Recently the isolation of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is increasing in Oral Surgery in Japan. MRSA is one of the most important microorganisms which shows poor sensitivity to antibiotics and causes nosocomial infections.
To investigate the state of MRSA in the ward of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, a clinical study on MRSA isolated from medical staffs, inpatients and hospital environments was carried out. Two of the 21 doctors (10%) and one of the 7 inpatients (14%) had MRSA in the nasal cavity. However, none of the 9 nurses had MRSA in the nasal cavity. As to the hospital environments, MRSA was isolated only from the environment of the patients with MRSA infections.
This study revealed that the control of nosocomial MRSA infection was good in our ward, but a few MRSA carriers of medical staffs and inpatients exist. It seems to suggest that the state of microorganisms in the ward should be investigated at regular intervals.

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A study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of allopurinol mouthwash on mucositis induced by chemotherapy or/and radiotherapy in patients with oral cancer. The effect of allopurinol mouthwash was judged according to the World Health Organization grading system. Eight of the nine patients (89%) were reduced clinical status on mucositis. Treatment with allopurinol mouthwash was well tolerated in all patients. There were no adverse effects in trial of allopurinol mouthwash. Allopurinol mouthwash was considerably effective against mucositis induced by chemo- and radiotherapy.

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The solution of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride containing a vasoconstrictor, epinephrine in the concentration of 1/80, 000 is frequently used as a local anesthetic in odontotherapy.
We had chance to use 2% lidocaine hydrochloride solution with epinephrine bitartrate (ORA Inj. Cartridge), which had approximately the same epinephrine concentration as the preparation above. Thus the effects of infiltration anesthesia on dental pulps and lips were studied in volunteers. For comparison, Xylocaine inj. (cartridge form) was widely used.
Subject teeth were upper front teeth of each volunteer (students and staffs of Nihon University, School of Dentistry) .
For local anesthesia, each anesthetic was injected into the supraperiosteal in apical area. The injection volume and time were 0.5m1 and 30 sec.
Prior to anesthesia, the threshold to electrical stimulation on pulpal sensation for each volunteer was measured by an electrical pulp testing apparatus (Pyocure) . On that pulp, the time before anesthesia took effect and duration of the action after injection of a local anesthetic depended on the observed loss and recovery time of pulpal sensation by electrical stimulation corresponding with the threshold value. The effect of anesthesia after injection of anesthetic on the lip was judged by the response of each volunteer.
The anesthetic effects of ORA inj. on pulps and lips were manifested in about 78 and 109 sec. and lasted about 184 and 161 min., respectively. The effects of Xylocaine inj, on pulps and lips were manifested in about 111 and 74 sec. and lasted about 145 and 140 min, respectively.

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The clinical analysis for ABPC concentration of serum, cyst wall and cyst fluid were mea-sured 1, 2, 3 and 5 hours after P. O. administration of lenampicillin (LAPC) 500 mg to 20 patients with jawcysts.
Results 1. The mean peak ABPC concentration in serum was 3.41μg/ml at 2 hours after administration of LAPC, and the mean ABPC concentration in serum rapidly decreased to 0.25μg/ ml at 5 hours.
2. The mean peak ABPC concentration in the cyst wall was 0.88μg/g at 1 hour after administration of LAPC, and the mean ABPC concentration in the cyst wall gradually decreased to 0.10μg/g at 5 hours.
3. The mean peak ABPC concentration in cyst fluid was 0.90μg/ml at 1 hour after administration of LAPC, 0.13μg/ml at 2 hours, and 0.15μg/ml at 5 hours.
4. The means of ratios of the cyst wall to serum were in the range of 16.9 to 43.3%, and ABPC concentrations in the cyst wall were lower than those in serum.
5. The means of ratios of cyst fluid to serum were in the wide range of 9.9 to 52.3%, and ABPC concentrations in cyst fluid were lower than those in serum except 2 cases.

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It is common and accepted medical practice that the chemoprophylaxis-use of antibiotics could prevent or reduce the incidence of transient bacteremia after tooth extraction which might be a possible source of infective endocarditis (IE) .
This study was carried out to determine the acceptance and knowledge of chemoprophylaxis of IE by general practitioners.
Questionairres were mailed to 900 dentists in Fukushima Prefecture, and 202 were eligible for this study. The results were as follows: Most of the dentists understood the importance of antibiotics use for prevention of IE. However, since no approved official regimen have been published in Japan, the answers for usage of antibiotics by dentists varied and tended to be insufficient. It is considered necessary to establish a proper guideline for prevention of IE, which is more suitable for Japanese.

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Thirteen-week-old male ODS rats placed on an ascorbic acid (AsA) -deficient diet for 4 weeks showed a marked reduction in plasma AsA level and slight but significant body weight loss without alteration of the morphological appearence of the skull and mandible or tibia. Bone loss induced by AsA-deficiency was observed in the tibia as well as in the skull and mandible. However, the AsA-deficient effect, evaluated by comparison of dry and ash weights of bone, was greater in the tibia than in the skull or mandible. This seems to be a result of differences in bone turnover, because the cancellous tubular bone in the long bones have a higher turnover rate than the compact bone in the skull and mandible. The parameters of mechanical properties of compact bone in femora were markedly reduced by AsA deficiency. These observations indicate that compact bone with AsA-deficiency become brittle despite slight reductions in their ash and dry weights.

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The antibacterial activity of flavonoid phytoalexin, 5, 7, 2', 4'-tetrahydroxy-8-lavandulylflavanone (sophoraflavanone G) isolated from the roots of Sophora exigua, against periodontopathic and opportunistic bacteria was investigated, Sophoraflavanone G completely inhibited the growth of Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Actinobacillus, Capnocytophaga, Fusobacterium and Eubacterium at <0.8-25.0 μg/ml. Gram-positive staphylococci and streptococci were also inhibited at 1.56-3.13 pg/ml. The present antibacterial phytochemical would be a potent compound for the prevention of oral infections.

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The allergenic substances [dithiocarbamate compounds (DTC) and latex protein] in several latex products (examination gloves, surgical gloves and rubber dams) were determined, and several skin tests were performed. The DTC-type accelerators detected in 15 latex samples were Zinc-dibutyldithiocarbamate (ZDBC) (8 samples), Zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC) (4 samples), and Zinc pentamethylenedithiocarbamate (ZPC) (4 samples) . Zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate (ZDMC), which is considered the most sensitive chemical of the DTC-type accelerators, was not detected in any sample. The amount of latex protein in the 15 samples varied from 96 μg/g to 4133 μg/g. The rubber dam had the lowest protein level. The surgical gloves had a moderate amount of protein, less than 1000μg/g. The examination gloves had a wide range of protein ; the highest values were 2030 times the lowest values. The positive reaction rate of a patch test with a piece of latex glove on the human subjects was 2.5 % (2/81) . An additional patch test with petrolatum, containing the same kind of DTC compounds as in each positive latex glove, showed no positive reaction. Four subjects (4.9 %) had a positive reaction to a prick test.

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