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Many different topical and systemic medications have been studied, including anti-inflammatories, antimycotics (target Candida species), carotenoids (precursors to vitamin A, e.g. beta carotene), retinoids (drugs similar to vitamin A), and cytotoxics, but none have evidence that they prevent malignant transformation in an area of leukoplakia.Vitamins C and E have also been studied with regards a therapy for leukoplakia. Some of this research is carried out based upon the hypothesis that antioxidant nutrients, vitamins and cell growth suppressor proteins (e.g. p53) are antagonistic to oncogenesis. High doses of retinoids may cause toxic effects. Other treatments that have been studied include photodynamic therapy.
Treatment involves biopsy of the lesion to identify extent of dysplasia. Complete excision of the lesion is sometimes advised depending on the histopathology found in the biopsy. Even in these cases, recurrence of the erythroplakia is common and, thus, long-term monitoring is needed.
A systematic review found that no treatments commonly used for leukoplakia have been shown to be effective in preventing malignant transformation. Some treatments may lead to healing of leukoplakia, but do not prevent relapse of the lesion or malignant change. Regardless of the treatment used, a diagnosis of leukoplakia almost always leads to a recommendation that possible causative factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption be stopped, and also involves long term review of the lesion, to detect any malignant change early and thereby improve the prognosis significantly.
There is no treatment, but because this is a benign condition with no serious clinical complications, prognosis is excellent.
Leukoedema is a harmless condition, and no treatment is indicated. People may be alarmed by the appearance and benefit from reassurance.
Erythroplakia has an unknown cause but researchers presume it to be similar to the causes of squamous cell carcinoma. Carcinoma is found in almost 40% of erythroplakia. It is mostly found in elderly men around the ages of 65 - 74. It is commonly associated with smoking.
Alcohol and tobacco use have been described as risk factors.
Most doctors consider this a normal physiological phenomenon and advise against treatment.
Leukoedema was once thought to be a precursor lesion to leukoplakia, and was not believed to occur in children, but both of these views are now disproved.
Recently scientists have proven that intralesional injection of autologous bone marrow stem cells is a safe and effective treatment modality in oral sub mucosal fibrosis. It has been shown autologous bone marrow stem cell injections induces angiogenesis in the area of lesion which in turn decreases the extent of fibrosis thereby leading to significant increase in mouth opening.
Surgical excision of the lesion is done, and depending upon the clinical circumstances, this may or may not involve removal of the involved tooth. With incomplete removal, recurrence is common; some surgeons advocate curettage after extraction of teeth to decrease the overall rate of recurrence.
Biopsy screening although necessary is not mandatory most dentist can visually examine the area and proceed with the proper course of treatment.
Treatment includes:
- Abstention from chewing areca nut (also known as betel nut) and tobacco
- Minimizing consumption of spicy foods, including chiles
- Maintaining proper oral hygiene
- Supplementing the diet with foods rich in vitamins A, B complex, and C and iron
- Forgoing hot fluids like tea, coffee
- Forgoing alcohol
- Employing a dental surgeon to round off sharp teeth and extract third molars
Treatment also includes following:
- The prescription of chewable pellets of hydrocortisone (Efcorlin); one pellet to be chewed every three to four hours for three to four weeks
- 0.5 ml intralesional injection Hyaluronidase 1500 IU mixed in 1 ml of Lignocaine into each buccal mucosa once a week for 4 weeks or more as per condition
- 0.5 ml intralesional injection of Hyaluronidase 1500 IU and 0.5 ml of injection Hydrocortisone acetate 25 mg/ml in each buccal mucosa once a week alternatively for 4 weeks or more as per condition
- Submucosal injections of hydrocortisone 100 mg once or twice daily depending upon the severity of the disease for two to three weeks
- Submucosal injections of human chorionic gonadotrophins (Placentrax) 2-3 ml per sitting twice or thrice in a week for three to four weeks
- Surgical treatment is recommended in cases of progressive fibrosis when interincisor distance becomes less than . (Multiple release incisions deep to mucosa, submucosa and fibrotic tissue and suturing the gap or dehiscence so created by mucosal graft obtained from tongue and Z-plasty. In this procedure multiple deep z-shaped incisions are made into fibrotic tissue and then sutured in a straighter fashion.)
