Assessment of Preclinical Learning on Oral Surgery Using Three Instructional Strategies

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate three learning methods for teaching basic oral surgical skills Thirty predoctoral dental students without any surgical knowledge or previous surgical experience were divided Into three groups (n=10 each) according to instructional strategy Group 1, active learning Group 2, text reading only, and Group 3, text reading and video demonstration After instruction, the apprentices were allowed to practice incision dissection and suture maneuvers in a bench learning model During the students' performance, a structured practice evaluation test to account for correct or incorrect maneuvers was applied by trained observers Evaluation tests were repeated after thirty and sixty days Data from resulting scores between groups and periods were considered for statistical analysis (ANOVA and Tukey Kramer) with a significant level of a=0 05 Results showed that the active learning group presented the significantly best learning outcomes related to immediate assimilation of surgical procedures compared to other groups All groups results were similar after sixty days of the first practice Assessment tests were fundamental to evaluate teaching strategies and allowed theoretical and proficiency learning feedbacks Repetition and interactive practice promoted retention of knowledge on basic oral surgical skill

Bone healing of mandibular critical-size defects in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Few articles have shown changes in bone metabolism caused by hypertension. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between hypertension and bone healing. Circular critical-size defects 5 mm and 2 mm in diameter were created, respectively, on the left and right side of the mandible in 40 spontaneously hypertensive and 40 control Wistar-Kyoto rats. Five animals from each strain were killed 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days after surgery. The macroscopic evaluation showed great mandibular angle deformation on the left side and non-healed defects on both sides and groups. Histological evaluation revealed similar bone healing on both sides, with initial necrosis in the central area, and fibrosis and angiogenesis within the first 5 days. From the 10th postoperative day on, the newly formed bone displayed progressive thickening until the 90th postoperative day, when the defect margins presented a compact bone structure. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of the histometric data did not reveal any significant hypertension effect on bone healing in the defect area. These results suggest that bone healing was not different between spontaneously hypertensive rats and control rats

A Novel Approach to Intraoral Mandibular Nerve Anesthesia: Changing Reference Planes in the Gow-Gates Block Technique

Purpose: The Gow-Gates technique is said to have several advantages over traditional techniques to achieve mandibular nerve anesthesia; however, its routine use is quite limited, mainly due to complications during visual alignment of reference landmarks. The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and accuracy of a new method to reach the injection site. Material and Methods: Fifteen magnetic resonance images were captured. Distances from the ideal injection point in the condylar neck (puncture ideal) to the injection points located in the a and 0 plane intersection (Puncture Gow-Gates and puncture modified) were measured and compared. Results: Positive and significant (P <= .003) Pearson correlations between landmarks and injection points confirmed the validity of the modified technique. Paired t test showed that the segment line puncture ideal-puncture modified, 5.17 mm, was 3 times shorter (P < .001) than the segment line puncture ideal-puncture Gow-Gates, 17.91 mm. As calculated by linear regression, establishing the injection point of the modified technique depended only on the anteroposterior and lateromedial condyle positions. Conclusions: The modified technique proved to be valid and precise and has a determined and an effective injection site. (C) 2009 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 67:2609-2616, 2009CAPES, Brazi