More than two billion people have been infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Globally, 350-400 million suffer from chronic HBV infection. It is postulated that dentists and dental staff are infected and transmit the virus to their patients more than any other occupation. The aim of this article is to review the HBV incidence in dental society, the points of view of dentists and their patients regarding transmission of the virus during dental procedures, the occurrence of HBV outbreaks in dental clinics and the importance of methods of preventing HBV infection in dentistry.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of antioxidant-rich purslane in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). A total of 37 biopsy-proven symptomatic OLP patients were selected for this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. All subjects were divided into two groups to receive purslane (n = 20) or placebo (n = 17) for 3 months. Assessments were made at baseline, after 2 weeks and each month for 6 months, based on the visual analog scale (VAS) and clinical improvement including lesion type and size. Approximately 83% of the purslane patients showed partial to complete clinical improvement but 17% had no response. In the placebo group 17% experienced partial improvement, 73% did not respond and 10% showed worsening. According to VAS scores, a partial to complete response was observed in all purslane-treated patients, while 71%, 15% and 14% of the controls demonstrated partial response, no response and worsening of the symptoms, respectively. A significant decrease in VAS scores was seen at the end of the study period (p < 0.001). No serious side-effects occurred in either of the groups. According to our findings purslane is clinically effective in the treatment of OLP. Considering the lack of side-effects during the study period, it may be a favorable alternative treatment for OLP.

The aim of this study was to compare stimulated whole saliva flow rate and composition of menopausal women with/without oral dryness (OD) feeling. A case-control study was carried out in 42 selected menopausal women aged 52-73 years with or without OD feeling (21 as case and 21 as control) conducted at the Clinic of Oral Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Paraffin-stimulated saliva samples were obtained by expectoration. The stimulated whole saliva composition was measured by a spectrophotometer [magnesium (Mg(+2)), calcium (Ca(+2)), chloride (Cl(-)), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and total protein], flame-photometry [sodium (Na(+))] and ion selective electrode (ISE) [potassium (K(+))] methods. No significant differences were found in stimulated whole saliva flow rate, Mg(+2), Cl(-), Pi, Na(+), K(+) and total protein concentrations between the two groups, but the mean calcium concentration was significantly higher in cases than in controls (P = 0.003). It seems that the level of salivary calcium concentration may be higher in menopausal women with OD feeling than in the control group.

There were no significant differences in saliva TAC and MDA levels between OLP and control, and also between OLP and OSCC patients. MDA and 8-OHdG were significantly higher but TAC was lower in OSCC patients than control. TAC/MDA ratio was significantly lower in patients with OSCC than both OLP patients and control. TAC/MDA ratio was significantly lower but 8-OHdG was higher in patients with OLP compared to control. This suggests that patients with OLP and OSCC are more susceptible to an imbalance of antioxidant-oxidative stress status.

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