Psychiatric morbidity among patients with oral sub-mucous fibrosis: a preliminary study.

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic oral mucosal condition with pre-malignant potential. The association between psychiatric morbidity and OSF has been sparsely studied.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 33 consecutive subjects clinically diagnosed with OSF who attended an academic tertiary care dental centre.

Thalidomide: an emerging drug in oral mucosal lesions.

Thalidomide has reemerged as a potential drug with new found uses despite its history of having caused devastating congenital birth defects. The drug has become the subject of major interest because of its clinical value in certain clearly defined disorders. Interest in thalidomide was initially rekindled in the mid-1960s by its remarkable effect in lessening the complication of leprosy called erythema nodosum leprosum.

Molecular biology: an early detector of oral cancers.

Oral cancers have been one of the leading causes of deaths particularly in the developing countries. Prime reason for this high mortality and morbidity is attributed to the delay in diagnosis and prompt treatment. Relentless research in the field of oncology has led to advent of novel procedures for the early detection of oral cancers.