Osteotomy in lateral sinus augmentation: A comparative study of rotary technique and Lateral Approach Sinus Kit®.

Background: Various sinus lift techniques have been tried to minimize the rate of perforations, especially in Type I and Type II sinus membrane thickness. Aims and Objectives: The aim and objectives of this study was to present our own experience compare and the efficacy of conventional direct sinus lift technique and direct sinus lift using LAS Kit. Material and Methods: Our study included 14 patients in which seven patients in conventional technique and seven patients in Lateral Approach Sinus (LAS) Kit®. Result: The results showed that the sinus membrane perforation rate, using LAS Kit® with specially designed drills, is less than that of the conventional technique, especially in Type I and II sinus membrane with the added benefit of reduced operative time. The mean operative time in conventional technique was 28.29 ± 2.21min and in LAS Kit®, it was 19.43 ± 2.88min which was statistically significantly less than the conventional technique group (P < 0.001). In both the groups, 100% implant integrity was achieved (measured using reverse torque technique) after 6 months of follow-up. It was observed that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in pain, swelling, flap dehiscence, and infection at different time intervals. Conclusion: We conclude that the use of LAS Kit® for sinus lift procedure in atrophied maxilla with Type I and II sinus membrane is a much safer approach over the conventional technique. Further, the results obtained also showed that blood coagulum gave better gain in bone height over a period of 6 months.

A review of water fluoridation implementation strategy in England 2002-2005.

Before 2002, there had been a long-term stalemate between private water companies and District Health Authorities across England. Between 2002 and 2005 the team in the Office of the Chief Dental Officer used leadership and advocacy skills to overcome political barriers, introducing the Water Act 2003 and a Statutory Instrument in 2005 providing indemnity for water companies. This legislation was key in removing obstacles towards the expansion water fluoridation across England.

Infant oral mutilation in East Africa: eradication within ten years.

Infant oral mutilation (IOM) is a widespread and dangerous traditional practice affecting 25 million children in East Africa. It involves the extraction of unerupted deciduous canine teeth in young infants owing to the corresponding swellings being mistaken as the cause of diarrhoea and fever. The rudimentary practice, undertaken by local healers, can sometimes be fatal. In 2018, a Call to Action was signed by a group of significant East African influencers and policy makers, urging for a strategy for IOM eradication within ten years.

Management of adults with diabetes on the haemodialysis unit: summary of guidance from the Joint British Diabetes Societies and the Renal Association.

Diabetic nephropathy remains the principal cause of end-stage renal failure in the UK and its prevalence is set to increase. People with diabetes and end-stage renal failure on maintenance haemodialysis are highly vulnerable, with complex comorbidities, and are at high risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, the leading cause of mortality in this population. The management of people with diabetes receiving maintenance haemodialysis is shared between diabetes and renal specialist teams and the primary care team, with input from additional healthcare professionals providing foot care, dietary support and other aspects of multidisciplinary care. In this setting, one specialty may assume that key aspects of care are being provided elsewhere, which can lead to important components of care being overlooked. People with diabetes and end-stage renal failure require improved delivery of care to overcome organizational difficulties and barriers to communication between healthcare teams. No comprehensive guidance on the management of this population has previously been produced. These national guidelines, the first in this area, bring together in one document the disparate needs of people with diabetes on maintenance haemodialysis. The guidelines are based on the best available evidence, or on expert opinion where there is no clear evidence to inform practice. We aim to provide clear advice to clinicians caring for this vulnerable population and to encourage and improve education for clinicians and people with diabetes to promote empowerment and self-management.

The sugar tax - An opportunity to advance oral health.

The new sugar tax was recently announced by Government, aiming to combat obesity through investment in school sports. Dental professionals should seize this rare opportunity to raise awareness of the other adverse effects of sugar; young children continue to suffer alarmingly high rates of dental cavities in the UK. A significant amount of money raised through the levy must be reinvested into ensuring fluoride toothpaste is more affordable. Since daily use of fluoride toothpaste is the most effective evidence-based oral health preventative measure that is widely used, this should receive tax exemption status from the government as a means of universal oral health prevention. There must also be a re-investment in innovative oral health education so that the next generation of children will alter their mind set about sugar. Oral health prevention advice must be tightly integrated into general health messages.

