Facilitating Green Supply Chain in Dental Care through Kansei Healthscape of Positive Emotions.

Dentistry is highly energy- and resource-intensive with a significant environmental impact. To consolidate green dentistry supply chains, delivering the care of highest quality that meets client value should not be neglected. This study emphasized the importance of client-centered healthscape design for facilitating a green dentistry supply chain. A client-centered healthscape design, which promotes clients' positive emotions and increases willingness to revisit the dentist, plays a critical role in realizing green dentistry supply chains in the long run. For this purpose, the relationship among dental healthscape design elements, client emotions, and revisit intentions was investigated using a Kansei engineering-based approach. The effects of dental healthscape elements on clients' positive emotions and the effects of positive emotions on clients' revisit intentions were holistically examined on the basis of the stimulus-organism-response model. Through this approach, 17 elements of design, ambience, and social interaction factors that comprise the dental healthscape and 20 Kansei words used to express clients' positive emotions regarding dental service were identified. A questionnaire survey was used to assess Kansei and revisit intention in healthscape scenarios, composed of varied design elements. Primary data were collected from 600 individuals from 2017 to 2018 throughout Taiwan. Partial least squares was applied to holistically analyze the effects of dental healthscape elements on clients' positive emotions and the effects of positive emotions on clients' revisit intention to generate a Kansei model for the dental healthscape. All 20 Kansei words had significant positive effects on the dental revisit intention of clients. The five positive emotions most associated with increased revisit intention were thoughtful, hopeful, tender, comfortable, and cozy. The Kansei model of the dental healthscape provides references for healthscape design that maintains positive client emotions during the dental service and results in high revisit intention. This approach can realize an emotion-centered design for dental healthscapes that promotes preventive dental care, early treatment, and effective use of medical resources, and consequently contributes to green dentistry supply chains.

Availability of emergency drugs and equipment in general and specialist dental settings in Babol, Iran.

AIM: Medical emergencies can frequently happen in dental settings and it is critical to outfit the clinic by emergency drugs and equipment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the emergency drugs and equipment in general and specialist dental settings in Babol, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire containing closed ended questions about the available emergency drugs and equipment was used in this descriptive-analytical study. Data were subjected to descriptive analysis using SPSS 18.0 to identify the most frequent drugs and equipment. Chi-square and t-test were used to evaluate the correlation between the variables. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: One hundred and twelve dentists answered the questionnaire. The most available drug and equipment were epinephrine (67%) and single use syringe (81.3%) respectively. Significant correlation was found between degree of education and availability of first group of emergency drugs and between sex and possession of second group of emergency equipment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Degree of availability of emergency drugs and equipment was moderate to low and training about emergencies should be included in the didactic topics of universities and workshops. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Information about emergency drug and equipment would help to manage the unwanted emergency situations.

Medical emergency management among Iranian dentists.

AIMS: More than 18,000 patients need medical emergencies management in dental offices in Iran annually. The present study investigates medical emergencies management among Iranian dentists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From the list of the cell phone numbers of the dentists practicing in the city of Tehran, 210 dentists were selected randomly. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The questionnaire requested information on personal and professional characteristics of the dentists, as well as their knowledge and self-reported practice in the field of medical emergency management, and availability of required drugs and equipments to manage medical emergencies in their offices. RESULTS: Totally, 177 dentists (84%) completed the questionnaire. Less than 60% of the participants were knowledgeable about characteristics of hypoglycemic patient, chest pain with cardiac origin, and true cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) practice. Regarding practice, less than one quarter of the respondents acquired acceptable scores. In regression models, higher practice scores were significantly associated with higher knowledge scores (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results call for a need to further education on the subject for dentists. Continuing education and changing dental curriculum in the various forms seems to be useful in enhancement of the self-reported knowledge and practice of dentists. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: To successful control of medical emergencies in the dental office, dentists must be prepared to recognize and manage a variety of such conditions. In addition to dentist's knowledge and skill, availability of necessary equipments and trained staff is also of critical importance.

Medical emergencies in dental practice in the Fiji Islands.

Medical emergencies in dental clinics are atypical however they do occur with potentially serious consequences. A postal questionnaire survey of all seventy-seven dentists in Fiji regarding occurrence of medical emergencies, their possession of emergency drugs and equipment and whether further training was required in the management of medical emergencies was conducted in 2004. The response rate was 85.7%. The most common medical emergencies were fainting (27.9%), postural hypotension (23.5%), hypoglycaemia (19.5%), epileptic fits and seizures (11.1%) and asthma (8%). The most commonly kept emergency drugs and equipment were disposable needles, oral glucose, disposable syringes, sphygmomanometer adrenaline, first aid kit, tourniquet and oxygen. Additionally, the vast majority of the dentists (98.5%) expressed a need for some form of further training or refresher course in this area. It is hoped that the respective stakeholders in Fiji islands and that it forms baseline information and guidelines in addition to stimulating future prospective studies.

Identifying clinical supply requirements for Marine Corps dental capability.

The Naval Health Research Center developed and used a systematic process to review Marine Corps dental supply requirements. The approach (1) identified the dental procedures required to treat patients with dental conditions and (2) determined the consumable supplies and equipment needed to complete each procedure. By establishing the clinical requirement for each item pushed forward, the Naval Health Research Center model significantly reduced weight, cubic volume, and cost while enhancing far-forward dental capability. This effort produced a database that clarifies the relationship among dental conditions, dental procedures, consumables, and equipment when conducting authorized dental allowance list reviews, determining training requirements, and configuring supplies for future deployments.

Bar code, good for industry and trade--how does it benefit the dentist?

Every dentist who attentively follows the change in product labelling can easily see that the HIBC bar code is on the increase. In fact, according to information from FIDE/VDDI and ADE/BVD, the dental industry and trade are firmly resolved to apply the HIBC bar code to all products used internationally in dental practices. Why? Indeed, at first it looks like extra expense to additionally print a bar code on the packages. Good reasons can only lie in advantages which manufacturers and the trade expect from the HIBC bar code, Indications in dental technician circles are that the HIBC bar code is coming. If there are advantages, what are these, and can the dentist also profit from them? What does HIBC bar code mean and what items of interest does it include? What does bar code cost and does only one code exist? This is explained briefly, concentrating on the benefits bar code can bring for different users.

Dental needs in Bosnia.

The dental needs of the growing number of refugees in Bosnia-Hercegovina were all too apparent on my recent visit to work with children in Medugorje in the Mostar province of Hercegovina. While this area has not undergone the sustained destruction of central Bosnia it is a natural first haven for refugees from the fighting.