An Appreciation of a Giant in Orofacial Sciences Research-John Greenspan

Professor John S. Greenspan died on March 31, 2023. He was a renowned and accomplished academic, dentist/scientist, pathologist, and administrator who made sustained and significant international impacts on numerous fields over half a century. John was arguably best known for his work with his wife, Dr. Deborah Greenspan, on the oral aspects of AIDS and the role of viruses in oral epithelial and salivary gland lesions. He had a lifelong interest in Sjögren's syndrome, culminating in the leadership of the Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance. He was also widely recognized as one of the leading investigators into the understanding of oral mucosal diseases, including recurrent aphthous stomatitis. He and his colleagues' major contributions to HIV research and care included the discovery of the oral lesion "hairy leukoplakia," its etiological association with Epstein-Barr virus, and other oral lesions in the natural history of HIV disease. In recent years, John turned his attention to global oral health inequalities, helping to establish the International Association for Dental Research's Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network and serving as its first president. He led many organizations with humble authority, knowledge, wit, and wisdom and mentored colleagues from all over the world, especially from lower- and middle-income countries. John leaves a very special legacy based on example and scientific curiosity, and his work has not only made a lasting impact on his colleagues but also translated to abiding benefit for patients.

Oral manifestations related to malaria: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To generalize the oral manifestations related to malaria and discuss their clinical significance for health professionals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The bibliographic databases of Public MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus were employed to retrieve publications online from January 1781 to August 2019. Original research articles, clinical trials, and case reports published in English were included.

RESULTS

A small number of studies reported oral manifestations of malaria (n = 29), including gingival bleeding, glossitis, oral ulcer, abnormal oral pigmentation, pericoronitis, herpes labialis, herpes gingivostomatitis, bitter taste, sore throat, Burkitt lymphoma of the jaw, alveolar bone resorption, and enamel hypoplasia.

CONCLUSION

Oral manifestations may be important indicators for identification of malaria. Dental and general professionals should pay more attention to oral manifestations in malaria cases, and guide them for specialized examination, diagnosis, and management.

A study on oral mucosal lesions in 3500 patients with dermatological diseases in South India

BACKGROUND

Oral mucosal lesions that are observed in the dermatological diseases are categorized under mucocutaneous conditions. The oral lesions in dermatological diseases may be the early aspects of the disease manifestation or the most significant clinical appearance or the only sign/and or symptom of such dermatological diseases and occasionally lesions occur simultaneously in the skin as well as mucous membrane.

AIM

This present study attempts to find out the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in patients with dermatological diseases.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The study includes 3500 patients who attended out-patient Department of Dermatology. Patients with oral manifestation were subjected for clinical examination in the Department of Oral Pathology. Diagnostic procedures were performed to confirm the clinical oral diagnosis. The results of the study were analyzed by SPSS software version 19.0 (Armonk, NY) and presented as descriptive statistics. Correlation of oral manifestions with their respective dermatological disease was statistically analysed by Pearson's correlation test.(P < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant).

RESULTS

The prevalence rate of oral mucosal lesions in the present study was 1.8% (65/3500). The most frequent lesions observed were psoriasis 32.3% (21/65), lichen planus 18.4% (12/65), Stevens Johnson Syndrome 18.4% (12/65), pemphigus 10.7% (7/65), toxic epidermal necrolysis 4.6% (3/65), systemic lupus erythematosus 3% (2/65), discoid lupus erythematosus 1.5% (1/65), pemphigoid 1.5% (1/65). Gender distribution in the study population was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Employed and unemployed individuals in the study population were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Pearson's correlation analysis of oral manifestations with their respective dermatological disease showed r = 0.466 and signifies a positive correlation and is statistically significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence rate of oral mucosal lesions in patients with dermatological diseases was relatively low. However, predominant oral mucosal lesions observed in the study were autoimmune in origin with a high morbidity and mortality index. Hence, multidisciplinary approach will definitely help in the prognosis of patients.