Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian Dental Students of the standard hand washing technique: an interventional study

Background and purpose: Hand contamination is an important factor of infection transmission from dental staff to patients and vice versa. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hand washing training on dental students' knowledge, attitude, and clinical practice at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Dental School in 2010

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 volunteers studying in the 6[th], 7[th], 8[th], and 11[th] semesters in the Shahid Beheshti Dental School. A standardized questionnaire was used after confirmation of its content validity and reliability as the study tool. All students were assessed twice: once before [pretest] and once after the training [post-test] of hand washing techniques. The scores of pretest and post-test were compared and analyzed by paired T test and by repeated measured analysis of variance test [RMA] by means of SPSS-15 program

Results: A total of 100 students [38 boys and 62 girls] participated in this study. The difference between the mean scores of dental students' knowledge before [13.73 +/- 2.76] and after training [19.64 +/- 2.53] was found to be significant [p<0.001]. With regard to their attitudes, the mean scores related to before [25.21 +/- 2.31] and after training [26.63 +/- 2.08] were significantly different [p<0.001]. Meanwhile, the participants showed significantly improved hand washing technique after training [p<0.001]. RMA scores showed no significant difference between the male and female students in terms of their knowledge and attitudes, although the clinical practice of boys was better than that of girls [p=0.017]. However, the academic grades of the students [semesters] had no effect on their attitude, knowledge, and hand washing techniques

Conclusions: Training about hand washing techniques can improve the knowledge, attitude, and clinical practices of dental students, regardless of their grade

Differential expression of e-cadherin in lobular and ductal carcinoma of breast in an Iranian Cancer Care Hospital

To determine the role of E-cadherin in differentiating Breast lobular carcinoma from Breast ductal carcinoma in Iranian patients. A total of 80 malignant breast samples were reviewed by two pathologists before undergoing E-cad immunohistochemistry [IHC] staining. The results from IHC were compared with the results from the morphological study of the samples and they were then analyzed statistically. The normal ductal cells had strong complete homogenous membrane E-cadherin reactivity in all cases. The complete absence of E-cadherin membrane staining occurred in 14 out of 16 cases of Lobular breast carcinoma. The mean score of E-cadherin expression in ductal carcinoma was 191.35 with a CVof 104.39. In lobular carcinoma, the mean score of E-cadherin was 9.36 with a CV of 25.68. Using the Mann-Whiteny test, the difference between E-cadherin expression score in ductal and lobular carcinoma was statistically significant [P=0.0009]. E-cadherin expression is a useful diagnostic tool in distinguishing ductal from lobular carcinoma of breast

[Knowledge and attitudes of dentists about chemical disinfectants in Metropolitan Tehran in 2006]

Choosing appropriate disinfectants has become confusing for many dental professionals because of exaggerated manufacturer claims and misleading assays reported in the literature. Dentists should be aware of guidelines that assist in the selection of appropriate chemicals. To evaluate the level of knowledge and attitude of General Dental Practitioners [GDP] who work in private clinics in the Great Tehran in 2006 about chemical disinfectants. This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. 446 GDPs [317 [71.1%] male, 129 [28.9%] female] were selected by a random cluster sampling method and evaluated by using a questionnaire consisting of 20 knowledge and 14 attitude questions content validity was confirmed by 4 specialists in oral medicine and 6 general practitioners. Spearman-Brown's reliability for the questionnaire was 0.66. Chi-square test and SPSS-9 software were used for statistical analysis. The mean correct answers were 8.6 +/- 3.0 [95% Cl: 8.3 to 8.9, ranged from 2 to 17] of maximum 20. Using multilinear regression formula showed that only age had negative relation with correct answers. The most difficult question was concerned with provision of and of particulars. Knowledge level of GDPs about chemical Disinfection was low. It seems that traditional educational methods should be changed to new methods [Reform]. 60.5% of the population was keep to receive. Information from programs and 46% wished to use educational leaflets

[Knowledge and attitudes of dental students and academic staffs towards internet usage in dental training in Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences]

Since early 1990's, internet has been used to train medical and dental students and practitioners. The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes and believes of dental students and academic staffs towards internet usage in dental training in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study, 305 dental students and 79 academic staffs were evaluated. The questionnaire consisted of some questions to record the demographic data, along with 14 close-ended 3 open-ended and 1 composed questions. The scales of questions were nominal or ordinal, as indicated. Ninety-two percent of students had access to computer and 93.4% to internet. These rates were 98.7% and 97.5% respectively among academic staff. Both groups frequently accessed the internet at university and home. Only 15.1% of students and 6.3% of academic staff were unsatisfied regarding the accuracy of information on the internet about dentistry. The academic staffs were believed more strongly in favor of the possible usefulness of access to lecture notes on the dental school website than students. Nevertheless this group more strongly believed that this possibility may reduce student attendance at lecture. Access rate to internet is satisfactory among both dental students and their teachers. Also, both groups had relatively positive attitude towards using internet for dental training

