Evaluation of Patients’ Anxiety about COVID-19 Infection through Dental Visits in Sari Dental School Clinic in 2021

Introduction: Dental treatments have a high-risk nature due to the close relationship between the patient and direct exposure to saliva, blood, etc. Concerns about the transmission of COVID-19 infection have led to the formation of some form of patient fear. Therefore, considering the importance of mental health, the present study was designed to investigate the degree of anxiety in people with COVID-19 through dentistry.Material and Methods: In the present descriptive study, 384 questionnaires were randomly distributed among the patients of Sari Dental Clinic in the period of April to June 2021. After the necessary explanations and obtaining informed written consent, the questionnaires were completed by the clients. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS V.22 software and statistical tests. Values greater than 0.05 were also considered significant.Results: In this study, 29.2% were male and 68.8% were female, and corona-related anxiety was more common in women and married people. As they got older, they tended to respond to higher options like most of the time or always. The higher the level of education, the less noticeable the unnecessary visits to the dental clinic.Conclusion: People were more worried about transmitting the disease to those around them and this anxiety was more in women than men. Married people were also more anxious than single people. Anxiety was significantly higher in the unemployed than in the employed. There was a significant relationship between degree and level of anxiety and people with higher education levels showed more anxiety.

Prevalence of Endodontically Treated Teeth in an Adult Malaysian Population Attending a Dental School Clinic

Introduction: The study of endodontic epidemiology may help in prediction of future needs for dental treatment in a dentate population. The prevalence of endodontically treated teeth in the Malaysian population has never been investigated and their estimates have been based on studies from other countries. This study evaluated the prevalence of endodontically treated teeth in an adult Malaysian population attending a dental school clinic in northern Malaysia. Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study examined the orthopantograms of 1663 patients in age group 18 to 75 years old, visiting the clinics of AIMST dental institute. A total of 33462 teeth were examined by four calibrated professionals. Any radiographic evidence of presence of radio-opaque material in pulp space was considered as endodontic treatment for the particular tooth. Third molars, supernumerary teeth and faulty radiographs were excluded from the study. Data was recorded with respect to gender, age and ethnicity of the patient and also the type of tooth. It was statistically analysed using Odds ratio, logistic regression and chi-square test. Results: There was a greater prevalence of endodontic treatment in females than males and 31 to 40 years age group. Malay population had higher number of cases of overall endodontically treated teeth, while Indian population showed highest percentage of cases within any ethnic group. Maxillary molars and mandibular molars were most frequently treated teeth, whereas canines showed the lowest prevalence. Findings were more significantly higher for maxillary teeth than mandibular teeth and for left side than right side. Conclusion: The prevalence of endodontically treated teeth in the Malaysian adult population was higher than that observed in epidemiological studies from other countries. This might is considered due to the higher incidence of caries and awareness emerging among the sub-population for preserving natural teeth. The results also concluded the necessity of more educational programs in Endodontics.

CONHECIMENTO DE GRADUANDOS EM ODONTOLOGIA SOBRE A CONSULTA ODONTOLÓGICA DE PACIENTES HIPERTENSOS, DIABÉTICOS E GESTANTES

Introdução: Os pacientes, diabéticos é um público comum no consultório. Os cirurgiões dentistas fazem uso e prescrevem medicamentos que auxiliam na prevenção e cura de doenças orais, tornando necessário um conhecimento apropriado para a correta indicação de uma determinada doença. Dessa forma, o objetivo do presente estudo é descrever a compreensão dos acadêmicos do Curso de Odontologia do Unifunec sobre seus conhecimentos e o manejo de pacientes com hipertensão, diabetes e gestantes em relação aos anestésicos locais utilizados e à terapêutica medicamentosa. Material e Métodos: Os alunos matriculados no quinto ano do curso de odontologia foram convidados a responder 22 questões sobre perfil pessoal e a prática clínica de atendimento odontológico dos pacientes especiais. Os dados obtidos foram divididos em certos e errados e registrados no Software Microsoft Excelem tabelas elaboradas. Resultados: As tabelas e os gráficos estão exemplificados nos resultados e na discussão. Participaram da pesquisa 68 alunos, sendo que a maioria era do sexo feminino, atendem em clínica escola 100% dos alunos entrevistados. A maioria das questões obteve uma porcentagem de acertos favorável ao da literatura com algumas questões chegando a 90%. Do total de perguntas, as que apresentaram um percentual de acerto menor de 50% foram as questões sobre a anestesia local no paciente diabético e gestante. Conclusão: A compreensão dos graduandos sobre a consulta odontológica de pacientes hipertensos, diabéticos e gestantes encontrou-se em torno de 56%. UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT’S KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DENTAL APPOINTMENT FOR HYPERTENSIVE, DIABETIC AND PREGNANT PATIENTS ABSTRACT Introduction: Hypertensive and diabetic patients are frequent in dental offices. Dental surgeons make use and prescribe medications which help in the prevention and cure of oral diseases; it requires appropriate knowledge in order to properly write prescriptions to certain diseases. Consequently, this paper aims at describing the understanding of the undergraduate students’ Dentistry School at Unifunec about their knowledge and management of hypertensive, diabetic, and pregnant patients regarding the use of local anesthetic and drug therapy. Material and methods: Undergraduate students who were enrolled in the fifth year of Dental School were invited to answer 22 questions about personal profile and clinical practice for those particular patients’ dental care. The obtained data was classified as right and wrong and recorded at the Software Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Results: Spreadsheets and graphics are exemplified in results and discussion. Sixty-eight undergraduate students participated in the study, most of them were female, 100% of them assisting patients at a dental school clinic. Most of the questions obtained a favorable percentage of correctness in accordance to the literature with some questions hitting 90% correctness. From the total of the questions, questions about local anesthetics for diabetic and pregnant patients obtained less than 50% correctness. Conclusion: The understanding of the undergraduate students about dental appointment for hypertensive, diabetic, and pregnant patients was found to be around 56%. Keywords: Hypertension. Diabetes Mellitus. Pregnant women.

