Improving diagnostic specimen management systems in an oral medicine department.

Histological, haematological and microbiological investigations are essential in the field of oral medicine and are a crucial adjunct to clinical findings, often being relied on to obtain a definitive diagnosis. Importantly, in some cases, these investigations can help exclude or confirm the presence of malignancy. This project highlighted some problems regarding labelling and recording of specimens in an oral medicine department and a lack of clear specimen management processes. It aimed to improve specimen management by reducing reported incidents surrounding diagnostic tests. Quality improvement methods such as process mapping were key to understanding the journey of specimens and the departments involved at each stage of the system. Initiatives included a recording log book, staff training, information signage around the clinic and delegation of responsibilities, all of which were implemented over multiple plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles. The project was extremely successful and since implementation there has been a clear and sustained reduction in reported incidents. The small number of incidents which did occur all involved transportation of specimens and none involved labelling or recording. One can conclude that the change in test management systems in terms of recording and labelling of specimens in the department has been sustained. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders and senior leaders is the priority to ensure further reduction in incidents in the future and that the improvements are maintained. This project demonstrates how simple, realistic, cost-effective, quality improvement initiatives can have a significant positive impact on patient care and hospital management systems.

Covid-19 Pandemic: What Changes for Dentists and Oral Medicine Experts? A Narrative Review and Novel Approaches to Infection Containment.

The authors performed a narrative review on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome- CoronaVirus-2 ( SARS-CoV-2) and all infectious agents with the primary endpoints to illustrate the most accepted models of safety protocols in dentistry and oral medicine, and to propose an easy view of the problem and a comparison (pre- vs post-COVID19) for the most common dental procedures. The outcome is forecast to help dentists to individuate for a given procedure the differences in terms of safety protocols to avoid infectious contagion (by SARS-CoV-2 and others dangerous agents). An investigation was performed on the online databases Pubmed and Scopus using a combination of free words and Medical Subject Headings (MESH) terms: "dentist" OR "oral health" AND "COVID-19" OR "SARS-CoV-2" OR "coronavirus-19". After a brief excursus on all infectious agents transmittable at the dental chair, the authors described all the personal protective equipment (PPE) actually on the market and their indications, and on the basis of the literature, they compared (before and after COVID-19 onset) the correct safety procedures for each dental practice studied, underlining the danger of underestimating, in general, dental cross-infections. The authors have highlighted the importance of knowing exactly the risk of infections in the dental practice, and to modulate correctly the use of PPE, in order to invest adequate financial resources and to avoid exposing both the dental team and patients to preventable risks.

World Workshop on Oral Medicine VII: What participants perceive as important.

Our objective was to identify which aspects of World Workshop on Oral Medicine (WWOM) participation were perceived as significant for participants' professional development. Online survey was sent to previous WWOM participants. Qualitative analysis of participants' responses to an open-ended question was performed. Fifty-two WWOM participants responded. Nearly three quarters of respondents (72.3%) felt that participation in the WWOM helped their career. A high percentage of respondents (67.3%) provided answers that fell under the domains of international collaboration, followed by personal academic benefits (48%). Overall, the results indicate that WWOM participation played an important role in individual's professional development. We identified aspects of WWOM involvement that the participants perceived as important. This information will be used for the development of an objective instrument for measuring impact of WWOM on participant's professional path.

A systematic review of the research evidence for the benefits of teledentistry.

Objective This review is designed to inform future decisions about the benefits of integrating teledentistry into routine health services, by presenting an overview of the evidence for the effectiveness and economic impact of teledentistry. Methods Two reviewers searched PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL databases through November 2016 to identify published peer-reviewed studies in English. Teledentistry studies were included if they were; (a) controlled (randomised or non-randomised) assessment studies; and (b) compared outcomes of a teledentistry intervention in terms of clinical or economic evaluation with the outcomes of traditional clinical alternatives. The quality of the studies was evaluated using a quality appraisal tool that considered study performance and design. Results This review identified 385 publications, of which 217 full-text articles were retrieved for further inspection. Of these, only 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. Nine of the included articles showed some clinical outcomes; the other two were primarily economic analyses. The balance of these studies assesed the efficacy of teledentistry interventions rather than their effectiveness. Four studies (36%) achieved higher quality scores and have greater potential to influence health-care decision-making. To date, the most convincing published evidence regarding the efficacy of teledentistry was provided by studies on paediatric dentistry, orthodontics and oral medicine. The economic analysis referred only to cost-minimisation, suggesting that the use of teleconsultation in dentistry can be cost-saving when compared to a conventional consultation. However, high-quality economic studies on teledentistry are rare. Conclusion There is emerging evidence supporting the efficacy of teledentistry. However, there is not yet enough conclusive evidence, particularly for its effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and long-term use, to make evidence-based policy decisions on teledentistry.

[The academic discipline 'forensic medicine' as an important component of the training of dental practitioners]. / Distsiplina 'Sudebnaia meditsina' - vazhnyi étap podgotovki vracha-stomatologa obshchei praktiki.

The authors discuss the conceptual issues of the academic program designed to teach forensic medicine to the students of the stomatological faculties of educational medical institutions. The program has been elaborated in conformity with the federal state educational standard of higher professional education in the speciality stomatology'. It defines the goals and objectives of this discipline, the scope of its competences, the subject matter and the content, the requirements to the studies and educational work, control over the level of its success, academic progress, and other aspects of the training activities, with special emphasis being placed on the formation of the general professional competence of the students to enable them to work independently after they graduated from the institute. The program takes into consideration the latest achievements in forensic medical science and their practical applications. Much attention is given to the organizational and processual aspects of forensic medicine, thanatology, general and special traumatology, mechanical asphyxia, effects of the environmental factors, intoxication, forensic medical expertise of living subjects and material evidence.

