Oral Health-Related Risk Factors Among Students in Southeast Serbia.

BACKGROUND An association between insufficient or irregular oral hygiene with the occurrence of dental caries, gingival/periodontal diseases, and consequently general diseases has been established. The null hypothesis that there is no difference in the oral health status among students in a preclinical medical program and those who went through a clinical medical program was tested. The main objective of the study was to analyze oral health risk factors (oral hygiene practices, attitudes, and behavior) as well as their impact on oral health by using convenience sampling. MATERIAL AND METHODS We investigated risk factors for oral health conditions by examining oral hygiene practices, attitudes, and behaviors among the students in the medical program of the University of Nis, collecting data using questionnaires. The study included 396 students of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and vocational studies. Participants filled out the anonymous questionnaire. RESULTS In both groups, parents were mostly employed, with the representation of employed fathers significantly higher in student group 1 (P<0.05), which is also the only statistically significant difference between the groups. In terms of oral hygiene practices, students were most often trained by parents (68.69%). A very high percentage of students brushed their teeth every day (97.22%), and 54.55% did this twice a day. Of the total number of students, 78.28% thought that it was necessary to use interdental brushes/floss/toothpick. The duration of teeth cleaning was 3 minutes in 39.39%, whereas 55.30% thought that it should be longer than 3 minutes. The most common brushing movements were combined movements and were used by 60.35% of all students. Of all students, 253 (63.89%) never smoked, 182 (49.96%) regularly went to the dentist, and 141 (35.61%) visited the dentist 6 months ago. The majority of students, 265 (66.92%), obtained the greatest amount of information about oral and tooth care from their dentist, which was the case in both age groups. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights oral health risk factors among students at the University of Nis. It is essential to determine their oral health knowledge, as it is of great significance both to patients and to students. Also, these students will be the major providers of health services and will be responsible for public oral health promotion. It could help in reformation of the oral health education program. The results of this research indicate that it is necessary to educate preclinical students to solve oral health issues.

Morphologic and morphometric analysis of alternations in the oral cavity caused by Candida albicans--experimental work.

INTRODUCTION: Candidiasis has become a human disease of increasing importance in the last decades. The aim of the study is to establish pathomorphological alterations caused by the blastospores of the Candida albicans as well as morphometric alterations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experiment was carried out on 2.5-month-old rats, weighting 110-130 g. The study sample was divided into the animals infected by a submucous inoculation in the periodontal region and the controls. The gingival specimens were taken, preparations were done and stained by the hematoxylin-eosin and Periodic acid Schiff methods. RESULTS: The following alterations were found out by the stereological analysis: an average volume of nuclei of the gingival epithelial cells was 111.82 microm3 (SD = 25.34) on the first day. A statistically significant increase in the volume of nuclei in the experimental group began to occur from the fourth day (202.97 microm3; SD = 31.16, p < 0.05) and the highest value of the nuclei volume was found out on the eight day of the experiment (316.83 microm3; SD = 40.15). CONCLUSION: Blastospores of Candida albicans are pathogenic for the gingival tissue where they cause degenerative necrotic alterations of the granulomatous character and after the fourth day from the inoculation, the development of the pseudohyphae was observed. The obtained values of stereologic measurement show the acute increase in the volume of nuclei.

RP-HPLC assay of doxycycline in human saliva and gingival crevicular fluid in patients with chronic periodontal disease.

A reversed-phased HPLC method with fluorescence detection was optimized and validated for determination of DOXY in human saliva and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) with tetracycline as internal standard. Single step extraction with acetonitrile for both types of samples was performed. The separation was achieved at Zorbax Extend-C18 analytical column at 30°C. Mobile phase was consisted of an aqueous phase containing magnesium acetate, ammonium acetate, Na2EDTA, triethyl-ammonium acetate buffered to pH 7.5 with ammonium hydroxide solution and acetonitrile. The volume ratio of the buffered water mixture of salts and acetonitrile was 86:14. Fluorescence detector was set at λex=380 nm and λem=520 nm. Under the optimized experimental conditions, good linearity was found in the range of 5.0-250.0 ng/mL for GCF with LOD of 1.63 ng/mL and LOQ of 4.93 ng/mL and 20.0-500.0 ng/mL for saliva with LOD of 6.36 ng/mL and LOQ of 19.28 ng/mL. This method was successfully applied for determination of DOXY in saliva and GCF obtained from patients with chronic periodontal disease.