Oral melanoma (OM) occurs from activated or genetically altered epidermal melanocytes. There is no scientific evidence that OM can be linked to physical, chemical and thermal irritation, or to other risk factors of the oral cavity. According to fi gures from various countries, OM accounts for 0.2% to 7.5% ( Japan) of all cases of melanoma of the skin and mucous membrane. The male to female ratio of OM is 2:1. About 80% of OMs are located in the mucosa of the palate and maxillary gingiva. This paper presents two cases of oral mucosal melanoma of the upper and lower lips in women aged 62 and 59 years. Diagnosis, differential diagnosis and therapy are reported.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was the quantification of alveolar bone resorption as well as the number and percentage of teeth with dental caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four samples of jaws and single teeth were studied from four time periods, i.e. from the Krapina Neanderthals (KN) who reportedly lived over 130,000 years ago, and groups of humans from the 1(st), 10(th) and 20(th) centuries. Resorption of the alveolar bone of the jaws was quantified by the tooth-cervical-height (TCH) index. Diagnosis of dental caries was made by inspection and with a dental probe. TCH-index was calculated for a total of 1097 teeth from 135 jaws. Decay was calculated for a total of 3579 teeth. RESULTS Resorptive changes of the alveolar bone in KN and 1(st) century man were more pronounced on the vestibular surface than interdentally (p<0.05), while no significant difference could be confirmed for 10(th) and 20(th) century man (p=0.1). The number (percentage) of decayed teeth was 0 (0%, n=281 teeth) in KN, 15 (1.7%; n=860 teeth) in 1(st) century, 24 (3.4%; n=697 teeth) in 10(th) century, and 207 (11.9%, n=1741 teeth) in 20(th) century. CONCLUSION On the basis of our results it may be postulated that in contemporary man in relation to KN, the accumulation of plaque pathogens in the interdental space is substantially greater than on the vestibular side. These findings have practical, educational and preventive value for oral hygiene improvement, especially of the interdental space, which should help decrease the prevalence of periodontal disease and dental caries, and improve oral as well as general health.

The purpose of this study was to obtain age estimation formulae using the length of periodontosis, transparency of the root and root height in each tooth group for the current male population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to compare these formulae with Lamendin's and Prince's formulae. The research was undertaken on 847 single rooted teeth from 200 identified deceased persons, individuals who died between the ages of 23 and 85 years. Periodontosis, transparency and root height were measured according to Lamendin's procedure. All teeth were grouped in two ways: according to the tooth groups and to the age groups. The highest coefficients of correlation are obtained for maxillary canines (R = 0,731) and mandibular canines (R = 0,706) and the maxillary lateral incisors showed the lowest mean error (ME = 6,63 years). In age groups, the lowest mean error was obtained in the 40-49 years age group (ME = 5,15 years). Equations developed in this study give statistically significantly better age estimations in comparison to the original Lamendin and Prince formulae for the whole sample as well as for each tooth group, except for mandibular central incisors. Age estimation with models developed for each tooth group (except for mandibular lateral incisors) was statistically significantly better than models based on the whole sample.