Longer years of practice and higher education levels promote infection control in Iranian dental practitioners.

BACKGROUNDS: Infection control is one of the primary responsibilities of dental health care personnel. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the infection control practices of Iranian dentists and dental nurses working in governmental dental health care centers were influenced by their educational level and years of practice. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study was completed in 2009, and it included 63 Iranian dental practitioners. Infection control knowledge was evaluated with a self-administered questionnaire, and infection control practices were evaluated with a checklist of questions by observation with one researcher. RESULTS: The dental practitioners in Mashad had a low level of infection control knowledge. Dental personnel with a higher educational level had significantly greater knowledge than those with less education. Additionally, dental personnel who had more years of practice had a greater knowledge of infection control. CONCLUSION: Since dental practitioners working in Mashad governmental dental health care centers with fewer years of practice and less educational level had a low level of infection control knowledge, we recommend a continuing educational program for this group and dental nurses.

Contamination of a dental unit water line system by legionella pneumophila in the mashhad school of dentistry in 2009.

BACKGROUND: Dental unit waterline system is considered potential source for contamination with Legionella species. The aim of this study was to determine if contamination of a dental unit water line system by Legionella pneumophila serogroup1 in the Mashhad School of Dentistry occurred in 2009. METHODS: A total of 52 dental units were selected from all clinical departments of the Mashhad School of Dentistry. Samples of water were collected from outlets of water/air spray, high-speed dental hand pieces and water cup fillers. Samples were tested via the ELISA method. RESULTS: At the beginning of the work day, a total of 36.1 percent of dental units were contaminated by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. CONCLUSION: Infection control of the dental unit water line system regarding legionella in the Mashhad School of Dentistry is a challenge and engineering controls should be used in contaminated clinics.

Neural transplantation of human MSC and NT2 cells in the twitcher mouse model.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the NT2 embryonal carcinoma cell line and multipotential stem cells found in BM, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), have the ability to differentiate into a wide variety of cell types. This study was designed to explore the efficacy of these two human stem cell types as a graft source for the treatment of demyelinating disorders such as Krabbe's disease and multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: We examined the engraftment and in vivo differentiation of adult MSC and NT2 cells after transplantation into two demyelinating environments, the neonatal and postnatal twitcher mouse brain. RESULTS: Both types of xenografts led to anatomical integration, without tumor formation, and remained viable in the normal and twitcher mouse brain, showing differentiation into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. DISCUSSION: This study represents a platform for further stem cell transplantation studies in the twitcher model and potentially has important therapeutic implications.