Search

BACKGROUND: The cytotoxic effect of chemotherapeutic agents to the oral mucosa, as a side-effect of cancer treatment, is a major problem. Cooling the oral mucosa using ice chips in conjunction with chemotherapy is known to reduce the severity of oral mucositis. However, although the use of ice chips is of clinical value, this method of cooling has inherent problems including discomfort for the patient, non-uniformity and fluctuations in cooling temperature throughout the oral cavity. Furthermore, despite being used clinically, it is not known what reduction in temperature is required to prevent oral mucositis. The aim of the present study was therefore to determine in vitro if the cytotoxic effect of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) on the oral mucosa could be reduced by lowering the temperature during chemotherapeutic treatment. METHODS: Tissue engineered oral mucosal (TEOM) models were incubated at 20, 25, 30, or 35 °C for 30 minutes followed by exposure to a clinically relevant concentration of 5-FU (162 μg/ml) for two hours and compared to untreated models (35°C). Cell viability and inflammatory cytokine production (IL-6 and TNF-α) were measured using PrestoBlue®and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: TEOM models incubated at 20°C showed an increased cell viability and had a reduced IL-6 and TNF-α production compared to models treated with 5-FU incubated at 35°C. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates a reduced cytotoxic effect to the TEOM by reducing the temperature of the tissue during chemotherapy treatment and suggests that decreasing the temperature to 20°C could have clinical advantages. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Oral medicine (stomatology) is a recognized and increasingly important dental specialty in many parts of the world that recognizes and fosters the interplay between medical health and oral health. Its dental activities rely greatly on the underlying biology of disease and evidence-based outcomes. However, full recognition of the importance of oral medicine to patient care, research, and education is not yet totally universally acknowledged. To address these shortcomings, we outline the birth, growth, and future of oral medicine globally, and record identifiable past contributions to the development of the specialty, providing an accurate, unique, and valuable resource on oral medicine. Although it was challenging to gather the data, we present this information as a review that endeavors to summarize the salient points about oral medicine, based on MEDLINE, other internet searches, communication with oral medicine and stomatological societies across the world, the web page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List-of-dental-organizations, and discussions with a wide range of key senior persons in the specialty. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.

Objectives To assess the current scope and status of Oral Medicine-specific software (OMSS) utilized to support clinical care, research, and education in Oral Medicine and to propose a strategy for broader implementation of OMSS within the global Oral Medicine community. Study Design An invitation letter explaining the objectives was sent to the global Oral Medicine community. Respondents were interviewed to obtain information about different aspects of OMSS functionality. Results Ten OMSS tools were identified. Four were being used for clinical care, one was being used for research, two were being used for education, and three were multipurpose. Clinical software was being utilized as databases developed to integrate of different type of clinical information. Research software was designed to facilitate multicenter research. Educational software represented interactive, case-orientated technology designed for clinical training in Oral Medicine. Easy access to patient data was the most commonly reported advantage. Difficulty of use and poor integration with other software was the most commonly reported disadvantage. Conclusions The OMSS presented in this paper demonstrate how information technology (IT) can have an impact on the quality of patient care, research, and education in the field of Oral Medicine. A strategy for broader implementation of OMSS is proposed. © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

The implementation of information technology in healthcare is a significant focus for many nations around the world. However, information technology support for clinical care, research and education in oral medicine is currently poorly developed. This situation hampers our ability to transform oral medicine into a 'learning healthcare discipline' in which the divide between clinical practice and research is diminished and, ultimately, eliminated. This paper reviews the needs of and requirements for information technology support of oral medicine and proposes an agenda designed to meet those needs. For oral medicine, this agenda includes analyzing and reviewing current clinical and documentation practices, working toward progressively standardizing clinical data, and helping define requirements for oral medicine systems. IT professionals can contribute by conducting baseline studies about the use of electronic systems, helping develop controlled vocabularies and ontologies, and designing, implementing, and evaluating novel systems centered on the needs of clinicians, researchers and educators. Successfully advancing IT support for oral medicine will require close coordination and collaboration among oral medicine professionals, information technology professionals, system vendors, and funding agencies. If current barriers and obstacles are overcome, practice and research in oral medicine stand ready to derive significant benefits from the application of information technology. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down.