An online alcohol and oral health curriculum for dental students.

Regular heavy alcohol use can cause or worsen several oral health disorders and is associated with complications during and after dental procedures. Dental student education should provide detailed knowledge of these issues together with skills needed to detect and counsel patients with unhealthy drinking patterns. This project was designed to develop and evaluate a five-module, online program to teach dental students about alcohol and oral health, systemic and oral biological effects of heavy drinking, required changes to treatment protocols for heavy drinkers, reliable methods of alcohol screening, and ways to provide heavy drinkers with brief interventions.

Methamphetamine abuse and oral health: a pilot study of "meth mouth".

Abuse of methamphetamine (meth), a potent central nervous system stimulant, has been associated with significant dental disease. Current descriptions of "meth mouth" are limited in their scope and fail to illuminate the potential pathogenic mechanisms of meth for oral disease. The purpose of this pilot study was to characterize the oral health of subjects with a history of meth abuse as compared to nonabusing control subjects.

Preliminary development and evaluation of online tobacco and alcohol modules for dental students.

Tobacco use and heavy alcohol consumption are major risk factors for the development of oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC). Detection and modification of these risks by dentists are keys in preventing OPC. While dentists are encouraged to screen patients for tobacco and alcohol use and educate them about the oral health risks they pose, dental students receive little formalized training in this area.

Alcohol screening in dental patients: the prevalence of hazardous drinking and patients' attitudes about screening and advice.

Background: Because heavy drinking is a risk factor for oral cancer, dentists should screen patients for alcohol use. The authors investigated heavy drinking in dental patients and patients' attitudes about alcohol screening.

Methods: A convenience sample of 408 patients attending an emergency walk-in dental clinic served as subjects.

AAOMP case challenge: a solitary gingival nodule.

A 38-year-old Hispanic female presented for evaluation of a gingival nodule of eight months duration. The nodule, which was slightly painful to palpation, had increased in size over time. The patient denied any history of trauma to the area.

Clinical implications of continued alcohol consumption after diagnosis of upper aerodigestive tract cancer.

Aims: To examine clinical implications of findings on the relationship between continued alcohol consumption in patients after diagnosis and treatment of upper aerodigestive tract cancer.

Methods: Clinical research literature on the prevalence and effects of alcohol consumption after oral cancer diagnosis was reviewed. Since limited research is currently available on this important clinical topic, all published studies were considered regardless of size and methodology.

Pseudomembranous candidosis in nephrotic syndrome: a case report.

A 33-year-old male presented for evaluation of several large, recently discovered white oral lesions of unknown duration. Clinical examination revealed multiple white plaques on the soft palate, uvula, buccal mucosa, and tongue. These lesions could be wiped away, leaving an erythematous base.

Oral candidosis.

Oral candidosis is the most common opportunistic fungal infection encountered in dentistry. Normally a benign inhabitant of mucous membranes, the fungal organism, Candida albicans, may present serious, even life-threatening infection in specific patient populations. As an opportunistic organism, Candida albicans is extremely responsive to any process resulting in immunosuppression.