Pilomatricoma is the second most common benign dermal-subcutaneous tumor of the head and neck region, after epidermoid cyst, originating from the outer sheath cells of the hair follicle. It can be easily treated with surgical excision. However, it is a relatively unknown skin lesion to maxillofacial surgeons. Therefore, we report a case of pilomatricoma occuring inferolateral area of the parotid gland in a 54-year-old man; with a review of the relevant literature.

Ameloblastic fibrosarcoma (AFS) is an extremely rare malignant odontogenic tumor characterized with benign ameloblastic cells islands and malignant mesenchymal component. While two-thirds of AFS seem to arise de novo, but one-third develops from recurrent ameloblastic fibroma (AF) or ameloblastic fibro-odontomas (AFO). Pathological distinction of malignant transformation is essential for appropriate treatment. The patient was a 28 years old man. Since the primary tumor was excised, the mass recurred 2 years later. The recurrent tumor was diagnosed as AFS. Chief complaint was pain in the right mandible. Computer tomography finding revealed multilocular intrabony lesion with radiopaque substance in the primary lesion. In the recurrent lesion cortical bone destruction was found. Microscopically, both the primary and recurrent lesions showed benign ameloblastic follicles with myxoid or highly cellular mesenchymal proliferation. The histological difference between primary and recurrent lesions were that foci of dental hard tissue composed of enamel and dentin were found only in the primary lesion, whereas nuclear pleomorphism was aggrevated in the recurrent lesion. The histological criteria determining malignancy were discussed.

This study aimed to compare the mandible inferior cortical bone thickness before and after orthognathic surgery on panoramic radiographs. Among 1092 orthognathic surgery patients, 37(12male, 25 female, average age 23.8 yrs± 4.4) were selected who underwent mandible inferior cortex contouring. The total mandible sides which underwent inferior cortex contouring were 62. The mandible inferior cortical bone thickness was measured below the mesial root of the first molar tooth. The mandible inferior cortical bone thickness was 3.49mm± 0.6mm before orthognathis surgery and 1.92 mm± 0.88 mm after surgery, with statistically significant difference between the two(p<.05). The mean contouring amount was 1.57 mm± 0.8 mm. Mandible inferior cortex contouring are often included in orthognathic surgery.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and radiographic features of Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws(BRONJ). The clinical and radiographic features of 27 patients diagnosed with BRONJ from 2008 to 2012 were evaluated on the basis of the charts and panoramic radiographs and cone beam computed tomographs. As for clinical features, the following contents were evaluated; type of dental treatments before occurrence of BRONJ, the cause of taking bisphosphonate medicine, undergoing dental treatment, interval between dental treatments and symptom expression. As for radiological features, location of BRONJ, size of bone destructions and sclerosing of the surrounding bone, locational relationship between mandibular canal and inferior border of bone destruction, and effect on the maxillary sinus. In clinical features, extraction was done in 18 patients(66.7%), as the most common dental treatment before occurrence of BRONJ. The most common cause of taking bisphosphonate medicine was osteoporosis(20 pateints, 70.4%). The patients treated during bisphosphonate administration was 17(63.0%). The interval between dental treatments and symptom in the most patients(14 patients, 51.8%) was within 1 month. In radiological features, sequestrum was seen in 11 patients(40.7%) and bony sclerosing in 15(55.6%). The mean width of sclerosing was 32.9±12.4mm and mean height 17.5±4.4mm. Bone destruction invaded to inferior border of mandibular canal in 88.2%(15 among 17 mandibles),. Maxillary sinusitis was diagnosed in 57.1% among the evaluated maxillae(4 among 11 maxillae). In diagnosing BRONJ, clinicians should be cautious about medical history of patients and have well-knowledge of radiographic features.

