Blood Mercury Level and Its Determinants among Dental Practitioners in Hamadan, Iran

Objective: Exposure to mercury can occur in occupational and environmental settings.During clinical work with dental amalgam, the dental personnel are exposed to both metallic mercury and mercury vapor. The aim of the present study was to investigate bloodmercury level (BML) and its determinants among dentists practicing in Hamadan city,Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was done on all dental practitioners of Hamadan (n=43). Dentists were asked to complete a questionnaire, and then 5 ml bloodsamples were obtained from them. After preparation, mercury concentration of each sample was measured by cold vapor atomic absorption device. Pearson correlation test and regression models served for statistical analysis.Results: The mean blood concentration of mercury was 6.3 μg/l (SD=1.31 range 4.15-8.93). BML was positively associated with age, years in practice, working hours per day,number of amalgam restorations per day, number of amalgam removal per week, sea foodconsumption, working years in present office, using amalgam powder, using diamond bur for amalgam removal, dry sterilization of amalgam contaminated instruments, and deficient air ventilation.Conclusion: BML of dentists in Hamadan was higher than standards. Working hours and number of amalgam restorations per day were significantly correlated with blood mercury

Evaluation of Salivary Glucose, IgA and Flow Rate in Diabetic Patients: A Case-Control Study

Objective: An association between diabetes mellitus and alterations in the oral cavity has been noted. In this study, we evaluated differences between salivary IgA, glucose and flow rate in diabetic patients compared with healthy controls.Materials and Methods: Forty patients with type 1 diabetes, 40 patients with type 2 diabetes and 40 healthy controls were selected. Whole unstimulated saliva samples were collected by the standard method and the salivary flow rate was determined. Nephelometricand Pars method were used to measure salivary IgA and salivary glucose concentrations,respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by Chi-square and t test.Results: There were no significant differences in salivary IgA and glucose concentrations between type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients and their matched control subjects (P>0.05).Salivary flow rate was significantly lower in diabetic patients (P<0.05). In addition,DMFT was higher in diabetic patients than the controls.Conclusion: Determination of salivary constituents may be useful in the description and management of oral findings in diabetic patients

Evaluation of antimicrobial effect of four disinfectant solutions on handpieces contaminated to staphylococcus aureus , pseudomonas aeruginosa and candida albicans

&quot;nBackground and Aim: Contaminated dental handpieces have the potential to transfer infection to patients. New generation of autoclavable turbines have to some extent overcome the problem however, in clinic sometimes it is necessary to use chemical to disinfect handpieces. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial effect of some routinely used disinfectant solutions on dental contaminated handpieces. &quot;nMaterials and Methods: In this experimental study 35 turbines were sterilized. The turbines&apos; heads were inserted into microbial suspension containing staphylococcus, pseudomonas and candida and then exposed to the disinfectant solutions. Inoculations into culture medium were made at different intervals. All medium was incubated for 24 hours at 37oC followed by spectrophotometer inspection for detection of microbial growth. Serial dilutions of disinfectant agents were used to determine the highest dilution in which there was no microbial growth. Kruskal wallis test was used for statistical analysis and p&amp;lt;0.05 was considered as the level significance. &quot;nResults: Ethanol had antimicrobial effect on all of the tested microorganisms at dilution of 1:4. Betadine at dilution of 1:64 caused inhibition of all of the microbes except pseudomonas. Micro 10 had antimicrobial effect up to dilution of 1:256 but could not inhibit microbial growth at higher dilution. Sodium hypochlorite inhibited growth of the three microoganisms up to dilution of 1:1024. &quot;nConclusion: Based of on the results of this study sodium hypochlorite was found to be the most effective antimicrobial agent among those used in this study, inhibiting microbial growth at the highest dilution