Odontogenic myxoma (OM) is a rare and locally invasive benign neoplasm (comprising of 3-6% of all odontogenic tumors) found exclusively in the jaws. OM commonly occurs in the second and third decades, and the mandible is involved more commonly than the maxilla. The lesion often grows without symptoms and presents as a painless swelling. The radiographic features are variable, and the diagnosis is therefore not easy. This article presents a rare case of OM occurring in the maxilla of a 37-year-old female patient with a brief review of the pathogenesis, clinical, radiological, histopathological, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical characteristics of OM.

Schwannoma (also known as neurilemmoma, peripheral glioma and peripheral nerve sheath tumor) is a common, histologically distinctive, benign, usually encapsulated, peripheral nerve tumor of Schwann cell origin. Schwannomas can appear anywhere in the body, but are more frequently reported in the head and neck with an incidence of 25–48% in maxillofacial region. Resorption of bones due to schwannoma is rarely noticed in maxillofacial region. We hereby present a case report of schwannoma in a 35–year-old female, causing resorption of zygomatic arch along with review of literature.

Background:Articaine is an amide local anesthetic that differs from other agents of its group due to the presence of a thiophene ring instead of a benzene ring, and it is one of the commonly used local anesthetic agents for day care surgeries. Some researches claim that articaine is superior to lidocaine in its biologic profile.Purpose:To evaluate the efficacy, time of onset of anesthesia, duration of action and intra- or post-administration complications of articaine in comparison with lignocaine for bilateral extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic reasons.Materials and Methods:The study was carried out in 20 patients visiting the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yenepoya Dental College and Hospital, Mangalore, needing bilateral extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic purposes. A volume of 0.6–1 ml of 4% articaine hydrochloride (HCl) was injected in the buccal vestibule on one side and 1–2 ml of 2% lignocaine HCl was injected on the other side. After attaining adequate anesthesia, the extraction procedure was carried out under aseptic conditions.Results:An onset period 0.975 ± 0.1118 and 2.950 ± 0.5104 min and duration of anesthesia of 72 ± 17.275 and 49 ± 5.026 min was found for articaine and lignocaine, respectively. Statistically significant differences were noted in the perception of pain using the visual analogue scale.Conclusion:Articaine can be used as an alternative to lignocaine, especially in the extraction of maxillary premolars for orthodontic reasons. The clinical advantages including rapid onset, longer duration of action and greater diffusing property over lignocaine and the elimination of the need for a painful palatal injection were demonstrated.

Introduction:Superficial facial space infections represent a significant amount of the dental problems that present to hospital. Determining whether an odontogenic swelling is a cellulitis or abscess is difficult, but important as both may require different treatments. The use of an ultrasound may aid in differentiating cellulitis and abscess. This study was done to compare the accuracy of clinical examination alone versus ultrasonography (USG) in the diagnosis of cellulitis and abscess in symptomatic patients with a diagnosis of superficial facial space infection.Materials and Methods:Twenty patients (1870 years) diagnosed as superficial facial space infections by clinical and radiographic examinations were included in the study and patients with significant medical conditions were excluded. The provisional clinical diagnosis was made after a thorough history was taken and clinical examination was performed to determine if the swelling was a cellulitis or abscess. Swelling was then evaluated using the ultrasonic transducer which was placed over the swelling to aid the diagnosis which was again recorded. An incision and drainage procedure was performed after the administration of local anesthesia. The success of the ultrasound intervention versus clinical examination was based on whether frank exudation was detected during incision and drainage of such swellings.Results:The statistical analysis found that USG is a valuable diagnostic aid for detection of abscess or cellulitis in head and neck facial space infections.Interpretation and Conclusion:The findings of this prospective analysis indicate that there was statistical difference between clinical examination alone and USG in making the correct diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive, negative predictive, and accuracy were not similar for all methods tested. From the results of this study, ultrasound is recommended as an adjunct to clinical examination in differentiating between cellulitis and abscess.

The development of tophi in the absence of prior episodes of gouty arthritis is unusual. We hereby present a case of a nonalcoholic, normoglycemic, and normotensive middle-aged man, who presented with multiple nodules distributed bilaterally over the dorsum of hands, feet, and elbow joints without any prior history of arthritis. Serum uric acid level was found to be normal. Histology was consistent with features of tophi. On the basis of clinical and histological findings, the nodules were diagnosed as gouty tophi and the patient was diagnosed with gouty nodulosis. Gouty nodulosis is a very rare presentation of gout and only a few reports exist in the medical literature.