With the multiple practices of bone graft using different artificial bone regenerative substitutes, the bone graft procedures have been widely performed to increase the bony stabilization of dental implant. Xenogenic bone graft materials have been well developed because of their good biocompatibility and abundant source of bone materials. The present study demonstrated the histological findings from excellent bony remodeling in xenogenic bone graft biopsies compared to those findings in autogenous bone graft. For the graft bone biopsies which were usually done in 5-9 months after graft bone insertion, five types of histological grades including excellent, favorable, partial, degenerative, and poor bony remodeling could be assessed to give prognostic information for dental implant. However, recently the xenograft bone materials have been much improved and produced strong osteogenic effect. Among 239 cases of trephine bur-supported core bone biopsy the excellent bony remodeling was found in 20 cases (13.1%) out of 153 xenogenic bone grafts and in 13 cases (43.3%) out of 30 autogenous bone grafts. They produced abundant new bones on the surface of the graft bones in 5–9 months, and the graft bones were partly resorbed and also surrounded by the repetitive deposition of new bone. The osteophytic new bones showed strong birefringence under polarizing microscope, and were gradually elongated and anastomosed with each other to form trabecular bony networks which became proper stress-baring structures for dental implant. Their marrow stromal tissues were composed of loose connective tissue which was well vascularized but rarely infiltrated with inflammatory cells. The present study compared the histological features of excellent bony remodeling between xenogenic and autogenous bone grafts. Although the ratio of excellent bony remodeling in xenogenic bone graft was still low, 13.1%, the recent advance of xenogeic bone products was remarkable in biological aspect and almost comparable to the autogenous bones. Therefore, it was suggested that the xenogenic bone graft will be applicable to the bone regeneration procedures for dental implant with beneficial output in the near future.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a gram-negative bacteria of rod shape, and grown in an anerobic condition. It colonizes in subgingival crevice and is known as a major pathogen causing chronic periodontitis. It possesses an invasive property and replicative potential within various cell types, presumably playing an important role in modulating biological behaviors of oral cancer. However, the pathophysiology of P. gingivalis in the malignant transformation of oral cancer has not been fully understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate molecular changes of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells induced by repetitive P. gingivalis infection that clinically resembles chronic periodontitis.

Lycorine, a natural alkaloid extracted from the Amaryllidaceae plant family, was reported to various physiological and pharmacological effects including anti-cancer activity. Nevertheless, there is no report of the anticancer effect of lycorine in oral cancer cells. The effects of lycorine on cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined through trypan blue exclusion assay, 4’-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) stain, Live/Dead assay, Western blot analysis and RT-PCR. Lycorine suppressed cell viability and induced apoptosis in MC3 and HSC-3 cell lines. Lycorine decreased survivin protein but did not affect its mRNA. It regulated survivin through accelerating protein degradation in a time-dependent manner although neither proteasome nor lysosome was not associated with lycorine-mediated protein degradation. Collectively, our results suggest that lycorine may be a potential therapeutic anti-cancer drug candidate for the treatment of human oral cancer.

The presence of the microorganisms of untreated canals is one of the main reasons of the failure in the endodontic treatment. The knowledge of variations in the canal systems of the tooth is important for the successful endodontic treatment. In the maxillary molars, the presence of the two separate palatal roots is very rare variations. Although there have been several case reports of maxillary first and second molars, the case reports of maxillary third molars are very few. This case report presents the endodontic treatment of a maxillary third molar with two separate palatal roots. It is important to notice the clinical signs and analyze the radiographs carefully. The use of a microscope is helpful for the visualization of pulpal chamber, and pulpal chamber floor should be investigated thoroughly with endodontic explorer. The straight-line access for all the canal orifices is important for the success in the endodontic treatment.

Synovial cysts are found mainly in periarticular areas of the wrist, ankle, and knee, but also rarely in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Only 1 case of bilateral synovial cysts in the region of the TMJ has been reported. This case report described bilateral cysts in the TMJ in a 54-year-old Korean woman. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed bilateral oval cystic lesions lateral to the condylar capsule, whereas computed tomography (CT) apparently did not show the right hand side lesion. The cyst on the left side was surgically excised, and fine needle aspiration was performed on the right hand cyst. After 24 months, the long term follow-up showed no sign of recurrence.

