Comparison of knowledge, awareness, and behaviors toward oral cancer among dental students and dentists: an online cross-sectional questionnaire in Türkiye.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional online questionnaire-based study evaluated the knowledge, awareness, and behaviors of dentists and senior dental students regarding oral cancer (OC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 168 dentists and senior dental students who had completed all theoretical educations and clinical practices. An online survey was administered to all participants to assess their awareness of the risk factors for OC, clinical knowledge, and behaviors. The participants' demographic characteristics and knowledge of OC were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the participants, 48.8% were female and 51.2% were male. Their mean age was 27.04 ± 5.56 years (range: 21-51). In addition, 59.5% were dentists, and 40.5% were senior dental students. The dentists' mean time since graduation was 6.38 ± 5.64 years (range: 1-27). Routine oral mucosa examination for OC was significantly more frequent among the dentists than the senior dental students (p < 0.05). Among all participants, 33% of dentists and 51.5% of senior dental students had poor knowledge of OC-related or possibly predisposing factors. Routine evaluation of OC-related and predisposing risk factors, including human papillomavirus infection, smoking, alcohol use, trauma-related non-healing oral lesions caused by long-term incompatible prostheses, and poor oral hygiene, was significantly more frequent among the dentists than the senior dental students (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Educating dental students about a more comprehensive oral examination and early diagnosis of OC would help overcome the current lack of adequate knowledge and attitudes in OC prevention and early detection. A core curriculum compatible with the global standards on OC should be provided to dental students.

Detection and classification of COVID-19 by using faster R-CNN and mask R-CNN on CT images.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has a devastating impact on people's daily lives and healthcare systems. The rapid spread of this virus should be stopped by early detection of infected patients through efficient screening. Artificial intelligence techniques are used for accurate disease detection in computed tomography (CT) images. This article aims to develop a process that can accurately diagnose COVID-19 using deep learning techniques on CT images. Using CT images collected from Yozgat Bozok University, the presented method begins with the creation of an original dataset, which includes 4000 CT images. The faster R-CNN and mask R-CNN methods are presented for this purpose in order to train and test the dataset to categorize patients with COVID-19 and pneumonia infections. In this study, the results are compared using VGG-16 for faster R-CNN model and ResNet-50 and ResNet-101 backbones for mask R-CNN. The faster R-CNN model used in the study has an accuracy rate of 93.86%, and the ROI (region of interest) classification loss is 0.061 per ROI. At the conclusion of the final training, the mask R-CNN model generates mAP (mean average precision) values for ResNet-50 and ResNet-101, respectively, of 97.72% and 95.65%. The results for five folds are obtained by applying the cross-validation to the methods used. With training, our model performs better than the industry standard baselines and can help with automated COVID-19 severity quantification in CT images.

Comparison of the Efficiacy of Intra-Articular Injection of Liquid Platelet-Rich Fibrin and Hyaluronic Acid After in Conjunction With Arthrocentesis for the Treatment of Internal Temporomandibular Joint Derangements.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of intra-articular injection of liquid platelet-rich fibrin (I-PRF) versus hyaluronic acid (HA) following arthrocentesis in patients suffering from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction. A total of 69 patients with internal TMJ derangement were enrolled in this retrospective, matched cohort study. A total of 47 included patients (67 joints) were divided into 3 groups as follows: 16 participants in the arthrocentesis-only group; 14 patients in the arthrocentesis plus HA injection group (A+HA); and 17 participants in the arthrocentesis plus I-PRF injection group (A+I-PRF). The 2 outcome variables were TMJ pain and maximal mouth opening (MMO) which were evaluated up to 12 months postoperatively. The data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon sign test, Fisher exact test, and the χ test. Statistically significant decreases in pain scores and increases in MMO values were observed in all 3 groups during the 12 months of follow-up. The significant decrease in pain values was shown in the A+I-PRF group as compared with the A+HA group at 9 months postoperatively. MMO values in the A+I-PRF group were significantly higher than in the A+HA group at 9 and 12 months postoperatively. All conventional treatment procedures can provide pain reduction and improvement to MMO. However, intraarticular injections of I-PRF in combination with arthrocentesis showed superior performance in terms of the gradual improvement in pain alleviation and range of mouth opening.

Effects of different polyvinylpyrrolidone iodine concentrations on trismus and swelling following third molar surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of different povidone iodine concentrations for the management of postoperative pain and swelling following mandibular third molar surgery. METHODS: The randomised, prospective, double-blind and controlled study was conducted from October 2016 to January 2018 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Biruni University, Istanbul, Turkey, and comprised individuals aged 18-30 years who underwent surgical removal of pathology-free completely unerrupted mandibular lower third molars. The participants were randomly assigned to four groups: Group I had saline-only controls, Group II was given 0.5% concentration of povidone iodine, Group III had 1% concentration of povidone iodine, and Group IV had 3% concentration of povidone iodine. Facial swelling and trismus were assessed on the 2nd and 7th postoperative days. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. RESULTS: Of the 80 patients, 34(42.5%) were males and 46 (57.5%) were females with an overall mean age of 24.6±3.68 years. Each group had 20 (25%) subjects. All three concentrations of povidone iodine provided significant reduction in postoperative trismus compared to the controls. Trismus was less in Group III and Group IV compared to Group II up to 7 days after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Irrigation with 3% povidone iodine concentration was found to be more effective in reducing the level of facial swelling after impacted third molar surgery. (Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT03894722).

