Dentistry

Oral ulcers are highly common lesions in the population. They are painful and annoying, although most of them would be healed with no significant consequence. It is important to recognize these lesions on time and do the right sorts of treatment because of the risk of cancers or some other critical diseases. Understanding this fact that the first contact for most of patients is usually with a general medical practitioner, we decided to evaluate general practitioners’ knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding oral ulcerative lesions. This study was a cross-sectional, self-administered, questionnaire survey which was done among 65 general practitioners in Isfahan, Iran. The questionnaire evaluated the knowledge, attitude and behavior of general practitioners regarding oral ulcerative lesions. Chi-square test, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and t-test served for statistical analysis done by SPSS20 software. The physicians’ knowledge score was almost low, especially clinical knowledge (mean score = 33.4%, SD: 15.3). The majority of general practitioners (89.2%) reported that they are more knowledgeable in this field and almost 70% of them showed a willingness to participate in further educational programs about oral lesions. There was a significant relationship between the attitude and age (p= 0.001) and duration of practice (p = 0.002). But there was no significant relationship between the numbers of examined patients. General practitioners’ behavior scores regarding oral lesions were rather low. A significant relationship between the behavior and age (r=0.271, p= 0.03) and duration of practice was observed. Lack of knowledge of General practitioners’ and poor performance about oral lesions besides their willingness to get higher education in this field, revealed a great need for planning to include appropriate additional courses to the curriculum of the medical graduates

Concerning the increasing incidence of temporomandibular joint disorders and their impact on health status, this study was conducted to assess the knowledge of general dentists and dental specialists on temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in Shiraz.A questionnaire including 20 questions about knowledge of anatomy, signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment was given to 50 randomly selected general dental practitioners and specialists, in Shiraz, Iran. The answers were analyzed with SPSS14. Out of 50 participants consisting of 26 men and 24 women (mean age of 38.9±10.8 and mean years of practice 12.5±10.4), 41 were general dental practitioners and 9 were specialists. Mean score of diagnosis and treatment knowledge of all participants was 27.4 ±4.9 out of 40 achievable scores. There was a significant difference between the knowledge of specialists and that of general dental practitioners (P < 0.05). Age, gender, years of practice and university of education did not make any significant difference to the scores.The results of this study indicated an acceptable knowledge of participants regarding TMD.

With growing evidence regarding the association between oral health and respiratory disease, oral physician responsibility to provide top quality care is mandatory. By staying up to-date and using research available, oral physicians will be able to have the knowledge and skills to carry out proper assessment of patient, management, and prevention of the disease. Through this knowledge, the oral physicians will be able to educate patients regarding specific risk factors responsible for developing respiratory diseases and their prevention to avoid further complications. Besides, it will help to identify and manage those patients with associated problems. Oral physician should stay update with current research available, in order to educate the public and patients regarding the significance of good oral health.

Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a bone mineral density of 2.5 standard deviations or more below the mean peak bone mass (average of young, healthy adults) as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and calcium metabolism plays a very important role in such bone diseases. Calcium metabolism or calcium homeostasis is the mechanism by which the body maintains adequate calcium levels. Derangements of this mechanism lead to hypercalcemia or hypocalcemia, this article highlights majorly on the calcium metabolism and its effects on our health.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotionaly associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain acts as a warning signal against either in the body or in the external environment of an individual. Pain control is a major issue in dental practice. There are several types of medications that are used to manage dental diseases. The medications discussed in this article have pharmacological properties that are used to treat conditions such as pain, anxiety and inflamation.

Background: Several studies have objectified a high prevalence of metabolic syndrom (MS) in psoriasis patients. Objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrom and its components in psoriasis patients compared with controls, also the factors determinants the occurrence of MS in our patients. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective study including 100 psoriasis patients versus 100 controls seen in consultation or in hospitals. Conducted for a period of 12 months. Results: The prevalence of MS was higher in patients with psoriasis compared with controls (OR= 2.89, p=0,0002). with a significant increase in obesity (OR = 3.25, p = 0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (OR = 3.9, p = 0.013) and glucose intolerance (OR = 2.13, p = 0.046). Risk factors determining the appearance of SM in psoriatic were age, family history of psoriasis, seniority of psoriasis, but we did not find a correlation with sex, severity of psoriasis and the clinical form Conclusion: The management of psoriasis will integrate research risk factors for a possible metabolic syndrome and its treatment through a multidisciplinary approach.

Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory, infectious disease of tissues that support the teeth and caused by a particular microorganism or group of specific microorganisms. Periodontitis associated with other condition, such as candidiasis caused different and resistant clinical signs. The aims of this study is finding presence or absence of the fungus Candida albicans in patients with periodontal pockets in chronic periodontitis with various grades of slight, moderate and sever before and after periodontal treatment phase I. Patients with chronic periodontitis criteria into three groups of 21 people with slight moderate and sever groups. After sampling the deepest periodontal pockets of patients using paper point No.45.samples of paper points placed in 1 ml sterile saline, centrifuged and then were transferred to medium chrome agar. The green colonies of Candida albicans were found in the culture medium were counted for each patient then patients treated by mechanical periodontal treatment phase I, including health education, scaling and root planning. After 6 weeks, the patients re-sampling of deepest periodontal pockets were planted just like before and Candida albicans were counted again. The colony before treatment (p<0/001) and after treatment (p<0/001) was associated with disease severity; and disease severity in all three groups, the mean of colonies was significantly reduced after treatment (p<0/001), so that the average number of colonies decreased in patients with sever disease and it was significantly higher than the mean and the median was more than slight (p<0/001). It appears that fungus Candida albicans colonies influenced on the severity of the disease and periodontal treatment phase I can be effective in reducing the fungus and decrease was associated with disease severity.

To determine the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, etiology, treatment and clinical course of oral ulcerations and erosions in these patients in order to improvetheirtherapeutic management. A prospective study for a period of one year, including patients with oral ulcers. Wemainlystudied the circumstances of appearance of harm and the delay of consultation, Semiologicalcharacteristics of lesions, association withotherdermatological or not dermatologicalsigns, etiologicalfeatures, therapeutic and evolutionary patterns of thesediseases. 33 patients (21 women, 12 men) with oral erosions and / or ulcerswereincluded ; theirmeanage of 47.5 years. The diagnosiswas an auto-immune bullousdermatosis, in 15 cases (45.4%). Behçet'sdisease and recurrentaphthousstomatitisin 8 cases (24.2%). A drugeruptionin 7 cases and, a systemicdiseasein 3 cases (9.1%). Oral lesionswere apparent between 2 days and 20 years. The mostcommon sites were the endojugaleregion and the inner surface of the lips, eachpresent The oral healthstatuswaspoor in most patients (80.6%). Favoredtreatment of systemiccorticosteroidsin 18 patients (54.5%) including five patients withautoimmunebullousdermatosis, followed by topicalsteroidsin 17 patients (51.5%), azathioprinewasusedin 9 cases (27.3%), particularly in the PV (8/11) and colchicine has been prescribedin 5 patients (15.2%) of which 3 withBehçet'sdisease. Other comparative studies of favoringfactors to appear the oral erosions and ulcers as well as their long-termevolutionwouldbringadded value to the management of these patients.

Research in Dentistry encompasses ingenious effort embarked upon in a methodical way to enhance the stock of information including understanding of man, culture and society, and the use of this information to devise new applications in dental well being of individual or society. Qualitative research, much like what a dentist does in an office visit, can seem intuitive and almost common sense in nature. Yet behind that research, when it is done well, lie years of training and practice, rules of evidence, guidelines for rigor, and various sub-specializations in its pursuit. Phenomenological research is a form of qualitative research which uses a person’s perception of the meaning of an event. By looking at multiple perspectives of the same situation of a community, a researcher can make generalizations of the experience. This is a method of research rarely used in the Dental investigative stream. Hence this review was conducted to evaluate the probability and prospect of Phenomenological studies in Dental research.

Oral habits are very common and one of the most deleterious habits which pose a problem to pediatric dentists. Oral appliances, if inserted for several months, usually eliminate the habit, however, emotional problems, difficulty with speech and hearing, and self inflicted wounds can occur with such appliances. We present a case of 8 year old girl with thumb sucking habit, successfully managed by a non punitive bluegrass appliance.