OBJECTIVE: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is chronic inflammatory disease of the oral mucosa, presenting in various clinical forms. The etiology of OLP is still unknown but mounting evidence points to the immunologic basis of this disorder.Aim: Our study was undertaken to quantify the salivary levels of pro‐inflammatory tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) in the reticular and the erosive/atrophic forms of OLP, compared with age‐matched healthy control volunteers.Subjects and methods: Whole saliva from 40 patients with active lesions of OLP, as well as from 20 healthy persons, was investigated for the presence of TNF‐α by enzyme immunoassay.Results: Salivary TNF‐α levels were significantlly increased in patients with OLP in comparison with healthy subjects. The presence of TNF‐α showed positive correlation to clinical forms of OLP, being significantly higher in the erosive/atrophic type than in the reticular type of disease.Conclusion: Saliva provides an ideal medium for the detection of pro‐inflammatory markers of the oral cavity. In patients with OLP, TNF‐α levels in saliva are elevated, correlating with the severity of illness. Salivary TNF‐α analysis may be a useful diagnostic tool and a potential prognostic marker in OLP.

Objective: The aim of this study was to monitor therapeutic response by determining the level of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 in whole unstimulated saliva in patients with denture stomatitis (DS), before and after laser phototherapy (LPT). Background: DS is an inflammatory condition that occurs in subjects who wear dentures, and it is a common oral mucosal lesion. A potential noninvasive treatment for DS patients is LPT. Materials and Methods: A sample consisting of 40 consecutive subjects was selected on a voluntary basis from patients who presented for the diagnosis and treatment of DS at the Oral Medicine Unit of the Medical Faculty at the University of Rijeka. A clinical examination was performed according to the standard clinical criteria. Lesions described as palatal inflammation were diagnosed as Newton type II denture stomatitis. The patients were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (20 patients receiving real LPT) or a control group (20 patients receiving inactive/placebo laser treatment). In order to determine the salivary levels of TNF-α and IL-6, ELISA (Sigma Immunochemicals, St Louis, MO) was performed. Results: Following treatment with LPT for 4 wk, the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 decreased significantly ( p < 0.001) and were significantly different from controls ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that LPT may be an efficacious choice of therapy.

Childhood diseases are a continuous source of interest in all areas of general and dental medicine. Congenital, developmental, and hereditary diseases may either be present upon birth or appear in early childhood. Developmental anomalies, although often asymptomatic, may become grounds for different infections. Furthermore, they can indicate certain systemic disorders. Childhood age frequently brings about benign tumors and different types of traumatic lesions to the oral mucosa. Traumatic lesions can be caused by chemical, mechanical, or thermal injury. Mucocele and ranula are, by definition, traumatic injuries of the salivary glands or their ducts. Recurrent aphthous lesions are the most common type of ulcerations in childhood, and their etiology is considered multifactorial. Oral mucosal lesions in children require different treatment approaches depending on etiological factors and clinical presentation. Clinicians should have adequate knowledge of oral anatomy in order to diagnose and treat pathological conditions.