- Pentoxifylline (Trental), a methylxanthine derivative that has vasodilating properties and increases mucosal vascularity, is also recommended as an adjunct therapy in the routine management of oral submucous fibrosis.
- IFN-gamma is antifibrotic cytokine which alters collagen synthesis and helps in OSF.
- Colchicine tablets 0.5 mg twice a day
- Lycopene, 16 mg a day helps in improvement of OSF
The treatment of patients with oral submucous fibrosis depends on the degree of clinical involvement. If the disease is detected at a very early stage, cessation of the habit is sufficient. Most patients with oral submucous fibrosis present with moderate-to-severe disease. Severe oral submucous fibrosis is irreversible. Moderate oral submucous fibrosis is reversible with cessation of habit and mouth opening exercise. Current modern day medical treatments can make the mouth opening to normal minimum levels of 30 mm mouth opening with proper treatment.
White sponge nevus (WSN, or white sponge naevus, Cannon's disease, hereditary leukokeratosis of mucosa, white sponge nevus of Cannon, familial white folded dysplasia, or oral epithelial nevus), is an autosomal dominant condition of the oral mucosa (the mucous membrane lining of the mouth). It is caused by a mutations in certain genes coding for keratin, which causes a defect in the normal process of keratinization of the mucosa. This results in lesions which are thick, white and velvety on the inside of the cheeks within the mouth. Usually, these lesions are present from birth or develop during childhood. The condition is entirely harmless, and no treatment is required.
Treatment may include the following:
- Surgery with or without radiation
- Radiotherapy
Fast neutron therapy has been used successfully to treat salivary gland tumors, and has shown to be significantly more effective than photons in studies treating unresectable salivary gland tumors.
- Chemotherapy
This variation of normal anatomy is seen in the majority of adults. It is estimated about 80% of people have oral Fordyce spots, but seldom are granules found in large numbers. They are not usually visible in children, and tend to appear at about age 3, then increasing during puberty and become more obvious in later adulthood. They are more prominent in males.
Apart from stopping the habit, no other treatment is indicated. Long term follow-up is usually carried out. Some recommend biopsy if the lesions persists more than 6 weeks after giving up smokeless tobacco use, or if the lesion undergoes a change in appearance (e.g. ulceration, thickening, color changes, especially to speckled white and red or entirely red). Surgical excision may be carried out if the lesion does not resolve.
Some mucoceles spontaneously resolve on their own after a short time. Others are chronic and require surgical removal. Recurrence may occur, and thus the adjacent salivary gland is excised as a preventive measure.
Several types of procedures are available for the surgical removal of mucoceles. These include laser and minimally-invasive techniques which means recovery times are reduced drastically.
Micro-marsupialization is an alternative procedure to surgical removal. Micro-marsupialization uses silk sutures in the dome of a cyst to allow new epithelialized drainage pathways. It is simpler, less traumatic, and well-tolerated by patients, especially children.
A non-surgical option that may be effective for a small or newly identified mucocele is to rinse the mouth thoroughly with salt water (one tablespoon of salt per cup) four to six times a day for a few days. This may draw out the fluid trapped underneath the skin without further damaging the surrounding tissue. If the mucocele persists, individuals should see a doctor to discuss further treatment.
Smaller cysts may be removed by laser treatment, larger cysts will have to be removed surgically in an operating room.
The oral lesion itself is benign and self-limiting, however this may not necessarily be the case for the underlying cause of immunocompromise. For instance, OHL with HIV/AIDS is a predictor of bad prognosis, (i.e. severe immunosuppression and advanced disease).
Treatment ranges from simple enucleation of the cyst to curettage to resection. For example, small radicular cyst may resolved after successful endodontic ("root-canal") treatment. Because of high recurrence potential and aggressive behaviour, curettage is recommended for keratocyst. However, the conservative enucleation is the treatment of choice for most odontogenic cysts. The removed cyst must be evaluated by pathologist to confirm the diagnosis, and to rule out other neoplastic lesions with similar clinical or radiographic features (e.g., cystic or solid ameloblastoma, central mucoepidermoid carcinoma). There are cysts, e.g. buccal bifurcation cyst with self-resolation nature, in which close observation can be employed unless the cyst is infected and symptomatic.
