• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2008

Ribosomal Protein S4Y(RPS4Y) gene is the human sex-linked gene on the Y chromosome. There are a number of reports on the sex determination using RPS4Y gene analysis for prevention and diagnosis in sex-linked disease. Thus RPS4Y gene is a reliable genetic marker for sex determination in forensic medicine. In general, the sex determination of an unidentified body can be achieved based on anatomical characteristics, but sometimes sex determination was considered to be difficult such as pre-adolescent bodies or decomposed, mutilated bodies. In this case, Sex determination using PCR method in human teeth produces good results. Because human teeth have a great structural durability, the DNA well preserved in the teeth. So author isolated nuclear DNA from the 20 human teeth(10 males, 10 females), performed to detect RPS4Y gene by PCR method. Samples were divided four group(10 pulp and 10 dentinal tissue in male, 10 pulp and 10 dentinal tissue in female). It was found that detection of RPS4Y gene for sex determination was possible in all the male pulp tissues and 6 out of 10 male dentinal tissues. But there was not detected in female pulp and dentinal tissues. In the view of this results demonstrates the possibility that detection of RPS4Y gene with other sex chromosome genes from the human teeth is useful to sex determination in forensic medicine.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.391-400
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• 2005

Special Practitioner exists based on the need for special fields that are required to manage difficult patients with specialized skills distinguished from General practitioner. The purpose of dental specialist system is to manage patients who are not treatable by general practitioner by training doctors specializing in one specific field, thereby, enhancing health of the public. Oral Medicine deals with orofacial pain, oral soft tissue disease, forensic dentistry, oral diagnosis. In these days, living environments of city life bring about increase in stress which ultimately lead to increase in prevalence of temporomandibular disorder, oral soft tissue disease, neuropathies such as trigeminal neuralgia, and hence, the number of patients seeking help of those symptoms tend to increase. The purpose of this study was to analyze the rate of referrals and the routes of patients seeking help by investigating 3,707 patients who visited Department of Oral Medicine, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, from August, 2004 to April, 2005. The results were as follows: 1. The types of disease referred to the Department of Oral Medicine were orofacial pain, oral soft tissue disease, forensic dentistry, oral diagnosis. 2. The rate of referrals was 58.51% which implies that more than half of the patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine were referred. 3. The types of institution which made referrals were analyzed, and as a result, dental clinics made most of the referrals with the rate of 83.23%, while that from medical or oriental medical institutions was 16.78%. 4. Among the patients who visited the Department of Oral Medicine on their own, 30.52% gained the information about the Department of Oral Medicine from internet and mass media, and from neighbors. From the above results, most of the patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine were found to be referred not only from the field of dentistry but also from the field of medicine. These suggest that Oral Medicine manages patients who are not treatable by general dental practitioners, and medical specialists tend to cooperate with the Department of Oral Medicine to manage diseases associated with Oral Medicine. Therefore, the role of Oral Medicine can be considered to be important as a special field, and the results of this study should be considered when working out a policy of Dental specialist system on demand and supply of residents in the future.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.81-94
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• 1999

This study intends to find usefulness of the computer assisted dental identification in mass disaster. The variety of dental characteristics was investigated through the research of dental records of 508 adults. And a computer assisted simulation program was used to evaluate the selectivity of dental identification. Findings were as follows : 1. Combinations of dental characteristics were found 155 types. The most various dental characteristic was showed on the mandibular first molar. 99.0% of subjects had dental characteristics for dental identification. 2. The posterior teeth, in comparison with anterior teeth, showed higher selectivity in dental identification which was enhanced by information on the material, type and cavity of the restoration. 3. The variety of dental characteristics was mainly found on the combinations of missing tooth with the material, type and cavity of the restoration. 4. The computer assisted dental identification program, with informa- tion about one's tooth state, made individual identification possible when there was only a part of the teeth in a corpse. 5. The computer assisted dental identification had considerably high selectivity based on the variety of dental characteristics. And it was also performed faster and preciser than the existing identification methods. Based on the results of this study, there are various combinations of the feature of the tooth itself with dental characteristics caused by a certain type of treatment on the teeth. And using the computer assisted dental identification program based on this, dental identification can be more efficient economically and more useful than any other forensic identification methods.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.57-63
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to evaluate salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva of the head and neck cancer patients. Twenty three cancer patients (19 males, 4 females) who had undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy and twenty four healthy volunteers (14 males, 10 females) as a control were included. Salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva were examined. Compared to saliva of the control group, salivary flow rate (p<0.001) and salivary pH (p<0.001) were significantly lower in head and neck cancer patients. The colony counts of Lactobacilli was higher in head and neck cancer patients (p<0.05) than in control group. These salivary factors and cariogenic activity can increase the prevalence of dental caries in head and neck cancer patients.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.528-533
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• 2021

