Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients has been described in the literature; however, its incidence varies greatly. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of TMJ involvement in RA patients. This cross-sectional study consisted of 60 individuals with RA. The patients were assigned to two groups, those with TMJ involvement and those without TMJ involvement. TMJ involvement was defined based on the findings of questionnaires and clinical examinations by a rheumatologist. The symptoms and signs were recorded by a single trained dentist. The mean age of patients was 43.9 ± 15.52 years (range: 21-78 years), and the majority of the participants were women (n = 49, 81.66%). Thirty-five patients (58.3%) had clinical evidence of TMJ involvement. The levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) (P value= 0.01) and rheumatoid factor (RF) (P value = 0.02) were found to be correlated with TMJ involvement (). There was no significant correlation between TMJ involvement and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), age, gender, treatment duration, or disease duration. This study showed a high level of CRP in RA patients with TMJ involvement. The results further showed a significant correlation between TMJ involvement and RF. TMJ pain was reported in almost half of the RA patients.

The LeFort I osteotomy is a versatile and simple procedure used by oral and maxillofacial surgeons for correction of congenital, developmental, or acquired dentofacial deformities. This technique is widely used due to its low complication rate such as rare, life-threatening events, reliable long-term results, and a high level of patient satisfaction. This report presents a case of LeFort I osteotomy resulting in an unusual complication of pulmonary thromboembolism.

Background: Many studies have been performed on the effect of low level laser on wound healing which has been associated with different and sometimes contradictory results. On the other hand, considering that stress may affect the immune system the fact that it may delay wound healing has also been addressed. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effect of low level  laser therapy and stress on wound healing at the three levels of histology (histological changes), biomechanics (stress and strain assessment) and macroscopic (wound size). Methods: In this interventional study, 72 male Wistar rats (8-10 weeks old, weight range: 240 to 330 g) were randomly divided into three treatment groups and one control group. (18 per group). In all the rats, a 2.5 cm full-thickness skin incision was made on the dorsal spine. Intervention was performed from day 1 to day 21 every other day with Kals-DX61 laser (cap s) with wavelength: 660 nm, dose 3 J / cm2, 100 sec and power density 30 mW / cm2. Then, wound size was measured weekly until the third week (day 21). Then, tension metric tests were performed to evaluate the stress and strain of the restored tissue. At the end of each week, three animals from each group were sacrificed for histopathological evaluation. Results: There was a significant difference between the stress / no laser and laser/no stress groups in all stages of evaluation. Mean and standard deviation of stress and strain were not significantly different in the study groups. Conclusion: Stress can potentially slow the wound healing process, while receiving low level laser therapy speeds up the wound healing process, although in the end there was no significant difference in biomechanical characteristics between the groups.