Impact of providing free preventive dental products without health workers' counselling on infants' tooth-brushing and bottle-feeding termination practices: a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of an integrated oral health promotion intervention, within the Syrian national immunisation programme, which provided free preventive dental health products, without health workers' counselling, on one-year-old infants' tooth-brushing and bottle-feeding termination practices. RESEARCH DESIGN: a randomised controlled parallel-group trial. SETTING: A maternal and child health centre in Sweida city, Syria. PARTICIPANTS: 92 mothers of one-year-old infants, attending an infant vaccination clinic, were allocated into three groups: Test, Control One and Control Two. INTERVENTIONS: The Test group received an oral health promotion package including an infant oral health pamphlet, a baby toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste (1,000 mg/L) and a trainer cup, without health workers' counselling. Control One received only the pamphlet, whilst Control Two received no intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: after one month, the presence of old plaque on infants' primary teeth was checked, to assess tooth-brushing behaviour. Also, a mothers' self-completed questionnaire was administered to assess bottle-feeding use. RESULTS: The response rate was 100% and the attrition rate was zero. There were differences in tooth-brushing and bottle-feeding termination practices between the three groups (P⟩0.001). Infants in the Test group were less likely to have old plaque and more likely to stop bottle-feeding than their counterparts in the two control groups. There were no differences in the abovementioned outcomes between the two control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Providing free preventive dental health products, without health worker's counselling, in an integrated oral health promotion intervention, was an effective measure to promote infants' tooth-brushing and bottle-feeding termination practices. These findings should be supported by long-term follow up studies.

Planning for future provision of dental services in prison: an international proposal of two systems.

This article describes a proposal for the future organisation of the delivery of dental and oral health services for prisoners. This vision is based on an analysis of the existing prison dental programmes in England and the United States (Federal Bureau of Prisons, [FBOP]), together with discussions from two key individuals from both countries who championed changes to prison dental services and have published in the field of prison dental services. Both countries have similar visions. Some of the suggested work has already been addressed in the past (for example, introduction of state of the art dental facilities in the UK prison setting), some are in process (for example, electronic patients' records) and some may be addressed in the near future (for example, prisoners' involvement with the services provided for them). Some of the expressed visions for the future in this article are driven by evidence-based literature and dental workforce policy.

Ameloblastic carcinoma of maxilla.

Ameloblastic carcinoma (AC) is a rare malignant lesion with characteristic histologic features and clinical behavior that dictates a more aggressive surgical approach than that of a simple ameloblastoma. The tumor cells resemble the cells seen in ameloblastoma, but they show cytologic atypia. Direct extension of the tumor, lymph node involvement, and metastasis to various sites (frequently the lung) have been reported. Wide local excision is the treatment of choice. Regional lymph node dissection should be considered and performed selectively. Literature shows that radiotherapy and chemotherapy is of limited value for the treatment of AC. A case of AC of maxillary region is presented here. Clinical/histological characteristics of this tumor and current knowledge on the classification of odontogenic malignancies are also discussed.

Patient safety in dentistry - state of play as revealed by a national database of errors.

INTRODUCTION: Modern dentistry has become increasingly invasive and sophisticated. Consequently the risk to the patient has increased. The aim of this study is to investigate the types of patient safety incidents (PSIs) that occur in dentistry and the accuracy of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) database in identifying those attributed to dentistry. METHODS: The database was analysed for all incidents of iatrogenic harm in the speciality of dentistry. A snapshot view using the timeframe January to December 2009 was used. The free text elements from the database were analysed thematically and reclassified according to the nature of the PSI. Descriptive statistics were provided. RESULTS: Two thousand and twelve incident reports were analysed and organised into ten categories. The commonest was due to clerical errors - 36%. Five areas of PSI were further analysed: injury (10%), medical emergency (6%), inhalation/ingestion (4%), adverse reaction (4%) and wrong site extraction (2%). DISCUSSION: There is generally low reporting of PSIs within the dental specialities. This may be attributed to the voluntary nature of reporting and the reluctance of dental practitioners to disclose incidences for fear of loss of earnings. A significant amount of iatrogenic harm occurs not during treatment but through controllable pre- and post-procedural checks. CONCLUSION: Incidences of iatrogenic harm to dental patients do occur but their reporting is not widely used. The use of a dental specific reporting system would aid in minimising iatrogenic harm and adhere to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) compliance monitoring system on essential standards of quality and safety in dental practices.

