Oral mucosal disorders during pregnancy – How common are they?

Pregnant women taking antidepressants should be made of the benefits and risks of this treatment

This review of the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions during pregnancy included 15 observational studies from 9 countries. Gingival hyperplasia was most commonly report however the quality of the available evidence was assessed as very low.

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Antiepileptic drugs and oral health

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Epilepsy affects between 40-70 per 100,000 of the population in the developed world.  Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in particular phenytoin (PHT) is associated with gingival hyperplasia(GH) . The aim of this review was to explore the effects of all AEDs on oral health. The authors searched PubMed, EMBASE the Cochrane library and bibliographies of relevant articles. [read the full story…]

Adaptive devices and orofacial exercise improve gingival health in adults with systemic sclerosis

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Medical treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc), and its complications involves the use of immunosuppressants and calcium channel blockers which are known to increase the risk of developing gingival hyperplasia . In addition defective vascularity and alterations of the  microcirculation of the gingival tissues may lead to gingival inflammation. Sicca symptoms (including dry mouth) are also [read the full story…]

Folic acid supplementation for phenytoin-induced gingival overgrowth in children

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Gingival overgrowth is an important adverse effect of phenytoin (PHT) therapy, occurring in about half of the patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oral folic acid supplementation (0.5 mg/day) for the prevention of PHT-induced gingival overgrowth (PIGO) in children with epilepsy aged 6–15 years on PHT monotherapy for 6 months. Children aged [read the full story…]