Mustafa Basim Ali Al-Talqani

Objectives This study was conducted to determine the periodontal health status and the level of creatine kinase (CK) of the study and control groups and to correlate the level of this enzyme with clinical periodontal parameters in the study and control groups. Materials and Methods This study included 80 male participants aged 35 to 55 years, divided into four groups: poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic periodontitis (G1), well-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic periodontitis (G2), chronic periodontitis without diabetes (G3), and periodontally healthy controls (G4). Clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index, gingival index, periodontal pocket depth [PPD], and clinical attachment loss) and salivary CK levels (measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) were compared between groups. Results All clinical periodontal parameters and CK levels were highest in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic periodontitis patients, and the enzyme level revealed highly significant differences between all pairs of the study and control groups. There were nonsignificant weak correlations of CK with all clinical parameters in all groups except a significant moderate positive correlation with PPD in the nondiabetic with chronic periodontitis group. Conclusion It was concluded that poor glycemic control negatively impacts periodontal health status. CK is considered a good biochemical marker of periodontal tissue destruction and is useful in the diagnosis, monitoring, and management of periodontal diseases.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of caries in the first permanent molars of children aged 6 to 10 years in Najaf, Iraq. Subjects and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey involving 1232 children aged 6 to 10 years in schools in Najaf, Iraq. Caries was assessed using the DMFT index and caries severity of permanent teeth was assessed using the PUFA index. Results: The prevalence of caries in the first permanent molars was 56.1% (n=691). The caries severity of the first permanent molars (PUFA index) was 30.7%, meaning that the children have more severe caries in the first permanent molars. Conclusion: Caries prevalence and severity increased with age and was high in first permanent molars.

Background: Traumatic ulcerative granuloma with stromal eosinophilia is an impressive benign chronic ulcerative lesion of the oral mucosa with vague etiopathogenesis. It was supposed to represent an oral counterpart of primary cutaneous CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorder. Histopathologically, it is characterized by mixed inflammatory infiltrate predominated by histiocytes, lymphocytes and eosinophils along with presence of scattered large atypical mononuclear cells. It has worrisome clinical presentation. It may heal spontaneously, but in most occasions it persists and never heal unless removed surgically (incisional or excisional biopsy). A rare subset may show worrisome immunohistochemical features. Follow up is highly recommended. Materials and methods: Formalin fixed - paraffin embedded tissue blocks of twenty-one cases were cut and mounted on positively charged slides and stained by primary antibodies (CD30, CD68 and TGF-β1). A statistical analysis was performed between the immunohistochemical scores for markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters (age, sex, size of ulcer, number of eosinophils and mitoses). Results: The age of the patients ranged from 20 to 72 years, with a higher female propensity. Immunohistochemical positive expression for CD30 (16 case) mainly involved round small lymphocytes, while all cases were positive for CD68 and TGF-β1. Statistically, there was no significant relation between the scores of CD30, CD68 and TGF-β1 with each other and with the aforementioned parameters, (P<0.05). The eosinophils count showed a significant positive correlation with age (P=0.008), size of ulcer (P=0.007) and mitoses (P=0.004). Conclusion: Traumatic ulcerative granuloma with stromal eosinophilia is a benign and reactive chronic oral ulcerative lesion rather than being CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorder; this conclusion is supported by heterogeneous, focal and nonspecific staining for CD30 and being typically infiltrated by CD68+ macrophages. Whereas, a high level of expression for TGF-β1 indicated that the aforementioned factor was not associated with the delayed healing of this lesion.