Assessment of the existing dental education environment at a dental teaching institution

Introduction: An important aspect of creating a competent medical practitioner is the teaching-learning environment that shapes the mentality and instigates an urge among the students to learn. To facilitate a motivating learning setup, the faculty members need to inadvertently establish a successful and safe learning environment which is extensively feasible, given that the faculty gets to control their own style of teaching. A lot of research focuses on student's perception of the learning environment, seldom studies have reported the teacher's perspective. This present study focuses on the teacher's side of the story regarding the current scenario of the workplace that is one of the essential factors to alter the approach toward andragogy. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out using the Assessment of Medical Education Environment by Teachers (AMEET) questionnaire. The AMEET questionnaire was administered to 50 staff members at MA Rangoonwala College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Pune. All the participants were assured of confidentiality of their personal details and they all signed a written informed consent before participating in the study. Results: Majority of the participants had a positive attitude which was seen more in the seniors compared to the juniors. The teacher's perception of teaching is that there needs to be a greater emphasis on what the student learns rather than what the teacher does. Junior staff members felt that students do not prepare and come for classes nor are the expected outcomes clear to them. Assignments are also a task for the students that are never on time. Conclusion: It was observed that more senior faculties were positive toward the existing education environment. In addition, even though opportunities are available for the staff as well as students for upgrading and imbibing newer information, they were not being benefitted by the same due to underutilization.

Granular cell ameloblastoma: A rare case report and review of literature

Ameloblastoma is a benign locally aggressive type of odontogenic tumor derived exclusively from the epithelium. Histologically, ameloblastoma is classified into many variants, of which granular cell ameloblastoma (GCA) is a rare type, characterized by nest of large eosinophilic granular cells. This article describes a case of GCA in a 50-year-old female patient with clinical, radiological, and histological features along with a systematic review of the literature.

Actinomycotic osteomyelitis of palate masquerading periapical pathology: A rare case report

Osteomyelitis is an infection that is challenging to manage due to the poor vascularization of bone that favors the proliferation of microorganisms. We report a case of osteomyelitis occurring in endodontically treated teeth in the maxillary palatal region. Clinically and radiographically, it was initially diagnosed as osteomyelitis and was treated accordingly with antibiotics for 1 year with no reported healing. Later, biopsy was done and the findings were consistent with that of chronic osteomyelitis in association with infection by Actinomyces organisms. Thus, the case highlights the rare occurrence of actinomycotic osteomyelitis in maxilla and the importance of biopsy and histopathology which will help in correct diagnosis and rapid resolution through appropriate antibiotic therapy.