Shade selection practices amongst clinical dental students in South Western Nigeria

Objective: Shade selection is crucial in satisfying aesthetic demands of patients during cosmetic dental treatment. It is important to nurture and evaluate this act in students as future dental professionals. This study aimed to evaluate the understanding and practice of tooth shade matching amongst dental students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in South-Western Nigeria. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was given to clinical dental students to garner information on socio-demographics, knowledge and practice of shade selection. The resulting data were statistically tested using chi-square with p-value ≤ 0.05 indicating significant level. Results: There was 76.5% response rate to the questionnaires with the male subjects accounting for 52.3%. The mean age of participants was 24.2 ± 2.4 years. Majority (40.9%) did not know the ideal time required for shade selection. Most (57.9%) students used visual/manual method in shade selection but 63.6% of these did not know the name of the shade guide used. Majority (80.8%) select the shade before commencing restorative procedure. Less than half (36.4%) of participants performed tooth shade matching in 3 segments (from incisal-third to cervical-third) while 54.5% considered tooth shade as a single uniform colour. Most students, 67.4% had a fair knowledge of shade matching while 13.6% practiced good shade matching technique for restorations/prosthesis. There was a statistically significant difference (p=0.022) between shade selection practice and the clinical training levels of students. Conclusion: The dental students had a fair knowledge about the principles of shade selection but lack the clinical know-how

Prevalence of the different types of palmar creases among medical and dental students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Studies have suggested that identification of aberrant palmar creases may give clues for an early and noninvasive method of diagnosis of certain disease conditions. Toward this purpose, awareness of the normal variants of palmar creases must be first recognized. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the patterns of palmar creases in healthy Ethiopian population among Medical and Dental Students in Addis Ababa. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Right and left palm pictures from 318 (177 females and 141 males) participants were taken using a mobile camera, and evaluated qualitatively. Observations were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, and significance levels for comparisons were set at p<0.05. RESULTS: Aberrant creases were observed in 13.8% of the palms. Simian crease was the most common among the aberrant crease types, followed by Suwon and Sydney. Palmar creases with two and three points of origin were significantly more common, respectively, in males and the females. Minor variants as accessory to the radial longitudinal crease and middle longitudinal crease were also observed. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that aberrant crease types at the observed frequencies may not be indicative of known disease conditions as they occurred in apparently healthy Ethiopians. However, the results of this study, besides revealing the patterns of palmar creases among Ethiopians, could give a baseline for studies aimed at diagnosis of disease conditions based on palmar crease configurations. Further qualitative and quantitative studies of palmar creases in wider populations with various conditions, including ethno-geographic factors, are recommended

The prevalence of Temporomandibular disorders among a group of Libyan dental students

Background: It has been reported that Tempro-Mandibular-disorders (TMD) is the most common orofacial pain source of non-dental origin. The aim of this cross-sectional observational study is to explore the prevalence of signs and symptoms of TMD among a group of dental students in Benghazi-Libya.Methods: The examined group comprised 100 students [17 males and 83 females; mean age: 24.8±2.23 years. The assessment was undertaken following Helkimo's measures. The prevalence and severity of TMD was determined using a self-reported anamnestic questionnaire and clinical examination. Descriptive statistics was employed to explore the frequencies of the examined variables. Linear correlation coefficient was conducted between the reported symptoms and recorded signs and between the reported symptoms and the clinical dysfunction scores (CDS). The level of significance was set at P<0.05.Results: A total of 37% of the students reported some level of TMD symptoms [32% mild (Ai1); 5% severe (AiII)]. On the other hand, majority of the students (93%) demonstrated a range of TMD signs [76% mild (DiI); 17% moderate (DiII)].Although linear correlation coefficient between the reported symptoms (Ai) and the recorded signs (Di) (r=0.32) and between the reported symptoms (Ai) and the CDS (r=0.37) were low, they were statistically significant (P<0.05.Conclusion: Mild to moderate prevalence of TMD appears to exist among Libyan dental students

Medical and dental students' attitude and practice of prevention strategies against hepatitis B virus infection in a Nigerian university

Introduction: medical and dental students are a high-risk group for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection which is an occupational hazard for them and a leading cause of death globally. Prevention strategies include vaccination and observance of standard precaution. However, available reports claim utilization of the prevention strategies is low. This study evaluated the attitude of the students towards HBV vaccine and cross-infection practices.Methods: this study was a cross-sectional study carried out at the College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. Using the convenience sampling method, anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the first 120 participants that volunteered to participate in the study. Data analysis was done using IBM's Statistical Package (SPSS) version 20 software. Statistical level of significance was set at p < 0.05.Results: over eighty percent (83.2%) of the participants had at least a dose of the HBV vaccine while 79.65% completed the three doses. Majority (94.7%) of the students that did not receive the vaccine cited their busy schedule as the reason for their failure to be vaccinated. Taking every patient as a contagious disease risk (86.5%), washing hands after contact with patients' body fluids (82.1%) and wearing gloves before touching mucous membranes and non-intact skin (74.1%) were the most practiced universal standard precaution items.Conclusion: the uptake rate of HBV vaccination and practice of standard precaution among the students are commendable. However, there is need for improvement considering the level of HBV infection in Niger