Contribution of military dentists to the development of modern salivalogy

Abstract

Salivary gland diseases remain one of the most common pathologies of the masticatory apparatus, presenting challenges for the diagnosis and treatment of individuals in practical healthcare settings. AIM: This study aimed to present the contribution of military dentists to modern salivalogy and illuminate their professional journey in maxillofacial surgery and dentistry. The main scientific publications about the life and professional activity of military dentists A.V. Klementov and V.V. Lobeiko were analyzed. Lobeiko devoted to modern salivalogy, and other related aspects of modern stomatology and maxillofacial surgery have been analyzed. We present previously unknown information from the lives of A.V. Klementov and V.V. Lobeiko, military dentists well-known in our country. Lobeiko made a considerable contribution to the study of salivary glands pathology and thus developed a new direction of stomatology and maxillofacial surgery salivalogy. The main directions of their scientific activity in the development and improvement of methods of treatment of diseases, injuries, and tumors of the salivary glands as well as rehabilitation of patients after combined treatment of oncostomatological diseases are considered. A.V. Klementov proposed the classification of inflammation, systemic diseases, and salivary gland tumors, which is used up to now by dentists and maxillofacial surgeons in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. He improved many diagnostic methods and conservative and surgical treatment of this pathology and suggested treatment methods for salivary gland injuries and their outcomes. For the first time, Lobeiko proposed index methods of the evaluation of the severity of inflammatory, reactive, and dystrophic diseases of the salivary glands, radiation- and drug-induced sialoadenopathies, and evaluation system of the effectiveness of the treatment of the aforementioned diseases in adults, which allowed standardization on the severity of pathologies and objectification of the positive results of complex treatment. He was one of the first who used the endoscopic technique to remove salivary glands. Military dentists were credited for the study of psychophysiological status of adults suffering from different salivary diseases and determination of age-related immunological indices of saliva in adults. Familiarity with the life history of military dentists A.V. Klementov and V.V. Lobeiko, as well as their scientific research in the field of salivalogy, is useful for dentists and maxillofacial surgeons dealing with salivary gland pathology.