Osteopetrosis-A rare entity with osteomyelitis.

Osteopetrosis is a rare genetic disorder that causes generalized sclerosis of the bone due to defect in bone resorption and remodeling. Albergs-Schonberg disease or autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type II is a rare form of osteopetrosis. Osteomyelitis is a well-documented complication of osteopetrosis. Any associated dental abnormality may be attributed to the pathological changes in bone remodeling. This case report discusses a case of osteopetrosis with osteomyelitis as a complication in a 8-year-old boy.

Flexible denture base material: A viable alternative to conventional acrylic denture base material.

Although clinician's skills and experience play a major role in designing and fabrication of the optimum prosthodontic restorations, the selection of denture resins is equally important, especially when the patient has been using the prostheses since long. Eighteen cases who were not satisfied with their conventional acrylic dentures were selected. They were provided flexible dentures along with a questionnaire to precisely evaluate the advantages of new material. Prosthodontic planning & observations regarding this material are discussed on various parameters.

Dental caries in 5-year-old children attending multi-ethnic schools in Greater Glasgow--the impact of ethnic background and levels of deprivation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine levels of dental caries of 5-year-olds attending multi-ethnic schools in Greater Glasgow and to explore the effects of deprived backgrounds and ethnic identity on their dental health. DESIGN: Between October 2001 and February 2002 a cross-sectional dental epidemiology survey of a sample of 721 5-year-olds was undertaken in schools having at least 25 per cent of pupils from black or minority ethnic groups. Background data on participating children were obtained from school records, including: ethnic origin, mothers' ability to speak English, religion, and demographics. Statistical analyses included two way analysis of variance to determine the effect of ethnicity after adjusting for socio-economic factors. RESULTS: Complete data were available for 649 (90%) children. The sample broadly divided into white (52%), Pakistani (33%), and other minority ethnic groups (15%). Based on repeat observations, diagnosis reliability was good (Kappa = 0.77). The caries experience of Pakistani children (d3mft = 4.1; 95% CI 3.6 to 4.6) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the white children (d3mft = 2.3; 95% CI 1.9 to 2.6). Only 25% (95% C1 17 to 34) of the Pakistani children had no obvious decay, significantly lower (p < 0.001) than their white contemporaries (48%, 95% CI 39 to 58). Pakistani ethnic origin was associated with significantly higher levels of dental caries (p < 0.001), after adjusting for socio-economic deprivation. CONCLUSION: Children from deprived backgrounds have worse dental caries levels than their affluent counterparts and, over and above this effect, minority ethnic children of Pakistani background have higher levels than their white peers.

'Schools without walls?' Developments and challenges in dental outreach teaching - report of a recent symposium.

During the 2004 annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research, the Education Research Group held a symposium on dental outreach teaching. After a brief introduction, which reviews relevant aspects of the relatively sparse literature, this paper summarises the proceedings, the themes and conclusions that emerged and the research issues that were identified. It aims to describe aspects of current practice around the world and to promote future discussion. Presenters gave details of outreach programmes for dental undergraduates in Australia, Finland, Malaysia (and Southeast Asia), the United Kingdom and the United States. From these presentations four themes emerged. They were: reasons for the introduction of outreach teaching, its perceived beneficial effects, organisational issues, educational issues. The reasons included a recognition of the need to educate dental undergraduates as members of 'care teams' in the environments and communities where they were ultimately like to work and the current shortage of both suitable patients and teachers (faculty) in many dental schools. A wide range of potential benefits and some disadvantages were identified. The organisational issues were, in the main, seen to relate to finance and administration. The educational issues included the need to train and monitor the performance of teachers at outreach clinics and to assess the performance of the undergraduates whilst at the outreach locations. It was concluded that new technology made it easier to teach at a distance and it was possible to create a dental 'school without walls'. It was recognised that few evaluations of dental outreach teaching have been carried out and that there were many research questions to be answered, including: whether it should be a voluntary or compulsory part of the undergraduate curriculum, how long it should last and what type of outcomes should be assessed.

