Seroprevalence of hepatitis B antigenemia among dental students in a private South Indian dental institution

Background: Hepatitis B is the most important infectious occupational disease for the dental health care workers (DHCWs). DHCWs frequently come in contact with blood and saliva and hence are at risk for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) exposure. Studies indicate that DHCWs, through occupational exposure, may have a 10 times greater risk of becoming a chronic hepatitis B carrier than the average citizen.The study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of HBV infection among dental students enrolled at a private dental institution in Mysuru, Karnataka, India.Methods: A cross sectional seroprevalencestudy was conducted which included dental students who were enrolled in the dental institution. Data were collected by administering a standard questionnaire to every student regarding their personal health information. Their blood samples were collected and tested by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Hepatitis B surface antigen.Results: 352 dental students who gave consent were screened out of a total of 453 dental students. Out of 352 students, 163 (46%) were vaccinated and 189 (54%) were non-vaccinated. All the dental students were found to be seronegative for HBV infection.Conclusions: Though a low rate of HBV infection was observed among dental students, a significant number of dental students were non-vaccinated which suggests a need for proactive implementation of HBV vaccination programme.

Dental Cusps: Normal, Supernumerary and Cusp-like Structures — An Overview

Cusp is an elevation or a mound on the crown portion of the tooth making up a divisional part of the occlusal surface. The occlusal surface of posterior teeth consists of varying number of cusps, which are specific to each tooth. Supernumerary or accessory cusps are the extra number of cusps that occuron the surface of the tooth. These cusps can occur on the posterior teeth, thereby increasing the number of cusps. They can also occur on the anterior teeth as cusp-like structures where cusps are usually not present (for example: talon cusp). Accessory cusps which occur as dental anomalies, such as dens evaginatus are mentioned in the dental literature. Apart from this, the dental anthropology literature also mentions of a number of accessory cusps considered as normal anatomical variants, such as protostylid, parastyle, and so on. Many of these anatomical variants occur as traits in certain racial populations. For the better understanding of the terminologies of these anatomical variants, it is essential to know the different nomenclatures and the various theories proposed to explainthe origin of multicusp teeth. This article is therefore aimed at providing the reader an overview of the various dental cusp nomenclatures, theories proposed to explain the origin of multicusp teeth and the supernumerary cusps and cusp-like structures.&nbsp

Unusual Occurrence of Peripheral Ossifying Fibroma in an Elderly Male

The present case is a scenario of occurrence of relatively common peripheral ossifying fibroma in an uncommon site of occurrence. It was noted in the maxillary posterior region incontrast to its usual occurrence in anterior maxillary region. The lesion was observed in elderly male subject aged 64 years, contradictory to its usual predilection for young females in thesecond or third decade of life. As this case contradicts the common norms of predilection of the lesion with regard to age, gender and site, it emphasizes the need for looking beyond theconventional norms for proper diagnosis and prompt treatment.&nbsp

Comparison of Microwave Versus Conventional Decalcification of Teeth Using Three Different Decalcifying Solutions

Background: In routine histopathology, decalcification of teeth is an essential and important step during tissue processing. The present study was attempted to decalcify teeth using microwave method and to compare it with conventional decalcification method. Aim: To compare microwave decalcification with conventional decalcification method with respect to the speed of decalcification, preservation of tissue structure, and efficacy of staining. Materials and Methods: A total of 72 single-rooted premolars were used for both conventional and microwave decalcification methods. Three different types of decalcifying agents at 5% and 7% were used. Decalcifying agents included nitric acid, formic acid, and trichloroacetic acid, each at 5% and 7%. About 6 teeth were included in each category and were decalcified by both conventional and microwave method. After decalcification, all the teeth were examined macroscopically and microscopically. Cramer’s V-test was used to determine the statistical significance. Results: The results have shown that microwave method using 5% and 7% nitric acid were the fastest. Structural details and good staining characteristics were better in teeth decalcified by 5% nitric acid and 5% trichloroacetic acid by both the methods. Conclusions: 5% nitric acid by microwave method proved to be the best decalcifying agent as it was fast and gave good structural details and staining characteristics

Prestandaanalys av två metoder inom semisupervised och supervised maskininlärning

A study was performed on Naive-Bayes and Label Spread- ing methods applied in a spam filter as classifiers. In the testing procedure their ability to predict was observed and the results were compared in a McNemar test; leading to the discovery of the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen methods in a environment of varying training data. Though the results were inconclusive due to resource restrictions, the theory is discussed from various angles in order to pro- vide a better understanding of the conditions that can lead to potentially different results between the chosen meth- ods; opening up for improvement and further studies. The conclusion made of this study is that a significant differ- ence exists in terms of ability to predict labels between the two classifiers. On a secondary note it is recommended to choose a classifier depending on available training data and computational power. En studie utfördes på klassifieringsmetoderna Naive-Bayes och Label Spreading applicerade i ett spam filter. Meto- dernas förmåga att predicera observerades och resultaten jämfördes i ett McNemar test, vilket ledde till upptäckten av styrkorna och svagheterna av de valda metoderna i en miljö med varierande träningsdata. Fastän resultaten var ofullständiga på grund av bristfälliga resurser, så diskute- ras den bakomliggande teorin utifrån flera vinklar. Denna diskussion har målet att ge en bättre förståelse kring de bakomliggande förutsättningarna som kan leda till poten- tiellt annorlunda resultat för de valda metoderna. Vidare öppnar detta möjligheter för förbättringar och framtida stu- dier. Slutsatsen som dras av denna studie är att signifikanta skillnader existerar i förmågan att kunna predicera klasser mellan de två valda klassifierarna. Den slutgiltiga rekom- mendationen blir att välja en klassifierare utifrån utbudet av träningsdata och tillgängligheten av datorkraft.

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis: A report of two cases in the same family

Overgrowth of keratinized gingival tissues is a common condition and is described under variety of names. Causes of such enlargement can be medications, hereditary, and/or local irritating factors. Mutation in SOS1, son-of-sevenless gene, is thought to be responsible for hereditary gingival fibromatosis. This report shows a case of 19-year-old male and his 15-year-old sister, with a chief complaint of overgrowth of gingival and irregularly placed teeth. A similar overgrowth was also found in other members of the same family, without any drug history or syndromic conditions. An occurrence of the disease has been found in two generations of this family and therefore, it may be following autosomal dominant trait of inheritance. Since it is idiopathic and has a genetic cause for its occurrence, it cannot be prevented. Both cases underwent a surgical intervention to rectify the abnormality and were followed from 6 months to 1 year, during which there was no recurrence

Peripheral ossifying fibroma with an underlying exophytic bony mass

The peripheral ossifying fibroma (POF) is a benign reactive gingival overgrowth occurring mainly in the anterior maxilla in young adults, predominantly among females. The definitive diagnosis is established by histological examination. Surgery is the treatment of choice, though the recurrence rate can reach up to 20%. The purpose of this article is to present a case of POF in a 50-year-old female with an abnormal size and an exophytic bony mass associated with it

Lipoid Proteinosis: A Rare Encounter in Dental Office

Lipoid proteinosis is a sporadic congenital metabolic disorder which is characterized by deposition of hyaline material in dermis, submucosal connective tissue, and various internal organs. It has an extremely low prevalence rate with less than 300 cases reported so far. This progressive disease has a vast spectrum of manifestations ranging from asymptomatic lesions to fatal seizures and respiratory obstruction making timely diagnosis of this rare disorder an imperative task for oral health care practitioners. We report a case of characteristic oral manifestations of lipoid proteinosis in a 28-year-old male patient along with a review of relevant prevailing literature