in the context of osteoporosis and prostate cancer. Furthermore, bone mineral density has been shown to be an important diagnostic criterion.

Vestibuloplasty is a surgery which allows the deepening of the vestibule and the increase of the keratinized gingiva. It may turn out to be essential when a rehabilitation of an edentulous patient with a removable denture is going to be done on an alveolar ridge with a poor height, compromising the optimal retention and stability of the denture. There are a variety of operative techniques used to achieve these goals, and each of them has her advantages and her disadvantages. We report two cases of vestibuloplasty performed in order to rehabilitate edentulous patients with a removable denture where a reduced vestibular depth was secondary to maxillofacial trauma. The operative technique used was a simple fenestration of the vestibular soft tissues, with an immediate removable denture placement to guide the wound healing which was of secondary intention. In both cases, there was an increase of vestibule depth after the complete healing of the soft tissues, improving the stability of the denture. The operative technique was relatively simple, easy and reproducible, allowing its application without any particular skills.

Mouthwash is the process of soaking the teeth, gums and mucosa of the mouth with a solution. Its purpose is to improve oral hygiene and to treat certain oral pathologies. The objective of this research was to evaluate the in vitro effect of a salt water mouthwash versus chlorhexidine on oral flora.We conducted a cross-over clinical trial in the Bacteriology Department of the Central Laboratory of the Yaoundé General Hospital (YGH). This study lasted 6 months, from November 2019 to April 2020. We used convenience sampling. Each participant in our study received the same intervention (mouthwash) at a specific time and the effect was observed at regular intervals (H1 – H5). A period of 3 days (wash-out period) was observed between the interventions (mouthwashes with different saline solutions and 0.1% Chlorhexidine) in order to avoid carry-over effects. Gram staining was performed before the mouthwashes and 7 h after the mouthwashes to determine the bacterial species affected by the mouthwashes.We recruited 10 participants from whom we took 240 saliva samples. The sex ratio of men to women was 1:1. Our results showed that 2 min after mouthwash all solutions decreased the oral flora. The homemade saline (2%) had an antibacterial effect on the oral flora that lasted for 3 h. However, as sampling continued only the 5.8%, 23% and 0.1% Chlorhexidine concentrations reduced the oral flora significantly. The 5.8% salt concentration and the 0.1% Chlorhexidine had an antibacterial action of 5 h while the 23% salt concentration had an action of 7 h. Furthermore, we noted a more marked activity on gram positive bacteria.The 5.8% saline has the same efficacy as the commonly prescribed 0.1% Chlorhexidine. Homemade saline can be prescribed for short term indications as it has an antibacterial action that lasts for 3 h. The 23% saline should be avoided because of its pungent and irritating taste.

Background: It may seem incredible, even unimaginable, that some issues have not been properly studied and explained in the literature. One of these issues is the non-surgical treatment of osteolytic tumors of the jaws, especially ameloblastoma. Main text: This tumour invades the jaw through a mechanism of resorption of the surrounding bone. Osteoclasts are known to initiate physiological bone remodelling during bone growth, tooth eruption and fracture healing. They are also able to mediate bone loss in pathological conditions such as ameloblastoma. Therefore, inhibition of osteoclasts would be a potential target for the treatment of ameloblastoma.To date, the mechanisms of bone resorption in ameloblastoma are associated with the expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) and matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9.However, in terms of therapeutic applications of this approach, bisphosphonates have been shown to inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of osteoclast precursors through the inactivation of molecular signalling pathways involving M-CSF and RANKL. The same is true for doxycycline, which inhibits the activity of mammalian collagenases and gelatinases, an activity unrelated to its antimicrobial efficacy. Conclusion: this review, we report on the current state of knowledge on the involvement of osteoclastogenesis in the pathogenesis of ameloblastoma. We also present possible clinical applications of a calcium phosphate cement-based local delivery device for bisphosphonates and doxycycline as a potential treatment for ameloblastoma of the jaws.