Suhail H. Al-Amad

Oral cancer in young Jordanians: potential association with frequency of narghile smoking

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between narghile (water-pipe) smoking and the age of patients when diagnosed with oral cancer. STUDY DESIGN Patients with oral cancer registered in the Jordanian National Cancer Registry were asked about frequency of cigarette, narghile, and alcohol use. Relationship between age at diagnosis and risk factors was assessed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS In this sample, 66% of patients were cigarette smokers, and 36% and 17% were narghile smokers and alcohol drinkers, respectively. The multivariate regression analysis adjusted for sex, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking found that narghile smokers were significantly younger when diagnosed with oral cancer compared with nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS Narghile smoking is an independent risk factor associated with the development of oral cancer at a younger age. Prospective studies of its effect on the earlier development of oral cancer are needed to establish a cause-effect relationship.

Curriculum guide for research ethics workshops for countries in the Middle East.

To help ensure the ethical conduct of research, many have recommended educational efforts in research ethics to investigators and members of research ethics committees (RECs). One type of education activity involves multi-day workshops in research ethics. To be effective, such workshops should contain the appropriate content and teaching techniques geared towards the learning styles of the targeted audiences. To ensure consistency in content and quality, we describe the development of a curriculum guide, core competencies and associated learning objectives and activities to help educators organize research ethics workshops in their respective institutions. The curriculum guide is divided into modular units to enable planners to develop workshops of different lengths and choose content materials that match the needs, abilities, and prior experiences of the target audiences. The content material in the curriculum guide is relevant for audiences in the Middle East, because individuals from the Middle East who participated in a Certificate Program in research ethics selected and developed the training materials (e.g., articles, PowerPoint slides, case studies, protocols). Also, many of the activities incorporate active-learning methods, consisting of group work activities analyzing case studies and reviewing protocols. The development of such a workshop training curriculum guide represents a sustainable educational resource to enhance research ethics capacity in the Middle East.

The effect of rubber dam on atmospheric bacterial aerosols during restorative dentistry.

Rotatory dental instruments generate atmospheric aerosols that settle on various surfaces, including the dentists head. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess bacterial contamination of the dentists head and to evaluate whether it is affected by using a rubber dam. Senior dental students (n=52) were asked to wear autoclaved headscarves as collection media while performing restorative dental treatment with and without a rubber dam. Four points from each headscarf were swabbed for bacterial culture after 30min of operative work. Bacterial contamination was quantified by counting the colony-forming units. Regardless of the collection point, using a rubber dam was associated with more bacterial colony-forming units than not using a rubber dam (P=0.009). Despite its clinical value, the rubber dam seems to result in significantly higher aerosol levels on various areas of the dentists head, requiring that dentists cover their heads with suitable protective wear.

Prevalence of hepatitis B, C, and HIV among patients attending a teaching dental hospital. A 7-year retrospective study from the United Arab Emirates

Objectives To determine the seroprevalence and case characteristics of hepatitis B, C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and their transmissibility from patients to dental personnel following percutaneous and mucocutaneous injuries. Methods All incidents of sharp and splash injuries reported between January 2010 and January 2017 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were calculated using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Prevalence was calculated as percentages, and chi-square test was used to assess categorical variables where a p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results Among the 436 reported incidents, 372 patients underwent serological screening. Fourteen patients (3.8%) had antibodies against hepatitis C virus, and 8 patients (2.2%) were positive for hepatitis B surface antigens. All positive cases were clinically asymptomatic. There were no positive cases for HIV. Three of the 14 hepatitis C positive patients were actively infectious upon polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, but none of the injured dental personnel seroconverted upon a 6-month follow up. Approximately 88% of dental personnel were vaccinated against hepatitis B. Female personnel showed better vaccination rate by comparison to male personnel (p=0.005). Among the 5 different categories of professional status, cleaners showed a significantly low hepatitis B vaccination rate (p<0.000). Conclusion The prevalence of hepatitis B and C is higher than that previously reported from the United Arab Emirates, but transmissibility of viral hepatitis seems to be negligible.

Dental Evidence as a Sole Human Identifier in World Disasters: A Literature Review with Emphasis on the 2004 Tsunami Disaster

Comparative dental analysis is a quick and relatively simple human identification method. In many disaster incidents, dental characteristics have played an important role in establishing the identity of victims when they were visually unidentifiable. A PubMed search was conducted for publications that specifically discussed the role of dental characteristics in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). Between 1974 and 2012, 14 papers described 17 disasters in which dental characteristics were used to identify the victims. The percentage of victims identified using only dental characteristics ranged from 0% to 89%. This wide range largely depends on the availability and quality of ante mortem dental records provided by dentists. The DVI in Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 was unique in involving deceased tourists from more than 30 countries, mostly from Europe. The dental method of identification showed superiority over other identification methods in terms of speed and accuracy of establishing the victims’ identity. This paper discusses the role of forensic odontology in establishing the identity of disaster victims, with specific emphasis on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as an example of good practice, during which the author had first-hand experience.

Responsible Conduct of Research

Responsible conduct in research has gained increased importance with the recent increase in research activity. This chapter aims to highlight the following several facets of research misconduct: (1) defining what constitutes research misbehaviors; (2) the differences in the prevalence of misbehaviors in various regions of the world; (3) the reasons that lead investigators to commit research misconduct; and (4) the type of measures that can be instituted to enhance the responsible conduct in research. In regards to the latter, a recommendation will be made for developing training programs that focus on preventing research misconduct.