Harsh Priya

Utilization of dental services in a field practice area in Mangalore, Karnataka

Oral health is the absence of disease and the optimal functioning of the mouth and its tissues, in a manner which helps to preserve high levels of self-esteem. Oral diseases such as dental caries, periodontitis and oral and pharyngeal cancers are a global health problem in both industrialized and especially in developing countries. In many developing countries, oral health care utilization is limited and teeth are often left untreated or extracted. Utilization is the actual attendance by the members of the public at health care facilities to receive care. Utilization, which measures the number of visits per year or the number of people with at least one visit during the previous year,(1) serves as an important tool for oral health policy decision-making.(1,2) The main objective of any health-care system is to maintain and improve health outcomes which depends on adequate knowledge of the way that the individuals use health services, and the factors predictive of this behavior.(3) Regular home oral care and a yearly dental check-up are the best means for caring teeth but in spite of the information on adequate dental care provided by the dental professionals and the mass media, many people fail to take these precautions.(4) Barriers to seeking dental services as classified by the Federation Dentaire Internationale are related to the following: Individuals themselves (lack of perceived need and access, anxiety or fear and financial considerations), Dental profession (inappropriate manpower resources, uneven geographical distribution, training inappropriate to changing needs and demands and insufficient sensitivity to patient’s attitudes and needs), and Society (insufficient public support of attitudes conducive to health, inadequate oral health care facilities, inadequate oral health manpower planning and insufficient support for research).(5)

Microbial Contamination of the White Coats of Dental Staff in the Clinical Setting

Background and aims Although wearing a white coat is an accepted part of medical and dental practice, it is a potential source of cross-infection. The objective of this study was to determine the level and type of microbial contamination present on the white coats of dental interns, graduate students and faculty in a dental clinic. Materials and methods Questionnaire and cross-sectional survey of the bacterial contamination of white coats in two predetermined areas (chest and pocket) on the white coats were done in a rural dental care center. Paired sample t-test and chi-square test were used for Statistical analysis. Results 60.8% of the participants reported washing their white coats once a week. Grading by the examiner revealed 15.7% dirty white coats. Also, 82.5% of the interns showed bacterial contamination of their white coats compared to 74.7% graduate students and 75% faculty members irrespective of the area examined. However, chest area was consistently a more bacterio-logically contaminated site as compared to the pocket area. Antibiotic sensitivity testing revealed resistant varieties of micro-organisms against Amoxicillin (60%), Erythromycin (42.5%) and Cotrimoxazole (35.2%). Conclusion The white coats seem to be a potential source of cross-infection in the dental setting. The bacterial contamina-tion carried by white coats, as demonstrated in this study, supports the ban on white coats from non-clinical areas.

Efficacy of pre-procedural rinsing in reducing aerosol contamination during dental procedures:

Our objective was to determine the efficacy of pre-procedural rinsing with chlorhexidine in reducing bacterial aerosol contamination during use of ultrasonic scaler and high speed air turbine handpiece. Twenty patients, ten each for the two groups who were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Four predesignated locations of the dental clinic were chosen to be evaluated for each patient using blood agar plates. Aerosols were collected during treatment procedures for control and experimental quadrants. Results showed that a regimen of 30-seconds pre-procedural rinsing with 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate before dental procedures consistently reduced colony-forming units than without rinsing due to the ability of antiseptic mouthwash to inhibit microbial growth. There was more aerosol contamination during scaling procedures than during the use of a high speed air turbine handpiece. The conclusion is that chlorhexidine is an effective primary measure in reducing aerosol cross-contamination when using dental devices in a dental set up.

