Pain management during needle insertion with low level laser

AIM

To date, there is no safe, effective, and rapid method to eliminate the pain associated with needle insertion. It is noticed that using a low-energy laser before intradermal and intramuscular injection would help rapid local anaesthesia with a lidocaine product. However, there is no valuable data on the effect of the concomitant use of laser and benzocaine as a pre-treatment option, compared to local application of benzocaine products alone before needle insertion.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective single-blind clinical trial was designed to assess pain perception during needle insertion into mucosa in 66 healthy volunteer dental students. They received a topical anaesthetic agent on one side (control) applied for one minute and a topical anaesthetic agent plus low-power laser on the other side (experimental) prior to needle insertion. The first pre-treatment method was chosen based on block randomisation table. A dentist recorded the subjects' reaction based on the visual analogue scale (VAS) during insertion of needle in the two groups. SPSS version 15 was used for data analysis. The statistical significant level was defined at P-value< 0.01.

RESULTS

The mean scores of VAS for the experimental and control groups was 21± and 19± 2.70 respectively, with a statistically significant higher VAS score in the experimental group, although it was not clinically significant.

CONCLUSION

Simultaneous application of laser with local anaesthetic products containing benzocaine in the buccal mucosa before dental needle insertion does not reduce pain perception.

Investigation of the Relationship between the Increase in the Intercanine width and the Children's Facial Parameters; a 6-month Follow-up Study

The present study, as a pilot study, aimed to investigate the increase in the intercanine width in different facial forms to predict the amount of future increase in the intercanine width. The results of the pilot study showed that the intercanine width increased more in the boys with wider faces while this relationship was not observed in the girls. Based on the results of this preliminary study, the girls' facial width could not be considered as a determining criterion in evaluation of the amount of increase in the intercanine width.

Awareness of Iranian's General Dentists Regarding the Latest Prophylaxis Guideline for Prevention of Infective Endocarditis

Statement of Problem : Dental procedures leading to oral tissue injuries may provoke bacterial release to the blood stream causing infective endocarditis (IE) in vulnerable patients. The guideline which was proposed by AHA has been updated 9 times having the last update published in 2007. This study was endeavored to uncover the level of knowledge of general dental practitioners in Shiraz, concerning the 2007 AHA guidelines for endocarditis prophylaxis in patients with cardiac problems receiving dental treatments.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

This cross- sectional and descriptive analytical study included 150 dentists as participants. All practitioners were given a self -report questionnaire which consisted of three sections. Questions were designed to assess their knowledge of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with cardiac disease.

RESULTS

Almost all participants (93%) were aware of antibiotic prophylaxis to be essential for tooth extraction. Most participants did not believe in prophylaxis for noninvasive procedures (such as shedding of primary teeth, impression, intraoral radiography). From all of the respondents, 75% considered Amoxicillin to be the antibiotic of choice and 57% were acquainted with the correct dose of Amoxicillin for high risk patients.

CONCLUSION

The study identified a potential for under/over prescription of antibiotic prophylaxis under the current guideline. Burden of IE necessitates more accurate knowledge of antibiotic prophylaxis in the undergraduate curriculum and continuing education programs of dentistry.

Effect of a leaflet given to parents on knowledge of tooth avulsion

AIM

Parents can play an important role in improving the prognosis of avulsed permanent teeth if they are properly informed about the necessary dental first-aid steps at the time of an accident. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of Shirazi parents in traumatic a simple leaflet on improving their knowledge about this topic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred and fifty parents of children receiving dental care at the Shiraz Dental School participated in this study. Half of the participants received an informative leaflet with the possibility of asking questions about it to an operator, while the other half did not receive any leaflets and served as a control group. Using a questionnaire and a scoring system, the level of knowledge of parents was measured in the following categories: general knowledge of tooth avulsion, knowledge of replantation and primary/permanent teeth, knowledge of how to clean an avulsed tooth, knowledge of extra- oral time, and knowledge of storage, methods and transporting media.

RESULTS

The results showed that knowledge level was low among Shirazi parents. Improvements were observed in all the categories of knowledge as a result of reading the leaflet and answering the questions.

CONCLUSION

A simple leaflet is a suitable tool to impart knowledge to parents and improve awareness about tooth avulsion.

Prevalence of malocclusions in school-age children attending the orthodontics department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

To provide quantitative data about the prevalence of malocclusions in the Shiraz orthodontic population, we studied the records of 700 patients (391 girls and 309 boys) aged 6-14 years attending the undergraduate Department of Orthodontics at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The prevalence of Angle class I, II and III malocclusion of first molars was 52.0%, 32.6% and 12.3% respectively. Skeletal class I, II and III malocclusion was found in 18.0%, 70.0% and 12.0% respectively. There were no significant differences between the sexes in the prevalence of different types of skeletal malocclusion. Children with class III were significantly younger (mean age 8.9 years) than those with class I (9.6 years) or class II (9.7 years) malocclusions. Orthodontics students need more education and training in the management of class II malocclusion to improve the overall quality of care for patients.