Assessment of Perception of Dental Students to OSCE Exams: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aims and Objective: To assess the knowledge as well as attitude of dental students to OSCE exams. Materials and Methods: With the aim of evaluating the knowledge and attitude of dental students to OSCE exams, the present study was planned and it consisted of total 1000 dental students (Third year, Final year, and Interns) who have taken the OSCE examinations. The survey included a questionnaire in addition to a subsection on participants' demographic information. In addition, a 3-point scale was used to rate the OSCE's impartiality, complexity, education level, as well as favored frequency of usage in comparison with various evaluation formats. Results: 562 were males while the remaining 438 were females. While evaluating the student's perception, 36.3 percent of the students agreed that OSCE examination gave precise measure of clinical dental skills. 23.1 percent of the students said OSCE was uniform in terms of standardization, while 25 percent of the students agreed that OSCE score was independent of personality, ethnicity, and gender. Conclusion: To recapitulate, the outcomes of this research gave rise to the notion that the OSCE represents a valid as well as objective evaluation tool for clinical abilities.

A study of lip prints and its reliability as a forensic tool.

INTRODUCTION: Lip prints, like fingerprints, are unique to an individual and can be easily recorded. Therefore, we compared direct and indirect lip print patterns in males and females of different age groups, studied the inter- and intraobserver bias in recording the data, and observed any changes in the lip print patterns over a period of time, thereby, assessing the reliability of lip prints as a forensic tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty females and 50 males in the age group of 15 to 35 years were selected for the study. Lips with any deformity or scars were not included. Lip prints were registered by direct and indirect methods and transferred to a preformed registration sheet. Direct method of lip print registration was repeated after a six-month interval. All the recorded data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The predominant patterns were vertical and branched. More females showed the branched pattern and males revealed an equal prevalence of vertical and reticular patterns. There was an interobserver agreement, which was 95%, and there was no change in the lip prints over time. Indirect registration of lip prints correlated with direct method prints. CONCLUSION: Lip prints can be used as a reliable forensic tool, considering the consistency of lip prints over time and the accurate correlation of indirect prints to direct prints.

Dental Occlusion among School Going Children of Maharashtra.

BACKGROUND: A dental survey was conducted among the school going children of age group 6-13 yrs, focused to find out incidence of malocclusion so as to predict the probable time at which preventive measures can be taken. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was carried on 985 unrelated healthy subject, including of 575 boys and 410 girls and the population was divided into three economic group of upper, middle and lower class. RESULTS: 1)In the study 57% of sample is found with normal occlusion.2)The proportion of malocclusion was higher in males.3)Lower income group sample showed highest proportion of malocclusion. CONCLUSION: In this study on school going children, it was found out that 57% of population showed normal occlusion and that malocclusion was higher in males and in lower income group population.

Prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene status among school going children: an epidemiological study.

Oral health is an important part of general health of body. Oral hygiene determines oral health status. Thus, oral hygiene is most important for good health in general. Poor oral hygiene can be source of many diseases. By maintaining the good oral hygiene, we can prevent occurrence of many disease. A survey was carried out to assess oral hygiene status and to find out caries prevalence rate among school going children of age 6 to 12 years. 957 healthy subjects including 567 boys and 390 girls from four different schools were examined in broad day light with the help of mouth mirror and explorer.

Pathogenesis of oral lichen planus--a review.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T-cell-mediated chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease of unknown etiology. OLP presents as white striations, white papules, white plaques, erythema, erosions, or blisters affecting predominantly the buccal mucosa, tongue and gingiva. Both antigen-specific and non-specific mechanisms are hypothesized to be involved in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP). Antigen-specific mechanisms in OLP include antigen presentation by basal keratinocytes and antigen-specific keratinocyte killing by CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells. Non-specific mechanisms include mast cell degranulation and matrix metalloproteinase activation in OLP lesions. These mechanisms may combine to cause T cell accumulation in the superficial lamina propria, basement membrane disruption, intra-epithelial T cell migration and keratinocyte apoptosis in OLP. The various hypotheses proposed for pathogenesis of oral lichen planus are discussed in this review.