Prevalence and severity of temporomandibular disorders [TMD] in undergraduate medical students using Fonseca's questionnaire

Objective was to assess the prevalence and severity of TMD in undergraduate medical students. It was a cross sectional descriptive study based on Fonseca's Questionnaire. It was conducted in four medical disciplines [Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and Physical therapy] of The University of Faisalabad. All study participants were full time students and were females. Self-reported questionnaire was distributed among students and they were given detailed explanation to fill it. After collection of forms, scoring was done according to given standard method and data was entered in SPSS and statistical test of Chi-squared was applied. One hundred and thirty seven [137] students were enrolled and completed questionnaire of the study. 11[7.9%] students were observed with No TMD, 62[44.3%] with mild TMD, 62[44.3%] with moderate TMD and 5[3.6%] students with severe TMD [Fig 1]. Difference among age groups was significant [p?0.047] for three questions [Q2, Q, 5, Q10] There was no statistically significant difference regarding prevalence of TMD among all four disciplines of students. Regarding severity of TMD, it was observed that MBBS students were more in category of severe TMD as compared to other disciplines. It was concluded that the mean level of stress and TMD is almost equivalent in different disciplines of professional education with a variation in its level of severity which is 2 times more in MBBS students as compared to other students. There was no significant difference regarding prevalence of TMD in four groups of study

Infection control practices among dental practitioners of Lahore, Pakistan

To observe adoption of infection control measures among dental practitioners. A cross-sectional study based on a convenient sampling technique was conducted. Dental Practitioners in each subdivision [towns] of the Lahore, Pakistan were approached through 15 dental hygiene students to fill a close ended structured questionnaire. Study was conducted during 1[st] March-15 March 2005. Chi square test was applied with a significance level of p<0.05. Four hundred dental practices were visited and response rate of 83.25% was obtained. 62.76% surgeries were found being run by un-qualified dental practitioners and 37.23% by qualified dentists. 94.35% qualified practitioners used gloves as compared to only 28.2% of the un-qualified practitioners and a high percentage of qualified practitioners used gloves for every patients compared to their un-qualified counter parts [85.48% and 14.35%] respectively. 97.5% qualified practitioners and 80.3% of the un-qualified dentists used face masks. 85.1% of un-qualified and 98.3% of the qualified dental practitioners used fresh set of instruments for each patient. Use of sterilization methods including disinfectants, autoclaving of instruments was higher in qualified practitioners. Infection control measures among qualified and non-qualified practitioners were statistically significant. [p= 0.000] A poor level of infection control practice was observed in dental practices run by un-qualified practitioners. Majority of qualified dentists were observing infection control measures. There is need for further education and training for all the dental practitioners

Self-reported oral health related knowledge, attitude and practices among medical doctors of Lahore, Pakistan- a pilot study

Objective of this study was to investigate oral health-related knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical doctors of Lahore, Pakistan. Three hundred sixty medical doctors were approached consecutively, through undergraduate students of a dental college, at their workplaces in Lahore, Pakistan and self-reported questionnaires were filled. Response rate was 100%. Eight four percent completely filled questionnaires' were analyzed. Ninety nine percent subjects brushed their teeth, 55% showed twice a day frequency; 82% used soft/medium textured brushed and 95% changed brushes in 4-6 months period, 98.7% subjects used toothpastes, 73.1% knew how to brush, 91.9% professionals did not complain of foul breath, 54% had dental hypersensitivity, 14.5% reported pain in teeth, 34.2% had bleeding gums and 76.1% had visited a dentist. Only 4.70% males were smokers. Significant association [p=0.05] was found for use of tooth brush, brushing frequency and timing of brushing, brush change, use of mouth wash with gender; complaint of bad breath with education; sensitivity of teeth with income groups; bleeding gums, and visit to a dentist with education and income; and smokers with gender, education and income group. All other variables showed no statistical significance with respect to gender, education and income levels. Medical doctors were better in their oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices which were associated with education and socio-economic status