In order to perform the biological investigation of coffee extract containing different molecules, it would be necessary to develop in vitro experimental system rather than animal experiment. Although the animal experiment treated via oral intake or intravenous injection may disclose the whole systemic effect, the in vitro cell culture experiment would be more convenient to analyze direct cellular effect of coffee extract than animal experiment. Therefore, this study was aimed to develop a dialysis method for the crude coffee extract to perform the biological investigation using murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7. First of all, the RAW 264.7 cells treated with dialyzed coffee extract were observed, and subsequently their protein extracts were analyzed by gel filtration chromatography, thin layer chromatography, and immunoprecipitation high performance liquid chromatography (IP-HPLC). Resultantly, it was found that the low dose (20μg/mL) of dialyzed coffee extract, about 5 cups of ordinary coffee drinking for human adult, enhanced the growth of RAW 264.7 cells by increased expression of β-actin and Ki-67, and also induced the anti-inflammatory effect by decreased expression of NFkB, TNFα, and LC3 contrast to the high dose (40μg/mL) of dialyzed coffee extract. The low dose of dialyzed coffee extract produced almost no harmful effect on RAW cell culture for 12 hours, rather than it produced stimulatory effect on RAW cells by increasing the cell number and enhancing the protein expression of β-actin, Ki-67. Therefore, it was thought that the low dose of dialyzed coffee extract is applicable to cell culture experiment without difficult purification procedures of coffee elements. In addition, as the contrast cellular effect between the low and high dose of coffee extract was found in this study, it was also presumed that the low dose of coffee extract may play an important role in the inflammatory reaction of murine macrophages.

The fruit of Kochia scoparia Scharder is traditionally used as a medicinal ingredient to treat allergic skin diseases and inflammatory diseases in China, Japan and Korea. Recently, several studies reported that K. scoparia had potential for the cytotoxicity of human cancer cells. To investigate the anti-cancer effect of K. scoparia on oral cancer and to determine the specific type of cell death induced by MEKS treatment. We investigated the anti-cancer effects of K. scoparia, methanol extract (MEKS) in HSC4 human oral cancer cells. We examined the effects of MEKS on the proliferation rate, cell cycle arrest, 7-AAD-ANNEXIN V double stain, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and activation of apoptosis and necroptosis-associated proteins in HSC4 cells. MTT assay results demonstrated that MEKS decreased the proliferation rates of HSC4 cells in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 45.3 μg/ml. MEKS at 50 μg/ml significantly increased the sub-G1 DNA contents of HSC4 cells to 84.8%, versus untreated cells. However, the activation of apoptosis-associated proteins such as cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase 8, cleaved caspase 9 and cleaved Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) did not detect. The level of Bax protein markedly increased in MEKS-treated HSC4 cells. In addition, the cell viability of the DPQ pre-treated HSC4 cells with MEKS treatment was significantly greater than that of MEKS treated-cells. These results suggest that MEKS inhibits cell proliferation and induces necroptosis in oral cancer cells and that MEKS may have potential chemotherapeutic value for the treatment of human oral cancer.

The native human saliva obtained through the centrifugation of whole saliva showed characteristic salivary protein complex (SPC) peaks in gel filtration high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using Superose 12 column1,2). In the previous study the SPC peaks in chromatography were explored to know their composition and functions by different detection methods, but still the nature of SPCs was not clearly elucidated so far. In this study the SPC peaks were examined by direct antibody interaction in order to target different antimicrobial and protective proteins distributed in the SPCs via gel filtration HPLC. As the SPC peak shape and migration speed can be changed by antibody binding to specific proteins of SPC, it was found that mucin1 is evenly distribution in all SPCs, while PRPs are more abundant in the late dominant SPC than the early dominant SPC and also in the intermediated SPCs. Most of antimicrobial proteins including lysozyme, LL-37, lactoferrin, β-defensin-1, -2, -3, IgA, mucocidin, and α1-antitrypsin were more abundant in the late dominant SPC than the early dominant SPC, while histatin showed relatively even distribution in all SPCs. Therefore, it was presumed that the late dominant SPC containing abundant antimicrobial and protective proteins could be applied as a biomarker to measure the defensive potential of whole saliva in oral diseases.