Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is one of the most complex joints of the human body. Due to its unique movement, in terms of combination of rotation and translator movement, disc of the joint plays an important role to maintain its normal function. In order to sustain the normal function of the TMJ, disc must be kept in proper position as well as maintain normal shape in all circumstances. Once the disc is not any more in its normal position during function of the joint, disturbance of the joint can be occurred which will lead to subsequent distortion of the disc. Shape of the disc can be influenced by many factors i.e.: abnormal function or composition of the disc itself. Etiology of the internal derangement of the disc remains controversial. Multifactorial theory has been postulated in most of previous manuscripts. Disc is composed of mainly extracellular matrix. Abnormal proportion of collagen type I & III may also leads to joint hypermobility which may be also a predisposing factor of this disorder. Thus it can be recognized as local manifestation of a systemic disorder. Different treatment modalities with from conservative treatment to surgical intervention distinct success rate have been reported. Recently treatment with extracellular matrix injection becomes more and more popular to strengthen the joint itself. Since multifactorial in character, the best solution of the treatment modalities should be aimed to resolve possible etiology from different aspects. Team work may be indication to reach satisfied results.

Recently, stem cell-based bone tissue engineering (BTE) has been recognized as a preferable and clinically significant strategy for bone repair. In this study, a pure 3D silk fibroin (SF) scaffold was fabricated as a BTE material using a lyophilization method. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of the SF scaffold with and without seeded human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs) in facilitating bone regeneration. The effectiveness of the SF-hASCs scaffold was evaluated based on physical characterization, biocompatibility, osteogenic differentiation in vitro, and bone regeneration in critical rat calvarial defects in vivo. The SF scaffold demonstrated superior biocompatibility and significantly promoted osteogenic differentiation of hASCs in vitro. At six and twelve weeks postimplantation, micro-CT showed no statistical difference in new bone formation amongst all groups. However, histological staining results revealed that the SF-hASCs scaffold exhibited a better bone extracellular matrix deposition in the defect regions compared to other groups. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed this result; expression of osteoblast-related genes (BMP-2, COL1a1, and OCN) with the SF-hASCs scaffold treatment was remarkably positive, indicating their ability to achieve effective bone remodeling. Thus, these findings demonstrate that SF can serve as a potential carrier for stem cells, to be used as an osteoconductive bioscaffold for BTE applications.

Oral cancer is one of the most common head and neck malignancies and has an overall 5-year survival rate that remains below 50%. Oral cancer is generally preceded by oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) but determining the risk of OPMD progressing to cancer remains a difficult task. Several diagnostic technologies have been developed to facilitate the detection of OPMD and oral cancer, and some of these have been translated into regulatory-approved in vitro diagnostic systems or medical devices. Furthermore, the rapid development of novel biomarkers, electronic systems, and artificial intelligence may help to develop a new era where OPMD and oral cancer are detected at an early stage. To date, a visual oral examination remains the routine first-line method of identifying oral lesions; however, this method has certain limitations and as a result, patients are either diagnosed when their cancer reaches a severe stage or a high-risk patient with OPMD is misdiagnosed and left untreated. The purpose of this article is to review the currently available diagnostic methods for oral cancer as well as possible future applications of novel promising technologies to oral cancer diagnosis. This will potentially increase diagnostic options and improve our ability to effectively diagnose and treat oral cancerous-related lesions.

Background/purposeDysphagia was associated with increased prevalence of aspiration pneumonia (AP) in studies that were criticized for either their small sample size or lack of prospective design. Using a considerably larger nationwide, population-based database and a long-term prospective cohort design, our study aimed to explore the relationship between dysphagia and the subsequent development of AP.Materials and methodsFrom 2000 to 2009, we gathered a study cohort consisting of 6979 newly diagnosed cases of dysphagia from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. For the control group, another 20,937 individuals without dysphagia were matched for age, sex, and comorbidity. The two cohorts were followed-up to observe the occurrence of AP and correlated mortality.ResultsDuring an average of 3.88 ± 2.73 years of follow-up, we observed 315 cases of new AP [non-dysphagia (193, 0.92%) vs. dysphagia (122, 1.75%), p < 0.0001], and the incidence of AP was significant in the dysphagia group. After adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidity, dysphagia-related AP [hazard ratio (HR) 2.499; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.089–2.99; p < 0.0001], dysphagia related mortality [HR 3.229; 95% CI, 3.052–3.417; p < 0.0001], and many other systemic diseases were independently associated with a diagnosis of AP.ConclusionDysphagia was highly associated with an increased risk of AP according to data derived from a large nationwide cohort database. Nonetheless, larger prospective studies or meta-analyses are recommended to confirm our findings.

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