Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) has been shown to be involved in cancer metastasis in several cancer types. There is however conflicting evidence of HIF-1α expression with oral cancer prognosis. Therefore, this study set out to investigate HIF-1α overexpression and its relationship with the aggressiveness and grade of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to explore the diagnostic potential of HIF-1α overexpression in OSCC in a cohort of Pakistani patients. Immunostaining of HIF-1α was performed on 54 OSCC and 14 normal oral mucosa (NOM) tissue samples and various cut-offs were used to evaluate its immunohistochemical expression. HIF-1α expression in OSCC samples was significantly higher than in controls, with minimal immunoreactivity in NOM. HIF-1α overexpression was significantly associated with increased tumor size (p = 0.046). However, no association was found between HIF-1α overexpression and increasing Broder’s histological grade or TNM stage. The cut-off >10% cells with moderate to marked intensity carried a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 100% to distinguish between tumor and control. ROC curve analysis of HIF-1α weighted histoscores showedHIF-1α overexpression as a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic test (p < 0.001, AUC = 0.833). HIF-1α overexpression is a tumor-specific finding associated with increased tumor size and carries a potential diagnostic role.

We assessed the impact of single and dual antiplatelet therapy on postoperative bleeding in dental extraction patients. The study involved 160 patients on antiplatelet medication and a control group of 105 healthy subjects undergoing extractions. Bleeding was considered an "event" if it persisted over 12 hours or met other specific criteria. A total of 115 teeth were extracted from control, 48 teeth were extracted from the dual drug group and 122 from the single drug group, with no significant difference in postoperative bleeding incidence (χ2 = 4.3, p = 0.11). Dental extractions for patients on single or dual antiplatelet therapy can be performed safely using local haemostatic measures without treatment interruption.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of impacted mandibular third molar with skeletal facial types and different anatomical and cephalometric landmarks. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Rehman College of Dentistry and Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar, Pakistan from October to December 2020. Panoramic and lateral cephalometric radiographs of 800 patients (aged 22-35 years) were retrieved from the records. Third molar impaction was classified by Winter’s classification using IC Measure software. The skeletal facial type was determined by measuring Point A Nasion Point B angle using Viewbox software. An association of third molar impaction with skeletal facial types, cephalometric and anatomical variables was evaluated. RESULTS: The most common mandibular tooth impactions type was Mesioangular impaction (81.3%) and skeletal facial type was skeletal class-I (47.5%). Comparative analysis among different impaction types using One-way ANOVA showed that although these impaction types did not differ significantly in terms of skeletal facies (p=0.07), significant difference in terms of age (p=0.028), Maxillary Mandibular Plane Angle (MMPA) (p=0.007), depth (p=0.000), ramus relation (p=0.000) and inferior dental nerve (ID) canal (p=0.001) were observed. ID canal was found to be positively but weakly correlated (r=0.2) with impaction types. Contrariwise, depth and ramus relation showed moderately negative correlation (r=-0.40 and r=-0.30, respectively) with impacted tooth angulations. CONCLUSION: Although it is difficult to predict the impaction type in patient based on their skeletal facies, associations between other anatomical and cephalometric variables were observed which may help in predicting the degree of difficulty that may be encountered during the surgical procedures.