[Big data in dentistry and oral medicine].

Knowledge about the extent of dental and oral diseases and needs in Israel is very limited with no official governmental body responsible for data collection. The aim of the "Dental Oral Scale (DOS) project is to measure the extent of dental and oral diseases, their risk factors, and their association with demographics and various systemic conditions. The DOS project includes demographic, dental and medical records of all patients attending IDF dental clinics in 2014, as well as a control group of patients. Records were obtained from three computerized military databases: a sociodemographic record, a medical record (Clinical Patient Record-CPR) and a dental record (Dental Patient Record-DPR). The DOS project analyses the associations between these oral-health related conditions and sociodemographic parameters as well as behavioral parameters and systemic general health-related conditions.

[Oral medicine in Israel: Current status and future directions].

The oral cavity-body relationships are bi-directional: oral diseases affect the welfare and health of the individual, while diseases and conditions of organs and tissues in the human body affect oral health. The global policy of the World Health Organization is to improve oral health in the 21st century as an integral part of promoting our general health. During the recent years the knowledge of the dental profession has grown exponentially and widened its fields of interest and this has led to impressive advances at both clinical and research levels. Oral medicine, which is a recognized, licensed specialty in Israel, is a definite example that reflects this process. In the last decade residency programs in oral medicine are in the process of constant increased demand. The authors discuss this trend and comment on the need to maintain excellence in this specialty.

[Oral carcinoma: From awareness to survivorship].

Oral and oropharyngeal cancer is amongst the most common and fatal malignant diseases worldwide, with oral squamous cell carcinomas constitute more than 90% of all lesions. This article follows the oral cancer patient from the point of view of the oral medicine practitioner; from the stage of the potentially malignant disorders to the diagnosis of cancer, to the management of short-term comlications of the cancer therapy, to the stage of long-term follow up and management of lifelong oral complications of the oncologic treatment.

Diagnóstico à distância de lesões bucais com fotografias de smartphones / Remote diagnosis of oral lesions with smartphone photos

Objetivos: Avaliar o acerto diagnóstico entre a avaliação presencial de lesões bucais e a hipótese diagnóstica proposta à distância para uma amostra de imagens digitais obtidas por meio de um smartphone. Materiais e Métodos: O estudo teve desenho observacional transversal com amostra de conveniência. Os dados foram coletados no ambulatório de Estomatologia da Universidade Federal do Paraná, e obtidos a partir de exame físico oral, história da doença e registro fotográfico de lesões bucais realizado com um smartphone. Todos os pacientes que apresentaram lesões bucais visíveis à inspeção foram convidados a participar do estudo. A história clínica e as imagens dos participantes foram enviadas por e-mail para dois avaliadores, que foram solicitados a formular um mínimo de uma e máximo de duas hipóteses diagnósticas para cada caso. As hipóteses diagnósticas formuladas à distância foram comparadas com o padrão-ouro em cada caso clínico proposto, e medidas pelo coeficiente kappa. Resultados:O estudo avaliou uma amostra de 42 fotografias de lesões bucais obtidas de 23 pacientes. Em 91% e 87% dos casos, para os avaliadores 1 e 2, respectivamente, houve concordância do diagnóstico à distância comparado ao padrão-ouro. Os valores de concordância obtidos foram considerados ótimos de acordo com os valores de kappa (K = 0,864 - 0,909). Conclusão: O diagnóstico de lesões bucais por meio de imagens obtidas com um smartphone mostrou boa concordância e acerto diagnóstico comparável com aquele obtido presencialmente e pode ser sugerido como uma ferramenta auxiliar na referência de casos entre a atenção primária e a média complexidade em Estomatologia.

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy between presential assessments of oral lesions and the diagnostic hypothesis proposed at distance with the use of a sample of photographs obtained with a smartphone.The study had a cross-sectional observational design with a convenience sample. The data were collected at the oral medicine ou patient clinic of Federal University of Paraná. They were obtained from clinical oral examination, a brief clinical history and photographic record of oral lesions taken with as martphone camera. The participants were all the patients with oral lesions visible to inspection. The clinical information and the photographs of were sent by email for two remote consultants, who weresolicited to formulate a maximum of two diagnostic hypotheses for each case. The diagnostic hypotheses formulated by the remote consultant were compared to the gold standard in each clinical caseand measured by the kappa coefficient. The sample was composed by 42 photographs of oral lesions obtained from 23 patients. In 91% and 87% of the cases, there was agreement from distant diagnosis when compared to the gold standard for consultants 1 and 2, respectively. The concordance obtained between the diagnostic hypotheses and the gold standard was considered “excellent” according to thevalues of kappa index (K = 0,864 - 0,909). The diagnosis of oral lesions through images obtained with as martphone showed good diagnostic accuracy and was comparable to that obtained in person. It canbe suggested as an auxiliary tool in refererring cases from primary to secondary care in oral medicine.

Evaluating the potential impact of a mobile telemedicine system on coordination of specialty care for patients with complicated oral lesions in Botswana.

Mobile telemedicine involves the use of mobile device (e.g., cell phones, tablets) technology to exchange information to assist in the provision of patient care. Throughout the world, mobile telemedicine initiatives are increasing in number and in scale, but literature on their impact on patient outcomes in low-resource areas is limited. This study explores the potential impact of a mobile oral telemedicine system on the oral health specialty referral system in Botswana. Analysis of 26 eligible cases from June 2012 to July 2013 reveals high diagnosis concordance between dental officers and oral health specialists at 91.3% (21/23) but significant management plan discordance at 64.0% (16/25), over two-thirds of which involved the specialists disagreeing with the referring clinicians about the need for a visit to a specialist. These findings suggest mobile telemedicine can optimize the use of insights and skills of specialists remotely in regions where they are scarce.