Sexual harassment in Dentistry: prevalence in dental school

OBJECTIVE: Sexual harassment is unlawful in all work and educational environments in most nations of the world. The goals of this study were to describe the sexual harassment prevalence and to evaluate the experiences and attitudes of undergraduate students in one dental school in Brazil. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An 18-item questionnaire was administered to 254 dental students with a completion rate of 82% (208). Students were requested to respond to questions about their background and academic level in dental school, their personal experiences with sexual harassment and their observation of someone else being sexually harassed. Bivariate statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of the students reported being sexually harassed by a patient, by a relative of a patient or by a professor. Male students had 3 times higher probability of being sexually harassed than female student [OR=2.910 (1.113-7.611)]. Additionally, 25.4% of the students reported witnessing sexual harassment at the school environment. The majority of students did not feel professionally prepared to respond to unwanted sexual behaviors. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that sexual harassment can occur in a dental school setting. There is a need for ongoing sexual harassment education programs for students and university staff. Increased knowledge of sexual harassment during graduation can better prepare dental professionals to respond to sexual harassment during their practice

Mechanical testing of thin-walled zirconia abutments

Although the use of zirconia abutments for implant-supported restorations has gained momentum with the increasing demand for esthetics, little informed design rationale has been developed to characterize their fatigue behavior under different clinical scenarios. However, to prevent the zirconia from fracturing, the use of a titanium connection in bicomponent aesthetic abutments has been suggested. OBJECTIVE: Mechanical testing of customized thin-walled titanium-zirconia abutments at the connection with the implant was performed in order to characterize the fatigue behavior and the failure modes for straight and angled abutments. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty custom-made bi-component abutments were tested according to ISO 14801:2007 either at a straight or a 25º angle inclination (n=10 each group). Fatigue was conducted at 15 Hz for 5 million cycles in dry conditions at 20ºC±5ºC. Mean values and standard deviations were calculated for each group. All comparisons were performed by t-tests assuming unequal variances. The level of statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Failed samples were inspected in a polarized-light and then in a scanning electron microscope. RESULTS: Straight and angled abutments mean maximum load was 296.7 N and 1,145 N, the dynamic loading mean F(max) was 237.4 N and 240.7 N, respectively. No significant differences resulted between the straight and angled bi-component abutments in both static (p=0.253) and dynamic testing (p=0.135). A significant difference in the bending moment required for fracture was detected between the groups (p=0.01). Fractures in the angled group occurred mainly at the point of load application, whereas in the straight abutments, fractures were located coronally and close to the thinly designed areas at the cervical region. CONCLUSION: Angled or straight thin-walled zirconia abutments presented similar F(max) under fatigue testing despite the different bending moments required for fracture. The main implication is that although zirconia angled or straight abutments presented similar mechanical behavior, the failure mode tended to be more catastrophic in straight (fracture at the cervical region) compared to angled abutments

Assessment of age-related changes in pediatric gastrointestinal solubility

PurposeCompound solubility serves as a surrogate indicator of oral biopharmaceutical performance. Between infancy and adulthood, marked compositional changes in gastrointestinal (GI) fluids occur. This study serves to assess how developmental changes in GI fluid composition affects compound solubility.MethodsSolubility assessments were conducted in vitro using biorelevant media reflective of age-specific pediatric cohorts (i.e., neonates and infants). Previously published adult media (i.e., FaSSGF, FeSSGF, FaSSIF.v2, and FeSSIF.v2) were employed as references for pediatric media development. Investigations assessing age-specific changes in GI fluid parameters (i.e., pepsin, bile acids, pH, osmolality, etc.) were collected from the literature and served to define the composition of neonatal and infant media. Solubility assessments at 37°C were conducted for seven BCS Class II compounds within the developed pediatric and reference adult media.ResultsFor six of the seven compounds investigated, solubility fell outside an 80–125% range from adult values in at least one of the developed pediatric media. This result indicates a potential for age-related alterations in oral drug performance, especially for compounds whose absorption is delimited by solubility (i.e., BCS Class II).ConclusionDevelopmental changes in GI fluid composition can result in relevant discrepancies in luminal compound solubility between children and adults.<br/

The effect of Nd:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG lasers on the microhardness of human dentin

The current investigation determined the microhardness of dentin tissue irradiated with erbium, chromium-doped yttrium scandium gallium garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) and neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers. Thirty non-carious human molars were used in this study. Dentin disks were prepared by horizontal sectioning of one third of the occlusal surface. Halves of dentin specimens were irradiated with 3.5- and 4.5-W Er,Cr:YSGG lasers and with a 2-W Nd:YAG laser. The remaining halves served as controls. The microhardness measurements were recorded with a Vickers surface microhardness tester. The results were statistically evaluated by paired t test and one-way ANOVA (p = 0.05). Laser irradiation has significantly reduced the microhardness of dentin within each group compared to its control. Moreover, statistically significant differences were observed among the different groups (p < 0.05). The 3.5-W Er,Cr:YSGG laser produced the greatest reduction in microhardness of dentin followed by 4.5 W and Nd:YAG laser. The differences between all the groups were statistically significant. It was concluded that both laser devices used in this study have resulted in significant thermal damage and subsequent reduction in dentin microhardness values

’Educating the educated’: a report of an undergraduate medical student with multiple carious lesions and poor dietary habits

Abstract: It is evident in the undergraduate dental curriculum that competent dental students are expected to have a broad knowledge of the intricacies of the human body and its relationship with the oral cavity, but the same cannot be guaranteed for medical students. This case report of a medical undergraduate student who presented with multiple carious lesions and a poor knowledge of the impact of her habits on her oral heath illustrates the importance of using a well-formulated and holistic treatment plan with a focus on oral health promotion and education. The review appointment proved promising with an improved plaque score and dietary analysis. This article provides a brief introduction to the topics and discusses potential future developments that aim to reduce the subjectivity in the analysis process and simplify presentation of evidence to non-dental parties. CPD/Clinical Relevance: This case re-iterates the need to encompass education and prevention to stabilize and prevent dental caries and teach other future healthcare professionals so that they can utilize and consider this knowledge in the management of their own patients. Moreover, it demonstrates that there may be scope for raising dental awareness and education within the medical profession