Purpose: This study evaluated the usage habits, attitudes, and perceptions of undergraduate dental students toward distance (online) learning and identified variables related to those attitudes.
Materials and methods: The study included 1,605 undergraduate dental students who participated voluntarily. The data collection tool consisted of a distance learning attitude scale, a questionnaire on personal information, and open-ended questions. The perceptions of dental students to distance education according to the year and type of dental school they attended were evaluated.
Results: Most students expressed that distance learning in dental courses was not as effective as traditional face-to-face education (59.1%, n=949). While students studying at state universities had a more negative view of distance education, the satisfaction scores of the first-year students were found to be significantly lower than the other students (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Dental students were generally unhappy with the interruption of traditional education caused by COVID-19 and having to continue their education online. However, under the circumstances, they saw it as an advantage allowing them to continue their education and avoid a complete suspension.
Purpose: The aim of the present study is to assess the quality and reliability of web-based information about restorative treatment in pediatric patients on the internet using different scales.
Materials and methods: Websites obtained by using keywords about restorative treatment in pediatric patients on Google and Yandex were included in the study. The study was conducted in English on a total of 440 websites. Websites were evaluated using the quality criteria for consumer health information (DISCERN toolkit), Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and Health on the Net Code of Conduct Certification (HONCode).
Results: The mean DISCERN points of the websites were moderate. Among the evaluated websites, the quality of the knowledge in 20% of the websites was low. The rate of websites with a score below 40 was 37.5%. None of them has reached an excellent score. No websites met all JAMA criteria. There was no HONCode Certificate on any website.
Conclusion: This study showed that the quality of the web-based information about restorative treatment in pediatric patients was generally inadequate and scientifically imperfect.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate flexural strength, elastic modulus and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of heat-polymerized polymethyl methacrylate resin, polyamide resin and glass fiber-reinforced polyamide resin.
Materials and methods: Three groups were determined according to denture base materials as polymethyl methacrylate resin (H), polyamide resin (P) and glass fiber reinforced polyamide resin (R). Sixteen specimens for each denture base material were prepared with dimensions of 64x10x3.3 mm for three-point bending test. Two specimens for each denture base material were prepared with dimensions of 30x10x3 mm for DMA. Polymethyl methacrylate and polyamide specimens were prepared according to the manufacturer's recommendations. The silane was applied to glass fibers (4.5 mm length) 2% by weight of the polyamide resin, they were placed in polyamide resin cartilages and injected to the mold. The thermal aging procedure was applied to half of specimens of each material (n=8). Flexural strength and elastic modulus of the specimens were determined by three-point bending test at a speed of 5 mm/ min. DMA was performed to 1 specimen from each group to evaluate viscoelastic properties. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA, Tukey and Paired t tests.
Results: A statistically significant difference was found in flexural strength and elastic modulus values of denture base materials (p=0.00). The highest flexural strength and elastic modulus values were observed in polymethyl methacrylate group. There was no significant difference between polyamide and glass-fiber reinforced polyamide groups (p=0.497). No significant difference was determined in all threedenture base materials before and after aging procedure.
Conclusion: The reinforcement with glass-fibers did not affect the flexural strength and elastic modulus of polyamide resin.
Purpose: This study aims to assess the influence of superficial heat and Biofreeze on pain, mouth opening (mm), and quality of life in patients with masticatory myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).
Materials and methods: 52 patients with MPS were included in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in the Biofreeze group (n = 26) applied 3.5% menthol gel to the masseter and temporal muscles twice a day for seven days, while the other group applied superficial heat. Baseline, 7th, and 21st days of VAS, mouth opening (mm), and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) scores of the patients were evaluated statistically.
Results: The mouth opening increased by 4.27 ± 3.80 mm in the Biofreeze group and 2.58 ± 2.16 mm in the superficial heat group. In each group, a significant decrease in VAS and OHIP-14 scores was observed on the 7th day compared to the baseline values (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the two applications on myofascial pain, mouth opening (mm), and OHIP-14 total score variables. The favorable effects of both applications on these parameters were limited to the duration of use.
Conclusion: Biofreeze and superficial heat in MPS were found to increase the quality of life, but the limited effectiveness of these applications underlines the importance of the underlying factors.
Purpose: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of occlusal traits and to evaluate the orthodontic treatment need among children aged 8-9 years in Al Ahsa, Eastern region of Saudi Arabia.
Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 282 Saudi children who were randomly selected from those visiting dental outpatient clinics at the College of dentistry in King Faisal University, AlAhsa. All the children were evaluated using the DHC and AC components of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Descriptive statistics, chisquare test and Fisher's Exact test were used for data analysis with statistical significance set at p< 0.05.
Results: The most prevalent malocclusal trait was crowding (39.7%) followed by increased overjet (28.4%). About 30.9% and 17% of the children were in definite need for orthodontic treatment according to DHC and AC of IOTN, respectively. There was no statistical difference in the distribution of DHC (p=0.116) and AC (p=0.177) scores between the gender.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated high percentage of malocclusal traits and orthodontic treatment need in the mixed dentition period among 8-9-year-old children in the Eastern region. Emphasis should be placed on early orthodontic screening and treatment in the mixed dentition stage of dental development.
Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of bupivacaine and lidocaine local anesthesia on the intra-surgical and post-surgical pain control in patients undergoing periodontal flap surgery.
Materials and methods: A randomized, single-blind, split-mouth design was employed in patients who are scheduled for periodontal flap surgery for at least two similar sextants with similar anesthetic techniques. Fifty patients (age range 16-65 years, 32 males and 28 females) enrolled in the present study. On one-site, the flap surgery was performed using 2% lidocaine with 1:200000 epinephrine and on the other with 0.5% bupivacaine with 1:200000 epinephrine. Base line clinical parameters, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level were recorded. Pain during intra operative period, at the time of loss of numbness and for three consecutive days was measured using visual analog scale (VAS).
Results: Significant differences were observed between the two groups in the intra operative pain scores (p=0.0045) and pain scores at the time of loss of numbness (p=0.0005) but not at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd day after the surgery.
Conclusion: Bupivacaine was markedy more effective than the lidocaine. Thus the usage of bupivacaine can be substantiated for periodontal surgeries for the control of pain in the intra operative and immediate post-operative period to increase patients' comfort.