Sjögren's Syndrome and Oral Health

This book provides a thorough update on Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and its adverse impacts on oral health. The opening section focuses on the clinical and laboratory characteristics of SS and its current management. Here, readers will find information on diagnostic criteria, pharmacotherapy, dental management, and the importance of saliva in oral health and SS. Attention then turns to the immunopathogenesis of SS, which includes the mechanisms of secretory dysfunction, myoepithelial cell functions in salivary gland physiology and disease, dysregulated innate and adaptive immunity, and B-cell expansion and neoplasia. The final section details important advances in SS diagnosis and therapy. The differential diagnoses of recurrent glandular swelling, glandular irrigation and sialendoscopy, and salivary gland ultrasound for SS in children are explained, along with the pharmacological management for SS, clinical care for dry eyes, and gene therapy. This book will be of interest to not only dental practitioners and researchers but also rheumatologists and pathologists.

Seunghee Cha, DDS, PhD, is a Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Florida College of Dentistry. Dr. Cha is actively involved in basic and clinical science research while attending patients and serving in leadership roles for various international scientific communities. She was the former President of the Salivary Research Group of the American/International Association for Dental Research and currently oversees research and patient care as the Director of the Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders. Dr. Cha’s research focuses on the pathogenesis of autoimmune Sjӧgren’s syndrome (SS) and cell replacement therapy to improve dry mouth in SS patients. In particular, she has investigated the pathological roles of anti-muscarinic type 3 receptor autoantibodies in hyposalivation, epigenetic regulation of microRNA and its functions in innate immunity, self-nucleic acid sensing mechanisms in monocytes,  susceptibility genes by high-throughput genomics and proteomics, and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for SS. Dr. Cha has published extensively in peer-reviewed international journals.