Tag Archives: management

Leukemia and oral health

What is leukemia?

Leukemia is a malignant cancer of the blood in which one’s bone marrow produces white blood cells in excess in association with gene mutations.

leukemia: white blood cells (dark purple) produced in excess

Causes of leukemia

Genetic predisposition (family history, people with Down syndrome have higher tendency to get leukemia)

Artificial ionizing radiation

Chemicals (eg benzene and other petrochemicals)

Viruses, e.g. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus  or HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus) Continue reading →

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw Part 2

A brief introduction has been done in “Osteonecrosis of the jaw Part 1“. Here in this article we will be discussing briefly about the prevention and treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw.

Osteonecrosis-exposed bone on the right edentulous region of the lower jaw

How is osteonecrosis of the jaw treated?

Osteonecrosis can either be treated conservatively, or surgically:

i) Conservative treatment

Conservative treatment basically means that no active treatment is done that is directly addressing the problem. Usually, patients who present with osteonecrosis of the jaw are started on antibacterial rinses (eg: Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash), antibiotics and oral analgesics. Continue reading →

Causes of abnormal number of teeth in your/your child’s dentition-Part II

We have discussed hypodontia in the part I of this article. Here we will look at extra teeth in addition to those in the normal dentition.

Extra tooth

Hyperdontia

Hyperdontia, or supernumerary teeth, are teeth additional to those in the normal series. They can be found anywhere in the tooth-bearing region. They are most commonly found in the upper front tooth region, followed by the lower back tooth region. Just like hypodontia, they can  be present on both sides (right and left sides) of the dentition. Hence, when there is a supernumerary tooth on one side of the jaw, a dentist would check for the possibility of a supernumerary tooth on the other side as well. Continue reading →

Side effects of radiotherapy to the head and neck on the mouth

 

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is one of 3 treatment options that can be used to treat tumours, the other 2 being surgical removal and chemotherapy. Sometimes these therapies are used in combination with each other. There are many structures in the head and neck, therefore radiation to the head and neck area (could be due to oral, nose, skin etc cancers) can cause a multitude of complications as listed below: Continue reading →