BACKGROUND: Publication can become a symbol of presenting how meticulously a person has followed ethical principles in research. It is the duty of the investigators or authors to carefully read the instructions to authors and generate data with honesty and genuineness. In fulfillment of the basic requisite to publish, clearly defined instructions to authors should be provided by the journal. AIMS: To assess the pattern of instructions regarding the ethical requirements given to authors in Indian Dental Journals and tried to compare the same with British Dental Journals. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey of 'instructions for authors,' for analysis of guidelines on ethical processes, was done. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Instructions to authors of Indian and British Dental Journals indexed in PubMed were reviewed for guidelines with regard to seven key ethical issues. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics were used and results were expressed in percentages as well as numbers. RESULTS: Of the 10 Indian Dental Journals, 7 (70%) cited ethical guidelines such as International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Committee on Publication Ethics, Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines whereas out of 27 British Dental Journals, 16 (59.25%) cited these. Protection of human subjects such as approval from an institutional/independent ethics committee, obtaining informed consent and maintenance of confidentiality of patient records was covered with 8 (80%) Indian and 19 (70.3%) British Dental Journals. Four (40%) Indian and 13 (48.1%) instructed about animals welfare. Nine (90%) of the Indian and 25 (92.5%) British Dental Journals required declaration of conflicts of interest by authors. Publication issues and authorship/contributorship criteria were specified by all 10 Indian and 25 (92.5%) and 24 (88.8%) British journals respectively. 6 (60%) of Indian and 11 (40.75%) of British Journals explained about data management, in case of clinical trials. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of Indexed Indian and British Dental Journals did not provide adequate instructions to authors regarding ethical issues.
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Bibliometrics are a set of methods, which can be used to analyze academic literature quantitatively and its changes over time. The objectives of this study were 1) to evaluate trends related to academic performance of dental journals from 2003 to 2012 using bibliometric indices, and 2) monitor the changes of the five dental journals with the highest and lowest impact factor (IF) published in 2003. Data for the subject category "Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine" was retrieved from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) published from 2003 to 2012. Linear regressions analysis was used to determine statistical trends over the years with each bibliometric indicator as the dependent variable and the JCR year as the predictor variable. Statistically significant rise in the total number of dental journals, the number of all articles with the steepest rise observed for research articles, the number of citations and the aggregate IF was observed from 2003 to 2012. The analysis of the five top and five bottom-tire dental journals revealed a rise in IF however, with a wide variation in relation to the magnitude of this rise. Although the IF of the top five journals remained relatively constant, the percentile ranks of the four lowest ranking journals in 2003 increased significantly with the sharpest rise being noted for the British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. This study revealed significant growth of dental literature in absolute terms, as well as upward trends for most of the citation-based bibliometric indices from 2003 to 2012.
OBJECTIVE: Dental caries critically impacts the health and development of children. Understanding caries experience is an important task for Saudi Arabian policymakers to identify intervention targets and improve oral health. The purpose of this review is to analyze current data to assess the nationwide prevalence and severity of caries in children, to identify gaps in baseline information, and to determine areas for future research. METHODS: A search of published and unpublished studies in PubMed, Google, and local Saudi medical and dental journals was conducted for the three keywords "dental," "caries," and "Saudi Arabia." The inclusion criteria required that the articles were population-based studies that assessed the prevalence of dental caries in healthy children attending regular schools using a cross-sectional study design of a random sample. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: The review was comprised of one unpublished thesis and 27 published surveys of childhood caries in Saudi Arabia. The earliest study was published in 1988 and the most recent was published in 2010. There is a lack of representative data on the prevalence of dental caries among the whole Saudi Arabian population. The national prevalence of dental caries and its severity in children in Saudi Arabia was estimated to be approximately 80% for the primary dentition with a mean dmft of 5.0 and approximately 70% for children's permanent dentition with a mean DMFT score of 3.5. The current estimates indicate that the World Health Organization (WHO) 2000 goals are still unmet for Saudi Arabian children. CONCLUSION: Childhood dental caries is a serious dental public health problem that warrants the immediate attention of the government and the dental profession officials in Saudi Arabia. Baseline data on oral health and a good understanding of dental caries determinants are necessary for setting appropriate oral health goals. Without the ability to describe the current situation, it is not possible to identify whether progress is being made toward these goals. A roadmap with a clear starting point, destination, and pathway is a desperately needed tool to improve the oral health of Saudi Arabian children.