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disorder that can result in the loss of articular cartilage. No effective treatment against OA is currently available. Thus, interest in natural health products to relieve OA symptoms is increasing. However, their qualities such as efficacy, toxicity, and mechanism are poorly understood. In this study, we determined the efficacy of avenanthramide (Avn)-C extracted from oats as a promising candidate to prevent OA progression and its mechanism of action to prevent the expression of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) in OA pathogenesis. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), a proinflammatory cytokine as a main causing factor of cartilage destruction, was used to induce OA-like condition of chondrocytes in vitro. Avn-C restrained IL-1β-mediated expression and activity of MMPs, such as MMP-3, -12, and -13 in mouse articular chondrocytes. Moreover, Avn-C alleviated cartilage destruction in experimental OA mouse model induced by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) surgery. However, Avn-C did not affect the expression of inflammatory mediators (Ptgs2 and Nos) or anabolic factors (Col2a1, Aggrecan, and Sox9), although expression levels of these genes were upregulated or downregulated by IL-1β, respectively. The inhibition of MMP expression by Avn-C in articular chondrocytes was mediated by p38 kinase and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling, but not by ERK or NF-κB. Interestingly, Avn-C added with SB203580 and SP600125 as specific inhibitors of p38 kinase and JNK, respectively, enhanced its inhibitory effect on the expression of MMPs in IL-1β treated chondrocytes. Taken together, these results suggest that Avn-C is an effective candidate to prevent OA progression and a natural health product to relieve OA pathogenesis.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.317-322
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• 2008

The moderners of industrial society suffer from various stresses, which bring about increase in prevalence of temporomandibular disorders, oral mucosal disease and chronic neuropathic pain, therefore, the number of patients seeking help of those symptoms tend to increase. The purpose of this study was to discuss the importance of oral medicine related disease by investigating questions that appeared in cyber consultation of Kangnung National University Dental Hospital web site. Among the nearly 2000 questions, the rate of questions related to oral medicine was 20.92%, and the rate of questions related to other departments were oral and maxillofacial surgery 16.87%, conservative dentistry 16.67%, orthodontics 14.02%, prosthodontics 12.25%, periodontics 8.36%, pediatric dentistry 4.93%, preventive dentistry 2.08% and otherwise questions 3.90%. Among the 403 questions related to oral medicine, the frequent questions were oral mucosal diseases 44.17%, temporomandibular disorders 41.19%, halitosis 4.47%, xerostomia 3.23%, other orofacial pain 2.23%, forensic dentistry 1.49% and otherwise questions 2.98%. From the higher rate of questions related to oral medicine compared with other fields of dentistry, we would consider that the people are considerably concerned about the oral medicine related disease, such as oral mucosal diseases and temporomandibular disorders.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.497-513
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• 1995

Human genomic Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) was extracted from teeth by boiling, salting-out, phenol, boiling-phenol methods. The author compared DNA concentration and its purity, the accuracy of sex determination and the results of the D1S80 locus detection among above 4 methods. The following results were obtained : 1. DNA concentration was the highest in pulp with salting-out method and DNA purity was higher in pulp with salting-out and phenol methods than other 2 methods. 2. Sex determination was possible using of the pulp and the dentin of the teeth with four methods but, it was impossible in the enamel and some pulp with boiling method. 3. Amplification of D1S80 locus occurred from pulp and dentin with salting-out, phenol, and boiling-phenol methods. 4. There are no differences among the amplification of X-Y homologus amelogenin gene by application of 4 methods and salting-out, phenol methods efficiently makes available to amplification of D1S80 locus. From the investigation DNA extraction, sex determination, amplification of D1S80 locus was successfully accomplished with salting-out, phenol, boiling-phenol methods Therefore above 3 methods are available and applicable as forensic odontology for individual identification.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.181-187
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• 1999

