Dental clinics of North America
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Dent. Clin. North Am. · Jan 2008
ReviewMultidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment: focus on head and neck cancer.
This article focuses on squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), the most common malignancy of the head and neck area. Early detection limits morbidity of treatment and increases the chances of a cure. ⋯ Salvage surgery has become more common, and with it the increased challenges in managing metastatic disease to neck nodes as well as managing failure of organ preservation treatments. Surgeons continue to develop and refine reconstruction techniques to optimize cosmetic and functional outcomes.
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Dent. Clin. North Am. · Oct 2007
National disaster life support programs: a platform for multi-disciplinary disaster response.
Proper training must prepare responders to consider various hazards and means by which to mitigate their effects. This article describes one such training program (the National Disaster Life Support program) as a possible means to prepare dental providers to better respond to disasters and describes a simple triage technique that can be used by dental professionals to triage patients.
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This article discusses current stockpile practices after exploring a history of the use of biologic agents as weapons, the preventive measures that the federal government has used in the past, and the establishment of a Strategic National Stockpile Program in 2003. The article also describes the additional medical supplies from the managed inventory and the federal medical stations. ⋯ Critical is the cost to local communities of the development and maintenance of a therapeutic agent stockpile and the need for personnel to staff clinics and medical stations. Finally, the important role of the dental profession for dispensing medication and providing mass immunization in the event of a disaster is described.
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Dent. Clin. North Am. · Jan 2007
ReviewA critical review of the use of botulinum toxin in orofacial pain disorders.
This article reviews the appropriate use, cautions, and contraindication for botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) and reviews the peer-reviewed literature that describes its efficacy for treatment of various chronic orofacial pain disorders. The literature has long suggested that BoNT is of value for orofacial hyperactivity and more recently for some orofacial pain disorders; however, the results are not as promising for orofacial pain. ⋯ The one exception is that BoNT has reasonable RBCT data to support its use as a migraine prophylaxis therapy. The major caveat is that the use of BoNT in chronic orofacial pain is "off-label".
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Dent. Clin. North Am. · Jan 2007
ReviewOverview of orofacial pain: epidemiology and gender differences in orofacial pain.
Chronic orofacial pain is a prevalent problem that encompasses numerous disorders with diverse causes and presenting symptoms. Compared with men, women of reproductive age seek treatment for orofacial pain conditions, as well as other chronic pain disorders more frequently. Important issues have been raised regarding gender and sex differences in genetic, neurophysiologic, and psychosocial aspects of pain sensitivity and analgesia. Efforts to improve our understanding of qualitative sex differences in pain modulation signify a promising step toward developing more tailored approaches to pain management.