Endocrinology in dental practice

Abstract

The publication of this manual is based on the need for a strong link in the teaching of the main subjects of the medical profession: dentistry and endocrinology. The curricula of these disciplines provide for the teaching of disorders of neuroendocrine regulation of the body, which are directly related to dentistry. Unfortunately, it is given very little time in the curriculum to study the manifestations of endocrine pathology in the oral cavity. Additionally, in existing textbooks (A. Nikolishin et al., 2012; A. Borisenko et al., 2018) and monographs (N. Danilevsky et al., 2001; I. Mashchenko, 2003) we did not find a proper reflection of the features of clinical manifestations of major endocrine diseases in dentistry. Oral manifestations are often the first sign of general pathology, including endocrine disorders. This emphasizes the need for a thorough interdisciplinary link between curricula and teaching subjects at the Faculty of Dentistry. The main focus is usually on the the manifestations of the connection between diseases of periodontal tissues and type 2 diabetes mellitus at the dentist appointment. Other pathology of the endocrine system is not so common, but is of great practical importance in the diagnosis of symptomatic oral lesions in case of somatic pathology. The functions of neuroendocrine regulation of patients should be considered in the diagnosis of dental diseases. The dentist performs analysis and synthesis of the identified clinical and laboratory symptoms after a thorough clinical and laboratory examination of patients. Thus, the external and internal aspect of the disease is taken into account, using the main approaches: primary (self-acting) or secondary (symptomatic) lesion (disease) of organs of the oral cavity. Symptomatic lesions of organs of the oral cavity (mainly periodontal tissues and oral mucosa) occur in case of somatic pathology (gastrointestinal tract, nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems, infectious diseases, blood diseases, etc.). If necessary, the dentist involves other specialists in the consultation (gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, hematologist, infectious disease doctor, etc.). They usually prescribe additional clinical and laboratory examination, make the final diagnosis and prescribe comprehensive treatment together with the dentist. 6When examining patients, the dentist usually pays attention to the general condition of the patient (possible hypothermia, excessive physical or mental stress, lack of sleep, eating junk food, etc.), which usually leads to a decrease in the body's immunological reactivity and the appearance of auto-infectious diseases. Among them, fungal and necrotizing ulcerative stomatitis are directly related to endocrine pathology. The authors of the manual aimed to emphasize the importance of studying endocrine pathology in dental practice. The manual presents the main endocrine diseases related to dental pathology. We hope that our work will help future dentists and interns to obtain occupational skills.