Willingness to Participate in Disaster Management Among Indian Dental Graduates

INTRODUCTION India has been the focal point of various disasters, and has suffered considerable losses due to the same. Manpower shortage can impede disaster management; hence, including dental professionals in disaster management in India can be crucial. HYPOTHESIS/PROBLEM To assess willingness to participate in disaster management among Indian dental graduates; to assess the objective knowledge, attitude, behavior and perceived knowledge regarding disaster management among Indian dental graduates. METHODS All the interns in Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka were included in the present study. Their willingness to participate in disaster management and their objective knowledge, attitude, behavior and perceived knowledge related to disaster management were assessed using a questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 86 study subjects participated. A majority (98.8%) of respondents were willing to participate in disaster management. Mean objective knowledge, attitude, behavior and perceived knowledge scores were 48.65%, 80.26%, 29.85% and 60.80% respectively. Males reported higher perceived knowledge than females (P = .008), and respondents residing in hostels reported higher perceived knowledge than those not residing in hostels (P = .02). Gender showed significant correlations with attitude (r = 4.076, P = .044) and behavior (r = 3.722, P = .054), and residence with behavior of respondents (r = 5.690, P = .017). CONCLUSIONS A high degree of willingness to provide assistance during disasters was observed among undergraduate dental students. High attitude coupled with low knowledge and behavior scores regarding disaster management was also observed. Gender was associated with attitude and behavior, and residence with behavior of respondents regarding disaster management. Including disaster management in dental curricula and involvement of dental professionals in disaster management might be crucial for disaster management in India.

Rising Trend of Workplace Oral Health Examination

Shimazaki et al. analyzed oral health examination indings for 4,484 male and female employees aged 35 to 74 in relation to past participation in oral health examinations reported in a questionnaire1) and concluded that workplace oral health examination accompanied by oral health instruction may be effective for maintenance of periodontal health. We think this is an important publication; however, the following issues need to be addressed. Firstly, the job proile of the employees at the workplace (company) where oral health examination was carried out needs to be mentioned. The information is paramount to understanding whether the work directly or indirectly affected oral health of the employee2, 3). Secondly, interexaminer reliability should have been calculated for the dentists performing the periodontal examination and dental hygienists delivering the oral health instructions4). The glaring difference between employees undergoing workplace oral health examination (36.8%) and workplace general health examination needs to be significantly narrowed. It has been reported previously that the role of home dentists is not preventive oriented; hence, it is necessary to provide regular oral health examination and health promotion programs for the adult population in the workplace in Japan. Also, in conformity to the present study, an oral health awareness campaign was carried out in four workplaces in north-east London in which gingival bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing depths (PD) were measured using a controlled pressure probe5). The results showed the mean percentage of sites probing 4 mm and above per subject reduced from 38 to 25% in the test group. This conirmed the clinical effectiveness of a workplace-based oral health awareness campaign. Hence, the dissemination of the idea of workplace oral health examination including oral health instruction may affect oral health beneicially and enhance oral health quality of life. Thanking you.

Oral health related quality of life among dental students in a private dental institution in India.

Background: The compartmentalization involved in viewing the mouth separately from the rest of the body must cease. This is because oral health affects general health by causing considerable pain and suffering; and, by changing what people eat and their speech, can bring about a change in their quality of life and well-being. There are several instruments for measuring oral health related quality of life, and, OIDP (Oral Impact on Daily Performance) is one among them. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the OIDP among dental students and to know whether students in different stages of the dental course had any difference in impact on their daily performance. Materials and Methods: 372 students of Bachelor of Dental Sciences’ (BDS) course at Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, Karnataka, India, from the first to final year, and interns answered a structured questionnaire recording their demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics and eight items of OIDP. Results: The mean OIDP Additive scores (ADD) and OIDP Simple count scores (SC) scores were 7.02 (sd = 3.3, range 8 - 40) and 2.16 (sd = 1.55, range 0 - 8), repectively. A total of 36.6%, 12.9% and 12.9% of the dental students confirmed difficulties with eating, enjoying contact with other people and carrying out major college work, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that compared with the first BDS dental students, the Odds ratio (OR) for the second, third, fourth year and intern dental students for being without oral impacts, despite reporting poor oral health, were 0.21 (95% CI: 0.24 – 1.9), 0.61 (95% CI: 0.06 – 6.2), 0.70 (95% CI: 0.61 – 8.2) and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.3 – 9.3), respectively. Conclusion: The study reported the OIPD among dental students and provided evidence of importance of social and behavioral characteristics in shaping the response by dental students.