Computer-aided facilities have been realized to improve medical diagnosis and consequent treatment in terms of precision, cost-effectiveness, and shorten the procedures time. A variety of dental restorative aspects including diagnosis, rehabilitation, and maintaining of patients with complex clinical conditions have been dramatically improved through the nowadays employed digitized techniques compared with conventional procedures. This review overviews the ways of how digitization could improve dentally related aspects and to discuss the educational procedures needed to acquire such an approach in dental practice. An electronic search was conducted using specifically related keywords. The relevant and most appropriate articles for systematic reviews were selected.

Introduction: Prevalence studies on oral lesions in children are scarce, and none of them was conducted in Jordan. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among Jordanian children. Materials and Methods: A stratified cluster random sampling technique was used to select a sample of first and sixth-grade school children. Systematic oral examination was performed using natural light, and lesions were diagnosed based on the clinical diagnostic criteria proposed by the WHO. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Data were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test where appropriate. Results: The study included 1366 school children (639 [46.8%] males and 727 [53.2%] females) of whom 620 (45.4%) were 6-year-old and 746 (54.6%) were 12-year-old. The prevalence of oral lesions among children was 47.4%, without a significant difference in prevalence between males (46.6%) and females (47%). Prevalence was significantly higher in 12-year-old children (50%) compared to 6-year-old children (44.2%; P = 0.032). The most commonly diagnosed lesions were racial pigmentation (16.8%), fissured tongue (14.6%), and hematoma (5.3%). Discussion: Oral mucosal lesions are common in children in general, with no overall preference to gender, but the prevalence increases significantly with age. General dental practitioners and pediatric dentists should be aware of the common oral mucosal lesions in their communities for optimum diagnosis, management, and possible prevention. Conclusions: Oral lesions are common among Jordanian children and dentists should be aware of their diagnosis and management.

Background and Aim: Green tea, a rich source of flavonoids, has tremendous oral health potential. This study evaluates the effect of brewing green tea at varying concentrations and duration on its antimicrobial activity against oral bacteria. Materials and Methods: Green tea was brewed in 15 concentration and time combinations. Paper disc diffusion test was carried out with these infusions on Tryptic Soy Agar plates inoculated with oral bacteria. Zone of inhibition after 72 h of incubation at 37°C was measured in millimeters. Results: Higher zone of inhibition was observed in concentration brewed for 15 min than 30 and 60 min. Zone of inhibition was directly proportional to the concentration of green tea brewed. Most effective concentration was 80 mg/ml with a mean of 2.83 mm which was significantly higher than mean zone of inhibition for 60 mg/ml (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Increasing the concentration and decreasing the brewing time of green tea results in a higher inhibitory effect on growth of oral bacteria.

Background and Aim: The most common gold standard used for caries research is a histological evaluation of dental hard tissues. Intraoral camera (quantitative light-induced fluorescence [QLF]) is one of the newer technologies. It is one way of assessing light interactions with dental tissues that require measuring and recording of emitted light and evaluate the quantity of mineral loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate, validate, and utilize this intraoral device to identify more efficient and objective procedures for the histological examination and diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Freshly extracted human teeth (n = 50), covering various caries' lesions range, were collected. Radiograph was taken, and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System II was used. Each tooth was sectioned into halves which was examined with a stereomicroscope and scored using a five-point ranked histological scoring system. Image of each half was then taken by digital microscopy camera. Then, two halves were imaged and analyzed using QLF camera. Results: Average fluorescence loss (ΔF) correlated positively with histology. The correlation was 0.781 and significant at the 1% level. QLF images provide a superior picture regarding caries progression into dental tissues with advantages of enhanced visual appearance. It is clear to differentiate whether the lesion is limited to enamel or extends into dentine and the degree of proximity to pulp. In some images, red fluorescence observed which might indicate bacterial invasion. Conclusion: QLF is a useful instrument to support the level of dental caries involvement into histological sections of dental tissue, and hence, it will help in clinical diagnosis. Moreover, it can be used as an educational tool for undergraduate dental students as well as in future research.

Background: There has been interest over the past decade in the principle that additives that promote the formation of calcium hydroxyapatite can increase the efficacy of sodium fluoride varnishes (NaF). Aim: This study aimed to compare in vitro; the protective effect of a commercially available 5% NaF varnish with the protective effects of 5% NaF varnishes enhanced with functional tricalcium phosphate (fTCP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). Methodology: A total of 120 primary incisors were divided into four groups of 30 teeth. Group 1 comprised a control group that received no fluoride varnish, Group 2, teeth treated with 5% NaF varnish, Group 3, treated with 5% NaF enhanced with fTCP and Group 4, teeth treated with 5% NaF enhanced with ACP. Surface roughness before and after pH cycling was measured using a profilometer, whereas surface microhardness was measured after pH cycling. Results: Teeth in Group 4 (ACP) and Group 3 (fTCP) showed significantly higher surface microhardness values than the other groups, but there existed a large variation in the range of values obtained. No Significant differences were observed in the change in surface roughness among all groups. Conclusion: The large variation seen in the microhardness values suggest that the effects of the addition of ACP or FTCP to 5% NaF varnish may not be predictable in primary teeth.