The Comparison of the Efficacy of Blue Light-Emitting Diode Light and 980-nm Low-Level Laser Light on Bone Regeneration.

The aim of this study is to histologically compare effects of blue light-emitting diode (LED) light (400-490 nm) and Ga-Al-As low-level diode laser light (980 nm) on bone regeneration of calvarial critical-sized defects in rats. Thirty Wistar Albino rats were included in the study. The experimental groups were as follows: blue LED light (400-490 nm) group (LED); 980-nm low-level laser light group (LL); and no-treatment, control group (CL). A critical-sized defect of 8 mm was formed on calvaria of rats. Each animal was sacrificed 21 days after defect formation. Calvarias of all rats were dissected and fixated for histological examination. Histomorphometric measurements of total horizontal length of the newly produced bone tissue, total vertical length of the newly produced bone tissue, and diameter of the newly produced longest bone trabecula were performed with a computer program in micrometers. There was a statistically significant increase in the total horizontal length and total vertical length in LL and LED groups compared to that in the CL group (P < 0.05), while there was no statistical difference between LED and LL groups (P > 0.05). A statistically significant difference was observed in the longest bone trabecula and LL groups compared to that in CL (P < 0.05), but not between LED-CL and LED-LL groups (P > 0.05). In conclusion, blue LED light significantly enhances bone regeneration in critical-sized defects when compared with CL group, but does not have a statistically significant effect on bone regeneration when compared with 980-nm low-level laser light.

Current concepts of oral and maxillofacial rehabilitation and treatment in aviation.

Aerospace medicine is the medical discipline responsible for assessing and conserving the health, safety, and performance of individuals involved in air and space travel. With the upward trend in airline travel, flight-related oral conditions requiring treatment have become a source of concern for aircrew members. Awareness and treatment of any potential physiological problems for these aircrews have always been critical components of aviation safety. In a flight situation, oral and maxillofacial problems may in fact become life-threatening clinical conditions. The unusual nature of aerospace medicine requires practitioners to have unique expertise. Special attention to aerospace medicine will open the way for professionals to develop and apply their skills and capabilities. Both dentists and aviators should be aware of the issues involved in aviation dentistry. This article presents the principles of prevention, treatment guidelines, and dental-related flight restrictions.

Evaluation of Changes in Lip Closing Force After Surgically Assisted Rapid Maxillary Expansion.

OBJECTIVE: Morphological changes in patients subjected to surgical treatment to correct occlusal discrepancies may lead to various functional changes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in lip closing force after surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion in skeletally mature patients. METHODS: The study involved 7 female and 7 male patients treated with surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion. Maximum and minimum lip pressures of patients were measured with Lip De CumLDC-110R. The intercanine distance and incisors angulations were measured preoperatively (T0), at the end of the expansion (T1), at the end of the third month of retention (T2), and at the end of the sixth month of retention (T3). RESULTS: The greatest values of maximum and the minimum lip closing force were observed at the end of the expansion period significantly. The intercanine distance and inclinations of incisors measured at the third and sixth months showed a significant decrease. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that, following surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion, both the maximum and the minimum lip closing force increases had a tendency to revert to their initial values 6 months after surgery.

Efficacy of immediate postoperative intramasseteric dexamethasone injection on postoperative swelling after mandibular impacted third molar surgery: A preliminary split-mouth study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of immediate intramasseteric injection of dexamethasone on postoperative oedema. METHODS: The prospective study was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey, in July 2012, and comprised patients aged 15-32 years who presented for the removal of bilateral vertical impacted mandibular third molar teeth.The right and left impacted third molars of each patient were randomly allocated into study and control groups. The impacted teeth in the study group were extracted with surgical bone removal, and 2ml of 8mg/2ml dexamethasone was injected into the ipsilateral masseter muscle immediately after suturing.In the control group, dexamethasone was replaced with 2ml of sterile saline solution. Postoperative facial oedema was measured with a tape scale by calculating the distance between several facial landmarks on postoperative day 2. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of 20 patients was 21.35±4.18 years, and there were 9(45%) patients between 15-20 years of age, while 11(55%) were 21-32 years. IN terms of gender, 9(45%) patients were male and 11(55%) were female. Postoperative oedema was significantly reduced in the study group compared to the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Immediate intramasseteric injection of dexamethasone was effective in reducing postoperative oedema after mandibular impacted third molar surgery.