There is limited evidence on possible associations between social determinants and dental pain. This study investigated the relationship of neighborhood and individual social capital with dental pain in adolescents, adults and the elderly.

Oral mucositis in oncologic patients is the most undesirable event of the chemotherapeutic treatment. This study aimed to identify damage to the oral cavity resulting from chemotherapy in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This is a prospective study with a sample of 42 children and adolescents evaluated for 10 consecutive weeks after diagnosis. The modified Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) was used, and data were analyzed by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (α = 5%). Changes to the normal lips and saliva were positively related to an increase in the OAG score during all 10 weeks of evaluation. Alterations to the labial mucosa were correlated with an increase in the OAG score from the 2nd to 10th week, which was also found for changes in the tongue and in the swallowing function in Weeks 1, 6, 8, 9, and 10 and for gum changes from the 5th to 7th week. No significant vocal changes were correlated with the total OAG score at any point during the monitoring period. Changes in lips, cheek and/or palatal mucosa, labial mucosa, and gum areas and in swallowing function were positively correlated with an increase in the severity of oral mucositis in patients with ALL after beginning chemotherapeutic treatment.

This study analyzes the factors contributing to the duration of severe oral mucositis in oncopediatric patients. A longitudinal study was conducted in the pediatric department of a cancer referral hospital between 2013 and 2017. Seventy-three patients diagnosed with cancer undergoing chemotherapy protocols were analyzed. Oral evaluations were performed using the Modified Oral Assessment Guide criteria, and the data were collected from the patients’ records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival curves. Most patients were males (52.1%), of mixed race (“pardo”) (49.3%), with a mean age of 7.56 years (±5.34). There was a predominance of patients diagnosed with solid tumors (52.1%), with no metastasis (86.3%), using natural product chemotherapeutics (56.2%), who had not undergone a bone marrow transplant (97.3%); amputation was observed in 35.6% of patients, while death rates were as high as 8.2%. The survival analysis estimated a mean time of 30.6 days until complete remission of severe oral mucositis. The regression analysis showed that patients over 10 years old had a median mucositis duration 1.4 times greater than those at the age of 10 years or younger. Patients without metastasis had a median mucositis duration 1.7 times greater than those with metastasis (p-value ≤ 0.10). Increasing age and the absence of metastasis were conditions that prolonged the duration of severe oral mucositis.

The effect of a 4% titanium tetrafluoride (TiF ₄ ) varnish on enamel demineralization was evaluated. Twelve volunteers participated in this double-blind, randomized crossover study. Six enamel specimens were positioned in intraoral appliances throughout four treatment stages: 4% TiF ₄ varnish (experimental varnish), 5% sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish (Duraphat ^® ), placebo varnish, and negative control (deionized water). After 24 h, the varnishes were removed and plaques were allowed to accumulate. A 20% sucrose solution was dripped onto enamel blocks (10x/day). Enamel alterations were analyzed by surface microhardness (SMH), percentage of surface loss (%SML), cross-sectional microhardness (CSMH), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). Student’s paired t-test was used for SMH analysis and repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) for %SML and CSMH (∆Z) analyses (p-value=0.05). The TiF ₄ varnish group had lower %SML than the placebo and control groups (p=0.044 and p=0.003, respectively), thus showing its capacity to inhibit surface demineralization. TiF ₄ and NaF varnishes demonstrated a protective effect against mineral loss on the enamel subsurface. Both were statistically different from the control group when CSMH was analyzed (p=0.000). A titanium dioxide film was observed on enamel surfaces of the TiF ₄ group SEM images. EDS confirmed the presence of titanium in all TiF ₄ samples. The 4% TiF ₄ varnish is a promising compound capable of reacting with enamel to protect it against surface and subsurface demineralization.