Oral health is related to diet in many ways, for example, nutritional influences on craniofacial development, oral cancer and oral infectious diseases. Dental diseases impact considerably on self-esteem and quality of life and are expensive to treat. The objective of this paper is to review the evidence for an association between nutrition, diet and dental diseases and to present dietary recommendations for their prevention. Nutrition affects the teeth during development and malnutrition may exacerbate periodontal and oral infectious diseases. However, the most significant effect of nutrition on teeth is the local action of diet in the mouth on the development of dental caries and enamel erosion. Dental erosion is increasing and is associated with dietary acids, a major source of which is soft drinks. Despite improved trends in levels of dental caries in developed countries, dental caries remains prevalent and is increasing in some developing countries undergoing nutrition transition. There is convincing evidence, collectively from human intervention studies, epidemiological studies, animal studies and experimental studies, for an association between the amount and frequency of free sugars intake and dental caries. Although other fermentable carbohydrates may not be totally blameless, epidemiological studies show that consumption of starchy staple foods and fresh fruit are associated with low levels of dental caries. Fluoride reduces caries risk but has not eliminated dental caries and many countries do not have adequate exposure to fluoride. It is important that countries with a low intake of free sugars do not increase intake, as the available evidence shows that when free sugars consumption is <15-20 kg/yr ( approximately 6-10% energy intake), dental caries is low. For countries with high consumption levels it is recommended that national health authorities and decision-makers formulate country-specific and community-specific goals for reducing the amount of free sugars aiming towards the recommended maximum of no more than 10% of energy intake. In addition, the frequency of consumption of foods containing free sugars should be limited to a maximum of 4 times per day. It is the responsibility of national authorities to ensure implementation of feasible fluoride programmes for their country.
BACKGROUND: This study investigated the expectations and experiences of a sample of new patients visiting an Australian regional university Student Dental Clinic with regard to anxiety provoking and alleviating stimuli in the clinical environment. Differences in anxiety levels were examined by age, gender and the type of procedure undergone. METHODS: The number of dental patients who participated in the study was 102 (56 males, 43 females). The study used a pre-treatment/post-treatment design to assess the effect of the dental procedure on anxiety levels of patients. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was used to measure anxiety levels in patients at pre-treatment. Questions were also asked about factors which may increase (length of the appointment, invasiveness of procedure) or decrease (perceived student interpersonal skills and clinical ability) dental fear. RESULTS: Females reported higher total MDAS scores (M = 11.93) compared to males (M = 9.94). Younger patients (M = 12.15) had higher dental anxiety than older patients (M = 9.34). There was a reduction in dental anxiety from pre-treatment (M = 1.92) to post-treatment (M = 1.23) on the single item anxiety measure though most of the treatment being undergone by patients was for less complex procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' anticipatory experience of anxiety was higher than the anxiety experience after having undergone treatment at the student dental clinic. Student interpersonal skills and clinical ability as perceived by the patient can lessen dental anxiety in patients. Clinical Supervisor-student ratios need to be more equivalent in order to reduce the time length of appointments which currently are associated with increased patient anxiety levels in student dental clinics.
People who are highly anxious about undergoing dental treatment comprise approximately one in seven of the population and require careful and considerate management by dental practitioners. This paper presents a review of a number of non-pharmacological (behavioural and cognitive) techniques that can be used in the dental clinic or surgery in order to assist anxious individuals obtain needed dental care. Practical advice for managing anxious patients is provided and the evidence base for the various approaches is examined and summarized. The importance of firstly identifying dental fear and then understanding its aetiology, nature and associated components is stressed. Anxiety management techniques range from good communication and establishing rapport to the use of systematic desensitization and hypnosis. Some techniques require specialist training but many others could usefully be adopted for all dental patients, regardless of their known level of dental anxiety. It is concluded that successfully managing dentally fearful individuals is achievable for clinicians but requires a greater level of understanding, good communication and a phased treatment approach. There is an acceptable evidence base for several non-pharmacological anxiety management practices to help augment dental practitioners providing care to anxious or fearful children and adults.
BACKGROUND: The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) is a brief, self-complete questionnaire consisting of five questions and summed together to produce a total score ranging from 5 to 25. It has reasonable psychometric properties, low instrumental effects and can be integrated into everyday dental practice as a clinical aid and screen for dental anxiety. The objectives were to (i) produce confirmatory evidence of reliability and validity for the MDAS, (ii) provide up-to-date UK representative norms for the general public to enable clinicians to compare their patients' scores, (iii) to determine the nature of the relationship between dental anxiety and age. METHODS: Telephone survey of a representative quota sample of 1000 UK adults (>18 years of age) conducted between 7-21 April, 2008. RESULTS: Attrition of potential participants was high in the recruitment process, although bias was minimal. Estimated proportion of participants with high dental anxiety (cut-off score = 19) was 11.6%. Dental anxiety was four times greater in the youngest age group (18-39 yrs) compared to older participants (60+ yrs), controlling for sex, social class and self-reported dental visiting behaviour confirming previous developed-world reports. CONCLUSION: The scale's psychometrics is supportive for the routine assessment of patient dental anxiety to compare against a number of major demographic groups categorised by age and sex. Dental anxiety was high in younger compared to older people.
