Comparison of articaine and lignocaine for uncomplicated maxillary exodontia

To compare single buccal articaine injection versus conventional lignocaine buccal and palatal injections for uncomplicated maxillary tooth extractions. Single blinded randomized control trial. The outpatient department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi, from February to September 2011. Patients aged 20 - 60 years under simple extraction in the maxillary arch were included in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups-A and B toss method. Maxillary teeth were divided into three groups; group-1 [posterior teeth] including first, second and third molars on either side, group-2 [middle teeth] including the premolars and group-3 [anterior teeth] including incisors and canines. Group-A [study group] received buccal infiltration of 4% articaine with 1:200,000 adrenaline and group-B [control group] received buccal and palatal infiltration of 2% lignocaine/HCl with 1:100,000 adrenaline. Faces Pain Scale [FPS] and a Visual Analogue Score [VAS] was used for objective and subjective assessment of per operative pain respectively. A total of 194 patients were included in the study. Group-A comprised of 100 patients while group-B consisted of 94 patients. The mean age of the total sample was 41.12 +/- 13.6 years. Statistically significant difference was found for the VAS scores of anteriors [p=0.9], premolars [p=0.2] and molars [p=0.2] for groups A and B. The FPS scores for both groups were also statistically insignificant [p=0.864]. Buccal infiltration with a single articaine injection and lignocaine buccal and palatal infiltration were equally effective for maxillary exodontia

Prevalence of stress and burnout among dentists of Rawalpindi and Islamabad

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of stress and burnout among dental practitioners of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It was a cross-sectional study and was conducted in six dental institutes of Rawalpindi and Islamabad from February to March 2012. A self-administered questionnaire, containing 10 item version of Perceived Stress Scale [PSS], 22 item Maslach Burnout Inventory Survey [MBI] and socio-demographic data were used to determine the prevalence of stress and burnout among dentists. Out of 150 dentists 129 completed their questionnaire with a response rate of 86%. Among them 24 [18.6%] dentists were specialists while 105 [81.4%] did not have any post-graduation qualification. Fifty dentists [38.8%] were found to be severely stressed, 53 [41.1%] were moderately stressed while 26 [20.2%] were not stressed at all. Mean PSS score reported was higher than average [17.8 + 6.2]. On MBI, 61 dentists showed moderate or high emotional exhaustion [18.6%], 56 showed moderate or high depersonalization [43.4%] and 41 showed low personal accomplishment [31.8%]. Mean scores of emotional exhaustion [17.8+11.2], depersonalization [6.1+5.9] and reduced personal accomplishment [34.2 + 9.7] were in moderate ranges. Female dentists and dentists working less than 40 hours per week had lower levels of burnout [lesser depersonalization score, p < 0.05]. Dental practitioners working in institutes of Rawalpindi and Islamabad were subjected to various levels of stress and burnout. Future research needs to focus on its underlying reasons and on stress coping strategies