Evaluation of Self-Reported professionalism lapses among dental undergraduate students: A cross-sectional study from a Malaysian dental faculty

INTRODUCTION

Professionalism and academic integrity are important components of dental education as they influence not just the present-day learning process, but also the practice of dentistry in future. This study evaluated self-reported professional lapses, academic dishonesty behaviours among peers and recommended sanctions for such lapses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity questionnaire was administered to BDS students of a private dental institution in Malaysia. Differences in the level of recommended sanctions were assessed by Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test.

RESULTS

There was unanimous agreement that all 34 statements of lapses of academic integrity as unacceptable. The highest agreement (95.6%) was related to threatening or abusing university employees or students and involvement in paedophilic activities, whereas the lowest agreement was observed for getting or giving help for coursework against rules (47.3%). The most frequent behaviours observed among peers were lack of class punctuality (55.1%) and providing and receiving proxy attendance services (49.3%). About 36% admitted to not being punctual themselves, 26.8% for accepting or providing help for course work and 22.9% for receiving and providing proxy attendance. Female students displayed stricter recommended sanctions, with the most significant difference relating to joking disrespectfully about body parts (p < .001). More lenient recommended sanctions were observed among Year 1 students compared with other years, with the most significant difference (p < .001) observed for exchanging information about the exam, forging a signature, plagiarising and cut-pasting materials without acknowledgement.

CONCLUSION

The majority of academic lapses were well comprehended. Significant differences were observed in sanctions imposed in terms of gender and year of study.

Evidence-based dentistry: Knowledge, Practice, Confidence and Attitude amongst Malaysian dental undergraduate students: A Multi-institutional study

INTRODUCTION

Evidence-based dental practice provides patient-centred, compatible and efficient interventions and forms the basis for health profession education. So far, there is a paucity of data about Malaysian undergraduate dental education and the role of evidence-based dentistry in it. The current research aimed to study the level of knowledge, attitude, practice and confidence of dental undergraduate students in Malaysia towards evidence-based dental practice.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included final-year undergraduate dental students (N = 645) who completed a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire that analysed the domains of perceived knowledge, practice, critical appraisal and attitude towards evidence-based dentistry. We further explored the association between these domains with the type of curriculum, sex, prior research experience and EBD training.

RESULTS

A total of (n = 526) students participated (response rate of 81.55%). About 92% knew about evidence-based dentistry. Whilst 58% had undergone formal training in evidence-based dentistry, 90% of the respondents showed an overall positive attitude towards evidence-based dentistry. However, only 45% of them practised it most of the time. Schools with an integrated curriculum showed more willingness and practised evidence-based dentistry more frequently (p < 0.001). More than 50% of the participants rated their confidence in appraisal as moderate.

CONCLUSION

Our findings revealed that Malaysian dental undergraduate students who are well aware of evidence-based dentistry displayed a positive attitude towards it. The type of dental curriculum had a significant association with practice and attitude towards evidence-based dental knowledge and practice.

Clinical and cytological findings in oral cavity of young shisha smokers and non-smokers – a comparative study

Introduction: Shisha, a form of smoking tobacco is known to be detrimental to oral health. Yet, the effects of shisha on oral health is not well documented. Hence, this study was undertaken to compare the clinical and cytological findings in oral cavity of young shisha smokers as compared to non-smokers. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was undertaken among 60 subjects including 30 young shisha smokers and 30 non-smokers. Clinical examination was carried out to record gingival status, periodontal status, oral hygiene and dental caries experience. Exfoliative cytology was used to study the cytological changes of buccal mucosal cells. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Student’s t-test, Fisher’s exact test and odd’s ration was used for comparison. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: No significant differences were found between the groups with respect to proportion of subjects with gingivitis (p = 0.071), erosion (p = 0.085) and dental caries experience (p = 0.329). However, shisha smokers had poorer oral hygiene and more severe gingival inflammation as compared to non-smokers with p = 0.026 and p = 0.007 respectively. The odds of having atypical cells in oral mucosa among shisha smokers was 3.76 times higher than the non-smokers. Conclusion: The findings of our study showed that young shisha smokers had more atypical cells in oral mucosa as compared to their non-smoking counterparts. However, longitudinal studies are needed to affirm the findings of this study.

Analysis of clinical characteristics and management of ectopic third molars in the mandibular jaw: a systematic review of clinical cases

OBJECTIVE

To perform a systematic review of the characteristics of ectopic mandibular third molar (EMTM) in terms of its clinical presentation, radiographic findings, associated lesions, management and post-operative complications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched the Pubmed, Medline, Embase and EBSCO databases for full-text, peer-reviewed journal publications from January 1965 to August 2020. Data extraction was done using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

RESULTS

Our search yielded 45 case reports involving 48 EMTM teeth. The mean age of the patients was 46.3 years with an age range of 22-80 years. Thirty-two cases were seen in women as compared to 13 cases in men. The majority of the cases (42) were unilateral, with only three bilateral cases. Among the 48 EMTM teeth, 21 were seen in the condylar region followed by 13 in the ramus, seven in the sigmoid notch, three in the angle and two each in the coronoid process and the lower border of the mandible. Twenty-five EMTM teeth had histopathologically confirmed dentigerous cysts, eight teeth had chronic infection/inflammation/granulation tissue, two had radicular cysts, two had infected cysts, two teeth had normal follicular spaces, and associated lesions were not mentioned for nine teeth. The most common symptoms were swelling (33 teeth) and pain (29 teeth), and six teeth were asymptomatic. Surgical removal through intraoral approach was carried out for 27 teeth, while an extra-oral approach was adopted in 15 teeth, a spontaneous regression of the pericoronal radiolucency was noticed in one tooth, four teeth were not treated and choice of treatment was not mentioned for one tooth. Mild transient paraesthesia was frequently observed; however, serious post-surgical complications were not reported.

