Retrospective Study on the Flow and Characteristics of Dental Emergency Patients in Chosun University Hospital

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to assess the importance of proper treatment timing for dental emergency patients by characterizing current patient care in the emergency room. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 3,211 patients who visited the Chosun University Hospital's dental emergency department (Gwangju, Korea) was conducted from January 1, 2011 to May 31, 2014. Information regarding age, gender, onset date, main causes, and diagnoses were collected and analyzed. The main causes were divided into six categories: assault, household/play, sports, traffic, work, and others. RESULT: Emergency visits were more common for men (69%), and the ratio of males to females was 2.2:1 On average, the major cause was household/play (49.8%), followed by others (18.9%), traffic (16.6%), assault (9.1%), sports (2.9%), and work (2.6%). The most frequent diagnosis on average was dental trauma with 82.4%, followed by infection (10.7%), others (4.7%), and bleeding (2.2%). CONCLUSION: The main reasons for visits to the dental emergency department are dental trauma, dental infection, bleeding, and others. The most frequent reason for dental emergency patients to visit the emergency department was dental trauma (82.4%).

Comparison of Bacterial Counts on the Hand Surface Based on Various Hand Washing Methods

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of different methods of hand washing by counting the number of bacteria on the hand surface. Eighteen clinicians were chosen and divided into three groups, consisting of six clinicians each. Culturing of the right raw palms of all individuals was performed. Individuals in the control group washed hands for 5 seconds with antimicrobial soap. Group 1 washed their hands for 10 seconds with antimicrobial soap. Group 2 washed with an instant alcohol-based hand sanitizer. After the respective washes, re-culturing of the right raw palm was done for each member of all groups. The colony-forming units (CFU) were calculated at each time point, and the reduction rate of CFU among the three groups were statistically evaluated using student t-test. All groups showed a significant decrease in CFU, according to the time applied (P<0.01). In addition, the reduction rate of CFU between the groups were statistically evaluated with ANOVA (P<0.01). It showed statistically difference between the control group and group 1, control group and group 2. The present study confirmed that the hand washing method with antimicrobial soap for 10 seconds and hand sanitizer, including alcohol, were excellent for decreasing the number of bacteria on the hand surface.

Effect of saline irrigation used in combination with antimicrobial agents on salivary bacterial counts

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of mechanical irrigation in combination with mouthwash of antimicrobial agents on salivary bacterial counts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed with a randomized study employing a panel of 40 healthy volunteers (20 males and 20 females) between the age of 26 and 32 years. Volunteers were randomly put in one of four treatment groups. In the first group, 0.2 mL of non-stimulatory saliva was collected from every subjective person. Then, saliva was collected after rinsing with chlorhexidine (CHX) for 1 minute. In the second group, non-stimulatory saliva was collected, and then saliva was collected after rinsing with CHX and irrigation with saline. In the third and fourth groups, the same procedures as the first and second groups were performed with povidone iodine (PVI) instead of CHX. All of these samples were cultured for 48 hours aerobically. The reduction rates of colony-forming units (CFU) were calculated for each group. The reduction rate between each group was tested statistically using student t-test. RESULTS: Using CHX in combination with saline irrigation showed a significant decrease of the salivary bacterial CFU when compared with only using CHX.(P0.01) CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the CHX or PVI used with saline irrigation made the salivary bacterial counts reduced more than when CHX or PVI was used alone as an oral antiseptic agent.

The Clinico-Statisitical Analysis of Ameloblastoma of Mandible