Background and objectives: The use of antibiotic prophylaxis in extraction and implant dentistry is still controversial, with varying opinions regarding their necessity. The overuse of antibiotics has led to widespread antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of multi drug resistant strains of bacteria. The main aim of this work was to determine whether there is a genuine need for antibiotic prophylaxis in two common dental procedures; dental implants and tooth extractions. Methods: Electronic searches were conducted across databases such as Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, the UK National Health Service, Centre for reviews, Science Direct, PubMed and the British Dental Journal to identify clinical trials of either dental implants or tooth extractions, whereby the independent variable was systemic prophylactic antibiotics used as part of treatment in order to prevent postoperative complications such as implant failure or infection. Primary outcomes of interest were implant failure, and postoperative infections which include systemic bacteraemia and localised infections. The secondary outcome of interest was adverse events due to antibiotics. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool was used to assess the risk of bias, extract outcomes of interest and to identify studies for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Results: Seven randomised clinical trials (RCTs) were included in the final review comprising n = 1368 patients requiring either tooth extraction(s) or dental implant(s). No statistically significant evidence was found to support the routine use of prophylactic antibiotics in reducing the risk of implant failure (p = 0.09, RR 0.43; 95% CI 0.16–1.14) or post-operative complications (p = 0.47, RR: 0.74; 95% CI 0.34–1.65) under normal conditions. Approximately 33 patients undergoing dental implant surgery need to receive antibiotics in order to prevent one implant failure from occurring. Conclusions: There is little conclusive evidence to suggest the routine use of antibiotic prophylaxis for third molar extractive surgery in healthy young adults. There was no statistical evidence for adverse events experienced for antibiotics vs. placebo. Based on our analysis, even if financially feasible, clinicians must carefully consider the appropriate use of antibiotics in dental implants and extraction procedures due to the risk of allergic reactions and the development of microbial drug resistance.
BACKGROUND: We assessed factors influencing patients' satisfaction with their dental appearance and the treatments they desired to improve dental aesthetics. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed out among 235 adult patients who visited the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia dental clinic. A structured, interviewer-guided questionnaire was used to identify patient satisfaction with their general dental appearance, cosmetic elements and desired treatments. RESULTS: The 235 patients consisted of 70 males (29.8%) and 165 females (70.2%), of mean age 31.5 years (SD 13.0). Of these patients, 124 (52.8%) were not satisfied with their general dental appearance. In addition, 132 patients (56.2%) were not happy with the color of their teeth, 76 (32.3%), regarded their teeth were poorly aligned, 62 (26.4%), as crowded and 56 (23.4%) protruded. Dissatisfaction with tooth color was significantly higher in female than in male patients (odds ratio [OR] of 1.99 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-3.50). Tooth whitening was the treatment most desired by patients (48.1%). Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patient dissatisfaction with general dental appearance was significantly associated with female gender (OR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.18-4.03), unhappiness with tooth color (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.74-5.34) and the opinion that their teeth protruded (OR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.44-5.91). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients in this study were not satisfied with their dental appearance with a greater percentage of females expressing dissatisfaction than males. An age was not associated with satisfaction. Unhappiness with tooth color and feelings of having protruding teeth also had a significant negative influence on patient satisfaction with general dental appearance.
Dental caries is a significant oral and public health problem worldwide, especially in low-income populations. The risk of dental caries increases with frequent intake of dietary carbohydrates, including sugars, leading to increased acidity and disruption of the symbiotic diverse and complex microbial community of health. Excess acid production leads to a dysbiotic shift in the bacterial biofilm composition, demineralization of tooth structure, and cavities. Highly acidic and acid-tolerant species associated with caries include Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus, Actinomyces, Bifidobacterium, and Scardovia species. The differences in microbiotas depend on tooth site, extent of carious lesions, and rate of disease progression. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics not only reveal the structure and genetic potential of the caries-associated microbiome, but, more importantly, capture the genetic makeup of the metabolically active microbiome in lesion sites. Due to its multifactorial nature, caries has been difficult to prevent. The use of topical fluoride has had a significant impact on reducing caries in clinical settings, but the approach is costly; the results are less sustainable for high-caries-risk individuals, especially children. Developing treatment regimens that specifically target S. mutans and other acidogenic bacteria, such as using nanoparticles, show promise in altering the cariogenic microbiome, thereby combatting the disease.