The most important progress in diagnostic sciences is the increased sensitivity and specificity in diagnostic procedures due to the development of newer micromethodologies and increasing availability of immunological and molecular biological reagents. The outcome of researches in this field has already provided DNA probes and antibodies which can be used for diagnosing various kinds of diseases including inherited ones. This development can be also applied to diagnose diseases in oral and maxillofacial regions. Technological advances have yielded highly sensitive test methodologies so that low analyte concentration and small sample volume are no longer limiting factors. Therefore, saliva can be useful test fluid for an array of analytes. Salivary constituents of diagnostic significance include steroid hormones, antibodies, drugs, and tumor markers. Of the proteins present in saliva, viral-specific immunoglobulins are of the greatest diagnostic interest. The development of conjugates and antigens by recombinant DNA technique and peptide synthesis is necessary for clinical application. Several kits developed for the purpose of blood testing should be modified to permit their application to saliva. The final practical outcome of researches in diagnostic sciences will be various diagnostic agents which can be used for detection of bacteria and viruses, screening and diagnosis of diseases, genetic screening for forensic individual identification. For these purposes, collaboration researches and development between institutions and companies are essential.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.213-217
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the uniqueness and reliability of the frontal sinuses by comparing various patterns of frontal sinus as observed on Waters' radiographs for individual identification. Materials and Methods: Three Waters' radiographs of 100 individuals, taken on day one, after 6-8 months, and one radiograph with a slight variation in angulation, to mimic conditions out in the field or during autopsy. Three observers were randomly given radiographs from all there packets for comparisons and identification, by the method of superimposition and individual uniqueness. Results: The comparative identification by superimposition of the frontal sinus was 100% positive. The size, shape, unilateral or bilateral presence, absence, and septa were observed to be unique in each case; neither had the measurements changed over a period of time. Conclusion: The need to establish a reliable, low-cost, and easily reproducible method for human identification prompted the elaboration of technical, precise, and accessible parameters, such as the evaluation of the area, asymmetry, and shape of the frontal sinus. Comparison among each of the frontal sinuses of the 100 people in the sample revealed that no two sinuses are the same, that is, the sinus is unique to each individual.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 2013

Oral Medicine includes temporomandibular disorder, orofacial pains such as neuropathic pain, soft tissue diseases, halitosis, laser treatment, snoring, sleep apnea and identification through forensic dentistry etc. Such diseases are relatively common and cause great inconvenience and pain to the patients, as well as incur fatal health scare at times. In terms of oral medicine, the number of orofacial patients is growing due to a change in the life style and an increased stress as time goes in contemporary society and the demand of areas requiring oral medical professionalism, such as soft tissue lesions, snoring and sleep apnea, forensic dentistry evaluation and others are rapidly ascending. Consequently, among the areas in dental science, the calls for the expertism in oral medicine and its role are mounting. Analyzing the distribution according to disease entity, symptoms, duration of disease, and the prehistory courses of new patients visiting the department of oral medicine in a year provides information of the role and the relative importance of oral medicine in prospect and enables effective diagnosis and treatments for the patients. Therefore, in the present study, by analyzing new patients visiting the oral medicine clinic in our dental hospital for a year and by evaluating the role and the professionalism in future oral medicine, the authors concluded the followings: 1. It was founded that new patients to oral medicine mainly had temporomandibular disorders, soft tissue diseases, and neuropathic pains. 2. The number of patients with temporomandibular disorder appeared to be the highest percentage and the order within this was the patients with combined disorders, muscle disorder, and internal derangement of joint disc. 3. The number of patients with xerostomia appeared to be the highest percentage within soft tissue disease, followed by lichen planus and recurrent apthous ulcers. 4. The number of patients with burning mouth syndrome appeared to be the highest percentage within neuropathic pain.