[Halitosis]

Oral malodor also called halitosis is an unpleasant odor excelled from the nose or mouth by expiration. The prevalence of halitosis is reported up to 50% and the first healthcare workers who help this kind of patients are dental practitioners. Halitosis is a multifactorial disease divided to genuine halitosis, pseudohalitosis, and halitophobia. The most common cause of halitosis is oral cavity [80-90%]. The oral etiologies of halitosis are xerostomia, periodontal diseases, mucosal ulcers, tongue coating, dental implants, and oral infections.If the patient believes to have halitosis, it is called pseudohalitosis, and if the treatment for genuine or pseudohalitosis is accomplished but the patient insists to have it, it is called halitophobia. The anaerobic gram-negative bacteria are the major factor of halitosis. The most appropriate methods to detect and measure oral malodor are organoleptic based on the examiner's perception of mouth odor, gas chromatography, and sulphide monitoring. Mechanical oral hygiene techniques such as proper use of mouth brushes, dental flosses and tongue brushes should be instructed to patients. They should rather to put fibrous foods in their daily diet and drink large amounts of water and keep their dentures clean. Antiseptic mouth washes are considered as a supplementary method to decrease oral malodor, and chlorhexidine is the most effective one

[Knowledge and attitudes of Tehran high schools [district 1] about HIV, 2006]

HIV/AIDS has been known as the most dangerous disease of the century. Moreover, special attention has been paid to teenagers who are more likely to be engaged in the AIDS complications. The present study aimed to evaluate the awareness and attitude of the students of the high schools at the north [district 1] of Tehran. In this cross -sectional study, a double stage random sampling was used and 640 students [357 girls, 283 boys] were evaluated. They were asked to complete an NCHS questionnaire consisting of 22 questions on awareness, 6 questions on attitude and 2 extra questions for obtaining information on AIDS. SPSS software, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the data. The level of difficulty of more than half of the questions [13] was higher than 80%. A question from pathogenesis section of the questionnaire was found to be the most difficult one which had been answered correctly by only 24% of the subjects. The easiest question correctly answered by 96.6% belonged to etiology. Difficulty of coefficiency for all the questions of the means of transmission was higher than 80%. In the prevention section, half of the subjects were able to answer 5 questions out of 7, correctly. The least-aware fact was the availability of some drugs which enhance survival time of the patients. Asked to make a self-assessment in attitude section, 59% of the subjects placed themselves at the medium level. The most popular source of awareness was found to be TV and the least were hospitals and clinics. The results furnish an evidence of a satisfactory level of awareness of the subjects. The students had fear of infection, and most of them believed that the dentists are not able to diagnose the disease. With increasing the awareness, the fear and the anxiety of HIV could be reduced

[Knowledge and attitude of Tehran high school students on HIV/AIDS, 2005]

Due to lack of access to information regarding AIDS and its prevention methods, this study assessed the knowledge and attitude of high school students in districts 6 and II in Tehran -2005. In this cross-sectional study, 990 high school students selected by multi-step random sampling method were evaluated by NCHS questionnaire including 22 queries about knowledge and the remainder regarding attitude. Data were analyzed by Stepwise multivariable regression, Student's T and Mann - whitney tests. Nine hundred and ninety individuals [538 males and 452 females] participated in the study. 22.5% answered correctly to 5 out of 7 questions concerning the ways not resulting to transmission the disease. The least knowledge was related to the lack of possibility of disease transmission through insect bite. Regarding treatment modalities of AIDS, the students had few information about medications prescribed to prolong thc survival time of the patients. 53.5% emphasized the necessity for AIDS screening like routine tests. 77% believed that they were able to protect themselves against HIV infection. 66.6% of subjects were afraid of being affected by the disease. The most popular source of awareness was found to he TV and the least one was radio. The knowledge of high school students of districts 6 and 11 of Tehran students regarding HIV infection was good. Meanwhile pronmtion from first level to higher levels of high school correlates to increased awareness

Comparison of two antimicrobial susceptibility tests, disk diffusion and E-test for determining oxacillin and vancomycin susceptibility

