Awareness, Knowledge and Attitude Towards Pre-Hospital Tooth Avulsion Care Among Primary School Teachers in BeninCity, Nigeria

Traumatic tooth avulsion presents a challenge with regards to its prompt intervention as the ultimate outcome of an avulsed tooth that occurred in any child is dependent on appropriate emergency interventions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the awareness, level of knowledge and attitude towards pre-hospital tooth avulsion care among primary school teachers in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among the teachers to assess their level of awareness of tooth avulsion, knowledge and attitude towards pre-hospital care of avulsed tooth. The data generated were analyzed using the SPSS for windows 23.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, USA). The responses were tabulated and expressed as frequency and percentages. Multivariate analysis was used to correct confounding variables. The level of significance was set p< 0.05. Three hundred and twenty four (324) teachers returned their answered questionnaires. Majority of the teachers were females (64.2%) and were between the ages of 41 ­ 50 years. Most (90.7%) of the teachers were not conversant with the dental terminology "tooth avulsion". Approximately forty-four percent (43.8%) of the teachers had experienced at least a case of tooth avulsion during their service period. Two hundred and sixty-six (82.1%) of teachers had never received any instruction on how to manage avulsed tooth. only 13 (4.0%) of the respondents were aware of a storage/transport media and how to preserve an avulsed tooth. On the attitude of teachers on pre-hospital care of an avulsed tooth; when asked what will they do in a case of tooth avulsion involving their pupil, one hundred and ninety (58.6%) erroneously reported they will do nothing, 33(10.2%) respondents said they will call the child's parents, none seeing the need to contact the nearest dental clinic. Majority of primary school teachers in Benin City, Nigeria has very inadequate knowledge regarding emergency management of tooth avulsion. They have limited knowledge regarding the basic tenets of first aid management of tooth avulsion whenever it occurs. Seminars and practical workshop on dental emergency should be organized for teachers and first aid training added to their curriculum

Effect of bone fracture(s) on blood lead levels from retained lead pellets in craniomaxillofacial region.

BACKGROUND: Missile-related blood lead elevations and toxicity are well documented in the literature but reports on its associated risk factor(s) are few. OBJECTIVE: To determine if bone fracture(s) contribute to an elevated lead blood level. METHOD: This is a prospective study of subjects with retained pellets in the craniomaxillofacial region following gunshot injuries who met the inclusion criteria. Blood samples were collected from the test subjects and their corresponding control subjects via venipuncture. Collected blood samples were used for blood lead measurement by the wet method of the atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Using appropriate statistical tests, p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total number of 48 subjects were studied. The mean blood lead levels (BLLs) of the study population were 6.88 ± 1.17 µg/dl while that of the control group was 1.52 ± 0.87 µg/dl and the mean difference was statistically significant (p = 0.03). The mean and standard deviation of BLL of subjects with fractures were 4.77 ± 0.9, 5.08 ± 1.0, and 5.22 ± 1.0 µg/dl at days 3, 21, and 42 postinjury, respectively, while for those without bone fractures were 3.07 ± 1.4, 3.70 ± 0.8, and 4.33 ± 1.7 µg/dl. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Subjects with bone fractures were found to have higher BLLs than those without bone fractures, where pellets were retained in their bodies.

Blood lead concentrations as a result of retained lead pellets in the craniomaxillofacial region in Benin City, Nigeria.

Patients who survive gunshot wounds often retain pellets in their bodies, which cause delayed morbidity from lead poisoning, and even death. Our aim was to find out whether there is a high concentration of lead in the blood of patients who have asymptomatic retention of lead pellets in the craniomaxillofacial region. We prospectively studied 28 patients who were admitted to our hospital with gunshot injuries to the region, and 28 control subjects. Each was originally recruited three days after injury. The control subjects were chosen from people who lived in the same household or worked in the same place as the patients. Any previous exposure to lead was excluded. Blood samples were collected three days and three months after injury and analysed for the presence of lead by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean (SD) age for both patients and control subjects was 33 (12) years. The mean (SD) and range of concentrations of lead in patients three days after injury was 0.11 (0.07), range 0.01-0.32µmol/L, while those of the control subjects were 0.03 (0.02) and 0-0.06, respectively. Three months after injury, the mean (SD) and range of concentrations of the patients were 0.30 (0.11) and 0.12-0.59µmol/L, while those of the control subjects were 0-1.25 and 0.12 (0.006) µmol/L, respectively (p= 0.000). The study showed a higher mean blood lead concentration in patients with gunshot injuries than in control subjects, but lower than the threshold values published by the Centers for Disease Control/Occupational Health and Safety Administration in the United States.

Comparing the 810nm diode laser with conventional surgery in orthodontic soft tissue procedures.

AIM: To compare the use of the 810nm diode laser with conventional surgery in the management of soft tissue mucogingival problems associated with orthodontic treatment. METHODS: Orthodontic patients requiring different soft tissue surgical procedures were randomly assigned to receive conventional surgery or soft tissue diode laser, (wavelength 810 nm). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Parameters documented include the type of anaesthesia used, intra and post operative pain, bleeding, the use of scalpel and sutures. The chi-squared test was used to test for significance at 95% confidence level. Probability values (p-values) less than 0.05 were regarded as significant. RESULTS: Only 2(16.7%) of the procedures carried out with the soft tissue laser required infiltration anaesthesia compared to 10 (90.9%) with conventional surgery and this was significant (P<0.001). Post operative pain was significantly reduced in all cases treated with the diode laser (P<0.001). There was also a significant difference (P<0.05) in post operative bleeding in all cases treated with the diode laser. No sutures were used in all soft tissue cases managed with the diode laser and this was significant (P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in treatment time in the use of the laser compared with conventional surgery. CONCLUSION: Orthodontic patients treated with the diode laser required less infiltration anaesthesia, had reduced bleeding during and after surgery, rapid postoperative haemostasis, elimination of the need for sutures and an improved postoperative comfort and healing.