Background: Oral and maxillofacial lesions (OMFL) comprise a broad spectrum of benign and malignant lesions that affect the oral cavity. However, few epidemiological studies have evaluated oral cavity lesions, and very few have focused on oral soft tissue pathology. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and distribution of OMFL that had been diagnosed histologically at the Oral Pathology Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted to assess the distribution of OMFL among the oral cavity biopsies submitted to the Oral Pathology Laboratory during the period from 1996 to 2016. Information on sex, age, location of the lesion, and histopathologic diagnosis was analyzed. Results: A total of 1,218 cases were examined. Among these, reactive/adaptive lesions were the most common type (n=245; 20.1%) and cystic lesions were the second most common (n=214; 17.6%), followed by inflammatory lesions (n=152; 12.5%) and epithelial pathology (n=115; 9.4%). Conclusion: The results of the present study provide valuable information on the prevalence of OMFL in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Reactive conditions were the most frequently diagnosed pathologies. Most oral and maxillofacial biopsies were soft tissue lesions, benign in nature, and inflammatory in origin. Further studies are necessary to provide more information on head and neck diseases in the general population to develop better future oral health policies.

Teledentistry has emerged as a new communication tool in various dental disciplines around the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the applicability and reliability of teledentistry in the field of diagnostic dentistry and explore the perception of Saudi dentists of its benefits and concerns. An electronic survey with 40 questions was developed, validated and distributed electronically by email and social media channels to dentists from different specialty in Saudi Arabia. Collected data were analyzed for statistical significance. A total of 148 dentists completed the survey. The current data demonstrated that 50% of study participants have had applied teledentistry in their clinical practice. Out of all, 90% have computers in their dental offices and 72% have been using electronic medical records in which radiographs and clinical images are uploaded. Most participants had smart phones (91%), in which they were used more commonly (74.3%) than conventional cameras (54.1%) to capture and share patients' clinical images over communication applications (74.3%) and less likely through emails (62.2%). Overall, 83% were confident that teledentistry can improve daily dental practice, specifically in the fields of oral radiology followed by endodontics and oral medicine. Teledentistry is an emerging tool with potential to improve the delivery of diagnostic dental care for communities with limited or no access to dental specialists. As of today, teledentistry has not been truly implemented by the Saudi dental community. Development of national programs to educate the public and promote teledentistry among dental practitioners are warranted.

The rapid development of technologies in biomedical research has enriched and broadened the range of medical equipment. Magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasonic imaging, and optical imaging have been discovered by diverse research communities to design multimodal systems, which is essential for biomedical applications. One of the important tools is photoacoustic multimodal imaging (PAMI) which combines the concepts of optics and ultrasonic systems. At the same time, earlier detection of breast cancer becomes essential to reduce mortality. The recent advancements of deep learning (DL) models enable detection and classification the breast cancer using biomedical images. This article introduces a novel social engineering optimization with deep transfer learning‐based breast cancer detection and classification (SEODTL‐BDC) model using PAI. The intention of the SEODTL‐BDC technique is to detect and categorize the presence of breast cancer using ultrasound images. Primarily, bilateral filtering (BF) is applied as an image preprocessing technique to remove noise. Besides, a lightweight LEDNet model is employed for the segmentation of biomedical images. In addition, residual network (ResNet‐18) model can be utilized as a feature extractor. Finally, SEO with recurrent neural network (RNN) model, named SEO‐RNN classifier, is applied to allot proper class labels to the biomedical images. The performance validation of the SEODTL‐BDC technique is carried out using benchmark dataset and the experimental outcomes pointed out the supremacy of the SEODTL‐BDC approach over the existing methods.

