Knowledge of dentists about epilepsy and their attitude toward the dental treatment of epileptic patients: a survey of dentists in Peshawar - Pakistan

The relationship of epilepsy with society, knowledge of people, attitude, and how may it affect the access of people with epilepsy to dental care. A questionnaire that explored facts about the knowledge, attitude and willingness to provide dental care to people with epilepsy was delivered to 129 dentists personally in the city of Peshawar [KPK], Pakistan. Of the 129 respondents, 10.9% were general dentists. Knowledge was patchy about the epidemiology, causes, treatment and recognition of epilepsy. 44% of dentists did not think that they could safely treat patient of epilepsy in their offices. Lack of knowledge and negative attitude towards epilepsy may affect the access to dental care for people with epilepsy

Effect of acquired knowledge on the status of caries in dental undergraduate students

The aim of this research was to study the evolution of dental health of dental students during their academic training and to assess the extent to which the knowledge acquired was reflected in their own dental care. A cross sectional survey was carried out in a Dental College of Lahore. The sample was selected randomly choosing 40 students from each year with an age range between 18 and 24 years. The data for this study were collected using a pre-tested self- administered questionnaire and was considered mandatory for all participants to fill out. All participants were clinically examined. Their oral cavity was thoroughly checked for any ongoing disease process and a DMFT chart was filled accordingly. Data entry and analysis was done using the IBM SPSS version 20. Final sample size was 160 [Females: 75.6% / males: 24.4%]. The highest frequency of females and males was observed in 3rd year and 1st year respectively Frequency distribution and Chi-Square tests of significance were performed. High levels of DMF were not that evident. Almost 30% [48] students had .00 DMF and 23% [37] had 1.00 DMF [p<0.05]. Only a small number of students were found using non-fluoridated toothpaste [p< 0.01]. Chi-square Analysis revealed a significant relations between the year of study and DMFT of the students [p<0.05] along with Gender and age as well as year of study and age [p<0.01]

Effect of bleaching on shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets

The purpose of this in vitro study was to determine the effect of bleaching on shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets. This randomized control trial was performed over a period of 6 months in the department of orthodontics, de,Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore. A total of one hundred and forty extracted premolar teeth were included which were further divided into two groups. Group A was assigned as control group without bleaching and Group B as study group with bleaching. The teeth in both groups were embedded individually in acrylic placed in rubber moulds using a mounting jig so that the labial surfaces would be parallel to the applied force during the shear test. Group B was bleached with Pola office advanced tooth whitening system and were stored in a solution of 0.9% saline till they were bonded. The bonding process for both groups was then performed in a standard manner. After bonding bracket was properly positioned on its respective tooth. An occluso-gingival load was applied to the bracket producing a shear force at the bracket tooth interface using a computerized shear bonding testing machine. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the shear bond strength of unbleached teeth and that of bleached teeth following a two weeks interval after bleaching

shear bond strength of glass ionomer root canal sealer to elephant tusk dentine conditioned with common endodontic irrigants

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the shear bond strength of glass ionomer sealer to dentine exposed to common endodontic irrigants in both well and poorly prepared dentine surface. In the methodology four groups of elephant dentine sample were used. Each group was well cleaned and prepared with different irrigants for the effective removal of smear layer. One group was treated with distilled water with smear layer retained. All the dentine used for the experiment was cut in form of disks of about 2.4mm thickness with a hole in the centre and subjected to root canal preparation. All the prepared dentine samples were filled with Ketac-Cem sealer and metal pin was inserted. The shear bond strength of metal pin and sealer was tested using Instron universal testing machine. The observations of bond strength in the four sample groups were analysed statistically through ANOVA test. It was found statistically that shear bond strength with phosphoric acid treated samples was quite higher than the other samples

Smear layer and sealing ability of three root canal sealers

The purpose of this study was to determine the sealing ability of three individual sealers and to compare the sealing ability of these sealers in the presence and absence of smear layer. Total of sixty single rooted mandibular first premolar teeth were used. The crowns were removed at the cemento-enamel junction and roots prepared to # 35 K-file. The teeth were randomly divided into two equal groups A and B. The smear layer was removed from group B with EDTA [17%] and NaOCl [5.25%] but it was not removed in group A. Group A was then divided into three sub-groups, Al, A2 and A3. Group B was also divided into three sub-groups, Bl, B2 and B3. Each sub-group consisted of 10 specimens. In sub-groups Al andBl, AH Plus sealer, in sub-groups A2 and B2, Ketac-endo sealer and in sub-groups A3 and B3, Roth sealer was used and obturated withguttapercha using lateral condensation technique. After storage in 100% humidity at 37°C for one week, the root surfaces were coated with nail polish [except at the apex] and suspended in 2% methylene blue dye solution for one week. The roots were sectioned logitudinally to determine the following mean levels of dye penetration, Al -2.675 mm, Bl -2.092mm,A2-2.346mmB2endo-4.520mm,A3-4.929mm,B3-3.372mm.This study has illustrated that Ketac-Endo sealer provides significantly better seal in the presence of smear layer than in the absence of smear layer. Moreover it gave better seal than Roth 801 sealer in the presence of smear layer