Potential role of Veillonella spp. as a reservoir of transferable tetracycline resistance in the oral cavity.

Twelve out of 96 Veillonella spp. isolated from oral samples harbored tetracycline resistance genes. The most common resistance gene was tet(M). A tet(M)-positive Veillonella dispar strain was shown to transfer a Tn916-like element to four Streptococcus spp. by conjugation at a frequency of 5.2 x 10(-6) to 4.5 x 10(-5) per recipient.

Antibiotic resistance in the cultivable plaque microbiota of children from different ethnic groups.

The presence of ampicillin-, penicillin-, erythromycin- and tetracycline-resistant bacteria in the dental plaque of White, South Asian and Japanese children was investigated. There was a high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in children from diverse ethnic groups. The median percentage of the cultivable plaque microbiota that was resistant to tetracycline was greater in South Asian (2.9%, range 0.1-17.5%) and Japanese (7.7%, range 1.3-56.2%) children than in White children (0.7%, range 0-5.6%), suggesting that ethnic differences exist in the oral load of tetracycline-resistant bacteria (P<0.01). Multiresistant bacteria were frequently isolated, with 42% of isolates exhibiting resistance to two or more antibiotics. This study has demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be readily isolated from the plaque microbiota of children from different ethnic groups.

Awareness of mouth cancer in Great Britain.

OBJECTIVE: There are more than 2,000 new cases of mouth cancer each year in Britain. Early detection is important yet little is known about population awareness of this disease and ability to recognise early signs, particularly among high risk groups. This study aimed to address this issue. METHODS: Data were collected by means of household survey. A total of 3,384 adults were questioned using a national probability sample. Respondents provided information on demographic characteristics, smoking status, and frequency of alcohol use. They were asked whether they had heard of mouth cancer. Their knowledge of early signs and risk factors was assessed. RESULTS: Whereas 95.6% of respondents said they had heard of mouth cancer, their awareness of early signs was low; for example, only 33.8% recognised that white patches in the mouth were a sign. The large majority understood that smoking and chewing tobacco were risk factors (84.7% and 80.1% respectively) but only 19.4% recognised alcohol use as a risk factor. In multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for relevant demographic factors, smokers and those with more frequent alcohol consumption were less likely to recognise early signs. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of early signs of mouth cancer is low and lower in people who as a result of their behaviour are at higher risk. There is a need to raise awareness in those at most risk.

Levels of toxins in oral tobacco products in the UK.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the constituents of smokeless tobacco products available in the UK and compared them with products available in India, Sweden, and the USA. METHODS: Seven UK brands of smokeless tobacco, including a tooth cleaning powder, and four international brands of smokeless tobacco were tested for a range of toxins and known carcinogens, such as tobacco specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA), as well as nicotine availability. RESULTS: Ten of the 11 brands tested had detectable levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines, which are proven carcinogens, and levels varied 130-fold. All had detectable levels of benzo(a)pyrene, another proven carcinogen (with around 175-fold variation) and several toxic metals (with nearly 150-fold variation). Nicotine availability varied in the UK products from 0.1 mg/g to 63.2 mg/g. All the tobacco products tested are likely to be hazardous to users' health, but the data indicate that it should be possible to reduce key toxins to non-detectable levels. CONCLUSIONS: Smokeless tobacco products should be regulated and standards set for maximum levels of toxins and carcinogens.