Evaluation of the Light Intensity Emitted by the Light-curing Devices of a Dental School Clinic in the North of Brazil: a Pilot Study

Photoactivated composite resins are among the most widespread restorative materials in dentistry, particularly in cosmetic dentistry. To obtain the best properties of the material, the resins must have their polymerization reaction initiated by means of the light-curing device, which activates the photoinitiators present in the composites. For this process to occur in the desired way, it is essential that the light-curing device emits light at the intensity necessary to properly activate the photoinitiators. Thus, a pilot study was carried out to assess the light intensity emitted by the light-curing devices used in a school clinic. To assess the light intensity emitted by the devices, a radiometer was used. Twenty-four light-curing devices were evaluated, 13 Optilight Max devices, 8 Optilight LD MAX 440 devices, 3 Emitter C. devices. All the devices had an emitted light below 400 mW / cm² and 67% of the devices had intensity above 300 mW/cm². The average light emission values of the light-curing devices were Optilight Max 334mW/cm², Emitter C 275mW/cm², Optilight LD MAX 440 296mW/cm². It was concluded that no light-curing device emitted light at the recommended intensity (400 mW/cm²), two thirds of the devices emitted light in intensity above the minimum required for photopolymerization of composite resin increments of up to 2mm and one third emitted light in intensity below the required minimum. There was no difference among the light-curing device models tested in this study. Keywords: Photoinitiators, Dental. Dental. Tooth. Composite Resins. ResumoAs resinas compostas fotoativadas estão entre os materiais restauradores mais difundidos em odontologia, particularmente na odontologia estética. Para obtenção das melhores propriedades do material, as resinas precisam ter sua reação de polimerização iniciada por meio do fotopolimerizador, que ativa os fotoiniciadores presentes nos compósitos. Para que esse processo ocorra da forma desejada, é fundamental que o fotopolimerizador emita a luz na intensidade necessária para ativar adequadamente os fotoiniciadores. Assim, foi realizado um estudo piloto para avaliadar a intensidade da luz emitida pelo fotopolimerizadores utilizados em uma clínica-escola. Para avaliar a intensidade da luz emitida pelos dispositivos, foi utilizado um radiômetro. Vinte e quatro fotopolimerizadores foram avaliados, 13 aparelhos Optilight Max, 8 aparelhos Optilight LD MAX 440, 3 aparelhos Emitter C. Todos os dispositivos tiveram a luz emitida em intensidade inferior a 400 mW/cm² e 67% dos dispositivos apresentaram intensidade acima de 300 mW/cm². As médias de valores de emissão de luz dos fotopolimerizadores foram, Optilight Max 334mW/cm², Emitter C 275mW/cm², Optilight LD MAX 440 296mW/cm²Concluiu-se que nenhum fotopolimerizador emitiu luz na intensidade recomendada (400 mW/cm²), dois terços dos aparelhos emitiram luz em intensidade acima da mínima necessária para fotopolimerização de incrementos de resina composta de até 2mm e um terço emitiu luz em intensidade abaixo da mínima necessária. Não houve diferença entre os modelos de fotopolimerizador testados neste estudo. Palavras-chave: Fotoiniciadores Dentários. Dente. Resinas Compostas.

Mitigating saliva aerosol contamination in a dental school clinic

Background Transmission of COVID-19 via salivary aerosol particles generated when using handpieces or ultrasonic scalers is a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the spread of dental aerosols on patients and dental providers during aerosol-generating dental procedures. Methods This pilot study was conducted with one volunteer. A dental unit used at the dental school for general dental care was the site of the experiment. Before the study, three measurement meters (DustTrak 8534, PTrak 8525 and AeroTrak 9306) were used to measure the ambient distribution of particles in the ambient air surrounding the dental chair. The volunteer wore a bouffant, goggles, and shoe covers and was seated in the dental chair in supine position, and covered with a surgical drape. The dentist and dental assistant donned bouffant, goggles, face shields, N95 masks, surgical gowns and shoe covers. The simulation was conducted by using a high-speed handpiece with a diamond bur operating in the oral cavity for 6 min without touching the teeth. A new set of measurement was obtained while using an ultrasonic scaler to clean all teeth of the volunteer. For both aerosol generating procedures, the aerosol particles were measured with the use of saliva ejector (SE) and high-speed suction (HSS) followed a separate set of measurement with the additional use of an extra oral high-volume suction (HVS) unit that was placed close to the mouth to capture the aerosol in addition to SE and HSS. The distribution of the air particles, including the size and concentration of aerosols, was measured around the patient, dentist, dental assistant, 3 feet above the patient, and the floor. Results Four locations were identified with elevated aerosol levels compared to the baseline, including the chest of the dentist, the chest of patient, the chest of assistant and 3 feet above the patient. The use of additional extra oral high volume suction reduced aerosol to or below the baseline level. Conclusions The increase of the level of aerosol with size less than 10 µm was minimal during dental procedures when using SE and HSS. Use of HVS further reduced aerosol levels below the ambient levels.