Introduction: Teledentistry is an emerging tool to exchange medical information and clinical images to facilitate the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of oral diseases and patient assurance and education. Considering the shortage of oral medicine specialists in Saudi Arabia, this study aims to assess the experiences of dental specialists with tele-oral medicine and its potential applicability in addressing this shortage. Materials and methods: This was a pilot, cross-sectional study conducted among specialists in the field of oral medicine from January 2020 to March 2020. A total of 16 preselected cases with oral lesions, including clinical history and images, were developed, validated, and shared via email with study participants. Each case included questions on differential diagnosis, provisional diagnosis, and management. The responses were recorded, analyzed, and presented as means and percentages. Results: A total of 49 subjects participated in this study and more than half were under 40 years of age and two-thirds were women. A total of 23 participants had prior experience with tele-oral medicine, mainly via WhatsApp (95.7%), and these cases were received from patients, their families, friends, or other dentists. For all study cases, the correct diagnosis score ranged between 73.50 and 100%, and correct management ranged between 51 and 98%. Conclusions: Tele-oral medicine is an effective tool that may play an important role in patient management in rural regions with a shortage of oral medicine services. Further studies with larger sample sizes and in collaboration with international centers are warranted to confirm these findings.

Background and Clinical Significance: Chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) of the jaw is a rare autoinflammatory bone disorder that primarily affects children and adolescents. Diagnosing CNO of the mandible can be challenging due to its rarity, and the clinical and radiographic findings overlap with those of other bone disorders. Case Presentation: This case series retrospectively presents four female pediatric patients (9–12 years old) diagnosed with mandibular CNO. The patients were treated at King Abdulaziz University Dental Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between 2018 and 2024. Clinical features and radiographic and histopathological findings were evaluated. All cases had mandibular swelling and pain. Radiographic features consistently revealed mixed sclerotic and radiolucent lesions with bone expansion and periosteal reactions. Histopathological findings revealed viable bone interspersed with varying degrees of fibrous tissue. No evidence of bacterial colonies or inflammation was observed. This case series highlights the radiographic and histopathological features of CNO in the mandible of pediatric patients. The mixed radiographic features and variability of histopathological findings combined with the refractory nature of the lesions contribute to diagnostic complexity. Diagnostic challenges include differentiating CNO from other inflammatory and fibro-osseous conditions. The presence of recurrent episodes of pain, the formation of subperiosteal bone, periostitis, lysis of the cortical layer, expansion of the mandibular canal, and sterile bone biopsies with nonspecific inflammatory changes were related mainly to CNO. Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for increased awareness and a multidisciplinary approach for accurate diagnosis and management of CNO. Conservative management, particularly in dental cases, avoids prolonged unnecessary use of antibiotics, and the prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be followed.

Introduction: Oral leukoplakia (OLK) and oral lichen planus (OLP) are recognized as potentially malignant disorders with varying risks of progression to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Immunohistochemical (IHC) biomarkers have been extensively studied to identify predictive markers for malignant transformation in these lesions. Objectives: This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on IHC biomarkers associated with malignant progression in OLK and OLP. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review study, a systematic literature search was conducted across databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar search engine up to April 2025. Studies included were those investigating IHC biomarkers in OLK and OLP with reported malignant transformation outcomes. Results: This systematic review included 10 studies with a total of 549 participants. The most frequently assessed IHC markers were B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), p53, Ki-67, Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), survivin, mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Bcl-2 was the predominant marker, evaluated in 9 studies, followed by p53 was examined in 7, Ki-67 in 4, and Bax in 3 studies. Less commonly studied markers included survivin, MDM2, PCNA, and p21, each reported in a single study. Conclusion: Although Bcl-2 and p53 emerge as the most significant IHC markers for predicting malignant transformation in oral premalignant lesions due to their roles in apoptosis and tumor suppression, the Ki-67 and Bax biomarkers contribute important information on cell proliferation and apoptotic balance, while markers like survivin, MDM2, PCNA, and p21 are less commonly studied but may have specialized roles. Overall, a panel of these biomarkers, especially Bcl-2 and p53, shows strong potential for improving risk assessment and guiding clinical management of OLK and OLP. Registration: This study has been compiled based on the PRISMA checklist, and its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) (ID: CRD420251063588) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry2021) websites.