Exploring factors influencing nurses' attitudes towards their role in dental care.

BACKGROUND: The burden of oral disease requires collaboration between health care professionals. Nurses are frequently exposed to patients and can play a vital role in prevention of oral diseases. This study aimed to investigate nurses' attitudes towards their role in dental care and its associated factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional, survey-based study recruited a total of 525 nurses in Eastern Saudi Arabia, using a snow-ball sampling technique. Data was collected using an online, pre-validated 40-item questionnaire with four domains (attitudes, knowledge, practices, and demographic data). RESULTS: Nurses showed satisfactory attitudes (52.8 ± 8.2) and average knowledge (13.4 ±3.9). More than two thirds (70.3%) reported responding to patients' questions about oral health conditions, 47.1% and 19.7% conducted oral health screening and education respectively. Referral practices were reported by 266 (50.7%) of the participants with pain being the main reason for referrals. Attending lectures/ trainings on oral health and having a formal education about oral health were significantly associated with nurses' positive attitudes towards their role in dental care (P<0.001). Conducting oral health screening or education were also significantly associated with positive attitudes (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Positive attitudes were observed among those with undergraduate oral health backgrounds, in continuous education, and those who were involved in oral health screenings. There is a need for under and postgraduate inclusion of oral health training in nurses' education.

Water Sorption, Solubility, and Translucency of 3D-Printed Denture Base Resins.

This study aimed to evaluate the water sorption, solubility, and translucency of 3D-printed denture base resins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga), compare them to heat-polymerized acrylic denture base resins, and assess their performance under the effects of thermal cycling. A total of 80 acrylic disc specimens were used in the current study, categorized into four groups (n = 10); in one group, the samples were fabricated conventionally with a heat-polymerizing process (control), while the other three groups were fabricated digitally from different 3D-printed reins (NextDent, FormLabs, and Asiga). Specimens were fabricated according to the manufacturers' recommendations and immersed in distilled water for 48 h at 37 °C. Data on water sorption, solubility, and translucency measurements (T1) were obtained. All the specimens were subjected to 5000 thermal cycles, and then the measures were repeated using the same method (T2). Data analysis was attained via ANOVA and the post hoc Tukey test (α = 0.05). The type of resin significantly affected the values of water sorption, solubility, and translucency (p < 0.001). The water sorption of 3D-printed resins was increased significantly in comparison to control with or without a thermal cycling effect. In terms of solubility, a significant increase in 3D-printed resins before thermocycling was observed; however, after thermocycling, Asiga had a significantly low value compared to the other groups (p < 0.001). Thermal cycling increased the water sorption and solubility of all tested materials. In comparison to control, the translucency of the 3D-printed resins was significantly decreased (p < 0.001). The translucency was significantly decreased per material in terms of the thermal cycling effect (before and after). NextDent showed significantly low translucency values (p < 0.001) compared to the other groups. All 3D-printed resin groups had higher water sorption and solubility and lower translucency values in comparison to the heat-polymerized resin group. Regardless of resin types, thermal cycling adversely affected all tested properties.

Evaluation of Bacterial Leakage in Platform-Switching Dental Implant with Morse Taper Connection Under Thermocycling and Loading Effects: In Vitro Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to test in vitro the bacterial microleakage at the Morse taper implant-abutment connection with switched platform subjected to functional load and thermocycling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 48 Morse taper implant-abutment connections with switched platforms (12 implants per group) were used. The abutments were attached to implants and presented in four groups: group 1, control; group 2, subjected to thermocycling; group 3, subjected to cyclic compressive loading; and group 4, subjected to thermocycling and cyclic compressive loading. All groups were then inoculated in Eppendorf tubes including three types of bacterial suspensions: Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 7 and 14 days to detect possibility of bacterial infiltration from outside to the internal chamber of the implant. RESULTS: Implants not exposed to cyclic loading and thermocycling (group 1) and those exposed to thermocycling (group 2) exhibited no infiltration of E faecalis, S aureus, and P aeruginosa from outside to the inner chamber of the implant, while infiltration of P aeruginosa was only observed in implants subjected to cyclic loading only (group 3) and those subjected to cyclic loading in conjunction with thermocycling (group 4). CONCLUSION: Microbial leakage at the implant-abutment connection is influenced by the applied load alone and in combination with thermocycling; however, E faecalis and S aureus did not leak at the implant-abutment connection even under these circumstances. Only P aeruginosa infiltrated inside the implant-abutment connection, which might be caused by its swarming motility.