CONCLUSIONS

The present review found that EMTM can present with complex clinicopathological characteristics, with a majority of the cases being asymptomatic in the beginning and turning out to be symptomatic with lesions at later stages, requiring surgical intervention.

Effectiveness of TENS and home exercises as an adjunct to drug therapy in the management of myogenous masticatory pain: a comparative study

Introduction: Pain relief is the primary goal of treatment in patients with myogenous temporomandibular disorder. This study evaluated the effectiveness of TENS and Home exercises as an adjunct to drugs in relieving myogenous masticatory pain. Materials and methods: This prospective clinical study was conducted on 60 patients with myogenous masticatory pain. Patients were randomly allocated into three groups of 20 patients each. Patients in Group A received TENS and drugs, while patients in Group B received home exercises and drugs and Group C received drugs only. The drugs prescribed were Diclofenac 50 mg and Orphenadrine 100 mg, to be taken twice daily for 5 days. All patients were followed up for three weeks. The severity of pain was recorded using the Visual Analog Scale. Inter and intragroup differences in the pain scores were analyzed using one-way ANOVA along with post hoc Tukey's test, and Paired t-test, respectively. p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: There was a significant reduction in the mean pain scores in all the three groups at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd post-treatment weeks as compared to the baseline scores with p < 0.001. However, when the pain scores were compared across groups, maximum pain reduction was observed in group A (0.2 ± 0.04), followed by group B (0.5 ± 0.06), and the least reduction was noticed in group C (2.1 ± 0.8). This result was significant with p < 0.001. Conclusion: Both TENS and Home exercises program were effective as adjuncts to drugs, in controlling myogenous masticatory pain, as compared to drugs alone.

Evaluation of orofacial pain and psychological comorbidities in health sciences university students

Introduction: Orofacial pain (OP) is a common public health problem among the general population however, its distribution among the young population like students has not been evaluated so far. The objectives of this study were to investigate the self-reported prevalence, and characteristics of OP, and to evaluate its association with psychological comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted on students studying health sciences programs at SEGi University, Malaysia. A well-designed, structured questionnaire was utilized to assess the prevalence and characteristics of OP. Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale was used to evaluate the psychological status of the students. The collected data was subject to statistical analysis by using the SPSS version 22 software. Results: Overall 494 university students had participated in the study of which, 78% (n = 375) of students had suffered from OP and it was significantly higher among the female students (p < 0.03). Headache was the most common type of OP (66.2%) followed by pain in temple region (47.2%), in and around eyes (29.1%), facial region (23.3%), and tooth/gingival pain (20.9%). The association between the prevalence of OP and anxiety was statistically significant (p < 0.019). About 35.4% of the health sciences students had first OP episode started three months ago, 4.2% had daily pain, 14.3% suffered from continuous pain, and only 14% of the students had consulted professionals and 36.1% of them took medication. Conclusion: A significantly higher prevalence of self-reported OP was evident among the health sciences university students and students with different types of OP had higher anxiety and depression scores. Early recognition of OP symptoms and associated comorbidities must be considered for the prevention and successful management of these conditions to circumvent its negative academic impact on the students.

Analysis of octamer-binding transcription factor-4 expression in oral leukoplakia

Background:

Oral potentially malignant disorders have a risk for malignant transformation but are difficult to reliably identify and predict which patients are at the risk for malignant transformation. OCT4 has been hypothesized to play a key oncogenic driver in a variety of solid tumors. A deeper understanding of the aberrant molecular pathways which lead to carcinogenesis needs to be identified by the potential markers.

Aims:

To assess the OCT4 stemness factor in oral leukoplakia for its potential risk to malignant transformation.

Settings and Design:

20 cases of oral leukoplakia were obtained from archives at Oral Cancer Research & Coordinating center (OCRCC) Malaysia Subjects and Methods: 20 cases of oral leukoplakia were assessed by OCT4 immunohistochemically. Oral squamous cell carcinoma was used as a control.

Result:

no expression of OCT 4 was observed in any cases of oral leukoplakia.

Conclusion:

The molecular mechanisms of Oct4 regulation and in particular of its switch on and off in tissues depends upon its microenvironment, which makes it challenging in fundamental and applied research fields of regenerative medicine and cancer therapy. It's better that patients should undergo multiple biopsies for the early detection of malignant transformation with close follow-up during the first two to three years, a large amount of work remains to be done with multi-marker panel investigation, as cure rates have remained constant over three decades.