Cementoblastoma, or benign cementoblastoma, is a relatively rare benign neoplasm of the cementum of the teeth. It is derived from ectomesenchyme of odontogenic origin. Less than 0.69%–8% of all odontogenic tumors.
a) Surgical resection is mainstay of treatment, whenever possible. If tumor is completely removed, post-operative radiation therapy is typically not needed since acinic cell is considered a low-grade histology. Post-operative radiation therapy for acinic cell carcinoma is used if: 1) margins are positive, 2) incomplete resection, 3) tumor invades beyond gland, 4) positive lymph nodes.
b) Neutron beam radiation
c) Conventional radiation
d) Chemotherapy
Usually this lesion is reversible if the tobacco habit is stopped completely, even after many years of use. In one report, 98% of lesions disappeared within 2 weeks of stopping tobacco use. The risk of the lesion developing into oral cancer (generally squamous cell carcinoma and its variant verrucous carcinoma) is relatively low. Indeed, veruccous carcinoma is sometimes term snuff dipper's cancer. In most reported cases, malignant transformation has occurring in individuals with a very long history of chewing tobacco or who use dry snuff.
Smokeless tobacco use is also accompanied by increased risk of other oral conditions such as dental caries (tooth decay), periodontitis (gum disease), attrition (tooth wear) and staining.
Treatment is not necessary since the lesion is benign, however the person may have esthetic concerns about the appearance. The condition often resolves rapidly with high dose acyclovir or desiclovir but recurs once this therapy is stopped, or as the underlying immunocompromise worsens. Topical use of podophyllum resin or retinoids has also been reported to produce temporary remission. Antiretroviral drugs such as zidovudine may be effective in producing a significant regression of OHL. Recurrence of the lesion may also signify that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is becoming ineffective.
The lesions are harmless, and no treatment is indicated beyond reassurance, unless the person requests it. The most common and simple treatment is construction of a specially made acrylic prosthesis that covers the biting surfaces of the teeth and protects the cheek, tongue and labial mucosa (an occlusal splint). This is either employed in the short term as a habit breaking intention, or more permanently (e.g. wearing the prosthesis each night during sleep). Psychological intervention is also reported, but does not appear to be beneficial.
Generally buccal exostoses require no treatment. However, they may be easily traumatized causing ulceration, or may contribute to periodontal disease if they become too large, or can interfere with wearing a denture (false teeth). If they are creating problems, they are generally removed with a simple surgical procedure under local anesthetic.
MASC is currently treated as a low-grade (i.e. Grade 1) carcinoma with an overall favorable prognosis. These cases are treated by complete surgical excision. However, the tumor does have the potential to recur locally and/or spread beyond surgically dissectible margins as well as metastasize to regional lymph nodes and distant tissues, particularly in tumors with histological features indicating a high cell growth rate potential. One study found lymph node metastasis in 5 of 34 MASC patients at initial surgery for the disease; these cases, when evidencing no further spread of disease, may be treated with radiation therapy. The treatment of cases with disease spreading beyond regional lymph nodes has been variable, ranging from simple excision to radical resections accompanied by adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, depending on the location of disease. Mean disease-free survival for MASC patients has been reported to be 92 months in one study.
The tyrosine kinase activity of NTRK3 as well as the ETV6-NTRK3 protein is inhibited by certain tyrosine kinase inhibitory drugs such as Entrectinib and LOXO-101; this offers a potential medical intervention method using these drugs to treat aggressive MASC disease. Indeed, one patient with extensive head and neck MASC disease obtained an 89% fall in tumor size when treated with entrectinib. This suppression lasted only 7 months due to the tumor's acquirement of a mutation in the "ETV6-NTRK3" gene. The newly mutated gene encoded an entrectinib-reisistant "ETV6-NTRK3" protein. Treatment of aggressive forms of MASC with NTRK3-inhibiting tyrosine kinase inhibiting drugs, perhaps with switching to another type of tyrosine kinase inhibitor drug if the tumor acquires resistance to the initial drug, is under study.STARTRK-2