The burden of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is increasing globally with 600,000new cases being reported annually. A great proportion of these are oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) which are preceded by oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of OPMDs among adult Malaysian dental patients with and without risk habits. The objectives of this study were i) to determine the prevalence of OPMDs among dental patients who were tobacco smokers ii) to determine the prevalence of OPMDs among dental patients who were alcohol users iii) to determine the prevalence of OPMDs among dental patients without any risk habits iv) to determine the awareness on oral cancer among dental patients with and without risk habits. Materials and methods: This was a cross sectional observational study, carried out at Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya. A conventional oral examination was conducted by two investigators who were trained and calibrated prior to the survey. Participants were administered a questionnaire that was pre-tested in a previous study. 83 subjects were recruited into the study. Leukoplakia was the only OPMD detected in our study with a prevalence of 10.8%. All patients diagnosed with leukoplakia were males (P < 0.05). A significant association between the prevalence of OPMDs and risk habits was found. There was a general lack of awareness among smokers regarding alcohol as an aetiological agent for oral cancer. A significant proportion of subjects who smoked were unaware of early signs of oral cancer.

In this study we aimed to determine the adverse effects and pain outcome following carbamazepine pharmacotherapy to manage patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia. The study was carried out on patients diagnosed with classical trigeminal neuralgia at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya. Medical records of patients diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia over a period of 11 years from April, 2003 to April, 2014 were reviewed. A total of 49 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Demographic details, clinical features and blood test reports of the patients were recorded from the patient’s clinical files. Subjects included in the study were administered the Faces Pain Rating Scale (FPS) and Numeric Pain Rating scale (NRS) to measure the pain outcome retrospectively. Analysis and interpretation of results was carried out using SPSS. Hepatic adverse effects were more commonly seen in our patients (n=39) followed by haematological (n=27), renal (n=23) and non-specific adverse effects (n=22). However, there was no significant association between the observed side effects and carbamazepine pharmacotherapy. Analysis of our data using Pearson Chi Square test, showed no significant correlation between gender, ethnicity and age of the patients with adverse effects. 9 out of the 49 subjects included in the study were administered the FOS and the NRS. Pain perception after treatment was significantly decreased (p-0.007) in comparison to pain perception before commencement of therapy with carbamazepine in the selected group of patients. Even though pain perception decreased in the selected patients, the data is insufficient to state the efficacy of the treatment as none of the patients reported a complete relief from their pain. The results of our study showed that there were no significant haematological, hepatic, renal, and non-specific adverse effects associated with the use of carbamazepine. The efficacy of this drug in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia was proven to be satisfactory. It may be concluded that carbamazepine could be considered as the drug of choice in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.