Therapeutic efficacy of adjunctive photodynamic therapy in the treatment of denture stomatitis.

BACKGROUND: The present report assessed the efficacy of curcumin-mediated photodynamic therapy (CUR-mediated PDT) as an adjunct to antifungal gel treatment by evaluating the salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6) and matrix metalloproteinases-8 (MMP-8) levels together with Candida species counts in denture stomatitis (DS) patients. METHODS: In total, 50 DS subjects were randomly categorized into 2 groups: Group-1: subjects who received the antifungal gel treatment and Group-2: participants who received CUR-mediated PDT. The Sabourad Dextrose Agar and CHROMAgar were utilized for evaluating Candida species counts, while the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay was employed to estimate the salivary levels of IL-6 and MMP-8. All clinical evaluations were performed at the baseline, 1 month, and 2 months. RESULTS: In total, group-2 subjects showed a significant decrease in Candida albicans (C. albicans) counts on both follow-ups (i.e., 1-month and 2-month) than group-1 participants. C. krusei count also reduced in group-2 subejcts than group-1 participants at the 2nd follow-up as compared to the baseline, nevertheless, a slight increase in C. krusei count was noticed in group-2 subjects at the 2nd follow-up than the 1st follow-up. The salivary IL-6 and MMP-8 levels in both groups reduced significantly at both follow-ups than the baseline. According to the stepwise logistic regression analysis, no statistically significant correlation was observed between Candida species count and other parameters such as age and gender of the patient, duration of DS, and frequency of treatment(s). CONCLUSION: CUR-mediated PDT is an efficaciousness therapeutic modality for alleviating Candida species counts on the surface of denture and the palatal mucosa, as well as improving the salivary IL-6 and MMP-8 levels in DS patients.

Knowledge and awareness on pneumoconiosis among dental technicians and senior dental technology students in Saudi Arabia.

Dental technicians' pneumoconiosis is a condition that causes interstitial inflammation and fibrosis as a result of complex drug exposure. Therefore, it is of interest to assess and evaluate the knowledge and awareness about pneumoconiosis and other respiratory disorders among dental technicians and dental technology students in Saudi Arabia. A cross sectional survey was conducted on convenient sample of 300 senior dental technician students and dental technicians from Saudi Arabia and informed consent was obtained. The participants were approached through online questionnaire using Google forms. Questions were related to the socio-demographic data, knowledge and awareness of the students and the practicing dental technicians and their willingness to learn about pneumoconiosis. Final year undergraduate, interns and Dental technicians were included, undergraduate students without practical knowledge and experience and participants with history of respiratory disease were excluded from the study. Questions were assessed by face validity. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software. Descriptive statistics was calculated. 34.8% of the study group were not aware of the term and don't know about the etiology of pneumoconiosis. Pearson correlation was significant in terms of awareness difference between males and females and females had less awareness compared to males.