The Epidemiology of Dental Pathologies in Elderly Patients Admitted to a Tertiary Level Hospital in Oradea, NW Romania: A 5-Year Retrospective Study

Oral diseases can affect the quality of life of all individuals, including elderly people. In elderly people, the associated general diseases can increase the risk of dental pathologies or can impact their treatment. The main aim of this study was to identify elderly patients with dental pathology out of the total number of patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at a tertiary-level hospital in North-Western Romania. Another aim was to describe the characteristics of the patients included in this study, as well as to analyze data from patients with dental pathologies. In this retrospective study, the medical records of patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Bihor County Emergency Hospital between 2016 and 2020 were analyzed, with a focus on patients aged 65 years or more. After applying the exclusion criteria, 721 patients were kept in the study, of which 316 (43.8%) had at least one dental pathology. Most elderly patients with dental pathologies were admitted in 2018 (n = 89). The most common associated systemic diseases were arterial hypertension (n = 268) and ischemic heart disease (n = 233), while the most common dental pathologies were pulpitis (n = 185), chronic apical periodontitis (n = 61) and abscesses (n = 35). Most patients were either healed or had an improved condition at the time of discharge. The great number of dental pathologies, as well as the diversity in dental pathologies, underline the necessity for better preventive programs aimed not only at children, adolescents or young people but at the elderly population as well.

Development of the Vestibular Lamina in Human Embryos: Morphogenesis and Vestibule Formation

The vestibular lamina (VL) is a transient developmental structure that forms the lip furrow, creating a gap between the lips/cheeks and teeth (oral vestibule). Surprisingly, little is known about the development of the VL and its relationship to the adjacent dental lamina (DL), which forms the teeth. In some congenital disorders, such as Ellis-van Creveld (EVC) syndrome, development of the VL is disrupted and multiple supernumerary frenula form, physically linking the lips and teeth. Here, we assess the normal development of the VL in human embryos from 6.5 (CS19) to 13 weeks of development, showing the close relationship between the VL and DL, from initiation to differentiation. In the anterior lower region, the two structures arise from the same epithelial thickening. The VL then undergoes complex morphogenetic changes during development, forming a branched structure that separates to create the vestibule. Changing expression of keratins highlight the differentiation patterns in the VL, with fissure formation linked to the onset of filaggrin. Apoptosis is involved in removal of the central portion of the VL to create a broad furrow between the future cheek and gum. This research forms an essential base to further explore developmental defects in this part of the oral cavity.