Consumption of acidic drinks, knowledge and concern about dental erosive wear in Norwegian high school students.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the present study were to assess the consumption of acidic beverages, knowledge and concern about preventing dental erosive wear, and to examine potential associations between these variables, in a sample of high school students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey measuring acidic beverage consumption, knowledge and concern about erosive tooth wear was conducted at 13 high schools in Rogaland county, Norway. RESULTS: Of the 850 students who completed the questionnaire, 26% reported that they drink acidic beverages every day. There were significant gender differences for the consumption of acidic drinks. The survey also demonstrated that a high proportion of students lacks basic knowledge of what erosive tooth wear is, and that this lack of knowledge is associated with a more frequent intake of acidic beverages. However, students who responded that they are concerned about preventing dental erosive wear reported that they drink soft drinks and energy drinks less frequently than students who are not concerned about this. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study support assumptions about a lack of knowledge about dental erosive wear in youth, and that this lack of knowledge is associated with a more frequent intake of acidic drinks.

Help we are sinking! Stories from Norwegian dispatch centers on decision-making in unfamiliar and ambiguous situations.

The aim of this exploratory case study was to examine whether sensemaking processes may influence decision-making of emergency call center dispatchers when dealing with maritime crises. This article focuses on sensemaking and decision-making in an emergency services context using Norwegian operators as a case and reports on data collected from five focus-group interviews with emergency dispatchers at five different locations. Each focus group consisted of three dispatchers, representing the three main Norwegian emergency response dispatch centers: police, fire and rescue, and the Emergency Medical Communication Centre (AMK). The study's purpose was to see whether choices made when responding to maritime crisis calls are influenced by sensemaking processes, and whether these processes may have influenced the dispatcher's choice of which search and rescue resources to contact. The study found that the sensemaking processes that occurred prior to the decision-making might have been influenced by the dispatcher's past experiences, in particular, experiences from land-based operations. The findings also suggested that the emergency dispatchers made decisions based on intuitive sensemaking, as they were perceived pressed on time and experienced maritime crisis in a more transboundary nature than everyday land-based emergencies. The effects of sensemaking processes and intuitive decision-making shown in this study are of possible relevance to emergency services educators and managers outside a Norwegian framework.