Staphylococcus aureus [S. aureus] is an important cause of nosocomial infections while recently resistance to oxacillin and vancomycin have been noted in literature. We studied 100 isolates of S. aureus from Emam Khomeini hospital by two antimicrobial susceptibility tests [AST]; disk diffusion test [DDT] and E-test to determine the resistance to oxacillin [according to NCCLS comment] and vancomycin. There were no resistant S. aureus to vancomycin neither in DDT nor in E-test, however, there were 42% oxacillin-resistance S. aureus in both techniques. The results showed high prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] in Emam Khomeini hospital. The highest S. aureus infection detected from internal wards [26%], heart surgery ward [23%], sampling sites in wound [26%], surgical incision [20%], blood culture [17%] and prosthetic sites [14%]. We should pay further attention to high risk wards and sites to control hospital infections. According to our results, there was a high coincidence between two AST methods

Comparative study of touch cytology and brush cytology with gastic biopsy and urease test for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

Detection of H. pylori, the widely distributed etiologic agent of gastro-duodenal inflammation, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer, is easy and available. In this study, 100 patients who visited endoscopy section of Imam Khomeini Hospital or private clinic in 2001 were studied for gastric cytology [brushing and touch preparation] and biopsy. Of 100 studied patients, 31 patients [31%] had abnormal endoscopy, including gastritis in 78%. Brushing was positive in 43 [43%] patients, touch preparation in 52 [52%], rapid urease test [RUT] in 53% and biopsy in 54[54%] of patients. Sensitivity of brush and touch cytology were 79.6% and96.3%, respectively. Agreement between brush and touch cytology was 78.1%. According to of Mc-Nemar test they had no concordance. Sensitivity of RUT was 98.1%. Agreement between touch cytology and biopsy was 96% and according to Mc-Nemar test they showed concordance

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the esophagus [case report]

The authors reported a case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of esophagus, which is a rare primary carcinoma of the esophagus, characterized by a diffuse mixture of squamous and mucin-secreting glandular carcinoma cells. The patient was a 54-year-old man with a five-month history of dysphagia and endoscopic biopsy diagnosis of scc. The patient underwent a curative esophagectomy with a regional lymph node dissection. Histopathologic and histochemical study of specimen showed mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the esophagus

Long term evaluation of macroscopic characteristics of some Iranian and foreign toothbrushes before and after use

The increasing use of foreign toothbrushes along with their higher prices in comparison with Iranian toothbrushes has made us to perform this study in order to evaluate macroscopic characteristics of ten types of toothbrushes Laleh, Mina, Jarda, Jourdan, AlFalij, Dr.Best, Oral-B, Butler and Crest before and after 1, 2 and 3 months using. This experimental study was carried out on 240 students [12 years old girls], of Shahid Beheshti school with observation and questionnaire as its technique. The students were divided to 10 groups according to 10 kinds of toothbrushes. They used the toothbrushes for 1,2 and 3 months. Finally, the toothbrushes were gathered and their bristles were evaluated. Tests [Analysis of variance, Tukey and chi square] showed that all the toothbrushes except of Laleh, Mina and Oral-B were in the range of standard. Laleh and Mina toothbrushes just in the bristle-less edge and Oral-B in the size of toothbrush head were out of standard range. There was a significant difference between the end roundness of different toothbrushes and between the changes of bristles after 1, 2, 3 month application [P<0.001]. Satisfaction of using and end roundness among foreign toothbrushes was more than Iranian toothbrushes

relationship between halitosis and gram-negative anaerobic bacteria in oral cavity

To assess the association of halitosis and gram-negative anaerobic bacteria in oral cavity. The study was analytical and case control in which thirty-four patients with halitosis and 27 normal controls, referred to Department of Oral Medicine in Shahid Beheshti Dental School, have been visited by two dentists and studied microbiologically. Samples for micribiological studies were taken from the base of the tongue by a wooden instrument and immediately transported to liquid thioglycollate medium. The samples were cultured in nutrient culture medium, blood agar, MacConkey agar and chocolate agar after incubation at 37°C for 24 hours in anaerobic jar. Appropriate laboratory tests, such as catalase, coagulase, manitol, gellatinase, oxidase and DNase, were used to make differential diagnosis of cultured bacteria. The results were analyzed, using chi square test, Fisher's exact test, T test and Mann-Whitney U test. All tests were 2-tailed with alpha set at 0.05. Obligate anaerobic bacteria were cultured in 24 of the cases [%70.1] and 11 of the controls [%40.7]. This difference was significant [p=0.036, OR=3.5]. Thirty-one cases [%91.2] and 24 controls [%88.9] were cultured-positive for either facultative or obligate anaerobic bacteria [p=ns, OR=1.3]. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups according to cultured-positive individuals for fusobacterium, fusiform bacillus prevotella, veillonella, haemophilus, spirillum and kingella, but tendency to difference for bacteroides [p=0.083, OR=3.3] and Niesseria [p=0.084, OR=0.4]. There is an association between halitosis with obligate anaerobic bacteria