Introduction: For periodontal regeneration, various modalities are available; among these,use of growth factors is a developing area for clinicians and researchers, as they stimulate cells responsible for periodontal regeneration. Growth factor is a general term used to denote a class of naturally occurring proteins that function in the body to promote the mitogenesis (proliferation), directed migration, and metabolic activity of cells. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a new application and is a storage vehicle for growth factors, especially platelet-derived growth factor and transforming growth factor-b both of which influence bone regeneration. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the clinical efficacy of autologous PRP combined with an alloplastic bone graft material (hydroxyapatite and β-tricalcium phosphate [HA/β-TCP], (Ossifi™)) in the treatment of three-wall intrabony periodontal defects. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four patients (15 females and 9 males with age ranging from 28 years to 47 years) with moderate to advanced chronic periodontitis with three-wall intrabony defects were selected for the study. All patients were divided into two groups, i.e., “Group-I” and “Group-II;” 12 patients in each group. “Group-I” was control group with patients treated with HA/β-TCP with saline and “Group-II” was test group entitled to patients who were treated with PRP + HA/β-TCP. Clinical parameters recorded were bleeding on probing, probing depth, and clinical attachment level. Furthermore, the radiographic parameters included depth of intrabony defects, calculated as the difference of distances between cementoenamel junction (CEJ) to the bony defect and CEJ to the alveolar crest. Results and Conclusion: Combination of PRP with alloplastic bone graft material, i.e., test Group-II (PRP + HA/β-TCP), showed a better result than control Group-I (saline + HA/β-TCP) in the treatment of intrabony defects.

Introduction and Aim: The anterior lingual foramen is an anatomic structure in the symphysis region of the mandible. There is little research on the incidence and prevalence of this structure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and the location of the mandibular lingual foramen seen in CBCTs of a sample of the Saudi population. Methodology: 160 CBCTs images of the mandible of Saudi individuals taken at the Riyadh dental center were evaluated (45 male and 112 female) on the axial, coronal and curved sections for the presence and the number of lingual foramina for each patient. The distance between each foramen and the inferior border of the mandible, and the distance between the foramen and the genial tubercle were measured. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between male and females in the presence of the foramen. All CBCT scans showed presence of at least one lingual foramen in the mandible. Conclusion: The prevalence of the mandibular lingual foramen seems to be nearly universal in the Saudi population. Surgeons looking to place implants in the mandibular anterior region should take cognizance of this fact in order to minimize the chance of complications.

Objectives: To compare the cytological findings of preoperative buccal smears with their histopathological types in oral cavity tumors. Materials and Methods: This study investigated 45 patients with oral tumors who had undergone preoperative buccal smears of oral lesions and were diagnosed by postoperative histopathological examination. Two samples were taken from patients that were clinically diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC): smears for cytological examination and biopsies for histopathological diagnosis. Results: Of the 45 cases studied, histopathology showed the presence of OSCC (n = 39 [86.7%]), verrucous carcinoma (n = 2 [4.4%]), and hyperkeratosis (n = 4 [8.9%]). OSCC cases predominantly occurred in males, with a ratio of 3.8:1 (P = 0.000); the majority of OSCC cases, in both males (27; 87%) and females (6; 75%), were older than 50 years. Most OSCC cases, 32 (82.1%), were toombak dippers, and 28 out of the 32 were males (87.5%). In addition, the labiogingival, a common site of toombak dipping, was a prevalent lesion site of OSCC (13 patients, 33.3%) (P = 0.004). The cytological findings showed good diagnostic concordance with the histopathological findings; in 39 cases of OSCC, 31 patients had positive smears and biopsies and eight patients had negative smears but positive biopsies, for an overall sensitivity of 79.5% and specificity of 100%. Conclusion: Despite the small number of cases in this study, we realized that the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative buccal smear cytology for oral lesions was high and that it is a safe, easy-to-perform, and clinically useful diagnostic procedure.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) embody a diverse group of malignancies that originate from the lymphoid system. NHL often exhibit in an extranodal pattern, pertaining to the head and neck region. Intraoral sites are much less frequent, accounting for approximately 3.5% of all oral malignancies. Although the exact cause of NHL still remains inconspicuous, however, research has focused on some factors that may contribute to the development of lymphoma, including genetic factors, impaired immune system and viruses, such as HIV or EBV. Clinically, the bony lesion may present as localized or diffuse swelling, with low-grade pain, sweating, unexplained weight loss, fever, etc. Radiographically, these lesions resemble osteomyelitis or other malignancies creating a diagnostic dilemma. Microscopically, diffused lymphomas consist of large tumor cells with large nuclei that are more than twice the size of lymphocytes which may either exhibit centroblastic or immunoblastic features. Here, we report a rare case of NHL affecting the jaws of a 60-year-old male patient.

Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) is a very rare congenital abnormality with high degree of penetrance and variable phenotypic expression. Common phenotypic features reported in the literature include bifid uvula, submucous cleft palate, or cleft palate to incomplete and complete unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and palate with lower lip pits as cardinal feature. Bilateral, single median or paramedian pits have been reported. We present an unusual VWS in both mother and child with the mother presenting with double bilateral (four) lower lip pits.