Comparison of tooth brushing related knowledge, attitude and health behavior as well as dental health status among boy and girl students in elementary schools in district 4 of Tehran in 2015

Background and aims: Assessment of oral health status is considered as one of the main criteria for evaluating the public health. Knowledge and attitude towards oral health behavior, especially brushing and gender differenceare factors influencing oral health. This study was aimed to compare tooth brushing related knowledge, attitude and health behavior as well as …. (DMFT) among girl and boy students in elementary schools in district 4 of Tehran in2015.Method: The present cross-sectional (descriptive and analytical) study was carried out among 408 girl and boy elementary students from six randomly selected schools in district 4 of Tehran, Iran. Two-stage cluster sampling was selected and employed. A valid and reliable researcher-… questionnaire was used for this study. Dental visits wereperformed on the basis of DMFT index and all students were assured of information confidentiality. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16) software.Results: In the current study, comparing female students with males showed that the mean scores of brushing knowledge, attitude and health behavior in girls was higher than boys and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.001). However, the observed mean DMFT difference between the girls and boys in this study was not significant (p>0.05). Furthermore, a strong and statistically significant relationship was noticed between frequency of brushing and DMFT in both sexes (p<0.05).Conclusion: Mean scores of knowledge, attitude and behavior in both sexes were fairly good and also better in female students than males. It was further found that boys and girls in our study can be, respectively, classified as low and very low mean DMFT groups based on World Health Organization classification. Therefore, appropriate educational interventions with more focus on the vulnerable group of boys are highly advocated in order to improve their knowledge and attitude. Key Words: Knowledge, Attitude, DMFT, Health behavior brushin

The Impact of a School-Based Intervention Using the PBSEIM Model on Health Promoting Behaviors and Self-Care in Adolescent Females

AbstractIntroduction: Developing effective health habits during adolescence dramatically effects behavior formation during adulthood. Therefore, the current study was conducted with an aim to investigate the impact of school-based intervention using «Integrated Model of Planned Behavior and Self-Efficacy» (PBSEIM) on self-care and health promoting behaviors of female high school students of Abyek city, Qazvin Province (Iran), during year 2016.Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 100 female public high school students aged 15 to 19 years old in Abyek city, Qazvin Province. Two schools were randomly selected between 6 high schools. One of the high schools was randomly selected as the intervention group and the other one as the control group. Three classrooms in each school were randomly selected and the necessary samples were collected from each class. Overall, 100 samples had the inclusion criteria; 50 were included in the intervention and 50 in the control group. Demographic, “Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile” (HPLP II), and “Adolescent Girl’s Self-Care Questionnaire” was completed by both groups before and after the interventions. Face validity and content validity of the self-care questionnaire were assessed. Also, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this questionnaire was obtained as 0.73.The students in the intervention group were trained using the PBSEIM model and the control group received routine training. Data was collected and analyzed using the SPSS software (version 22) and independent and paired t tests. Values lower than 0.05 were considered significant.Results: There was a significant difference before and after the intervention in the average scores of health-promoting behaviors and self-care of adolescents in the intervention group in comparison to the control group (P < 0.05). Inter-group comparison demonstrated a significantly higher increase of health-promoting behaviors and self-care of adolescents in the intervention group before and after the intervention (P-value < 0.05).Conclusions: School-based educational intervention using psychosocial models is effective in changing health-promoting behaviors and self-care

Evaluation of the antibacterial effect of nickel oxide nanoparticles against bacteria involved in dental caries

Tooth decay is one of the most common diseases in the oral cavity and is one of the most widespread diseases in the human population. This study aimed to determine the antibacterial effect of nickel oxide nanoparticles against bacteria involved in tooth decay. In this study, the disk diffusion method was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility and the microdilution broth method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Nanoparticles were also synthesized in two molecular size (A: 8.1 and B: 12 nm) by the sol-gel method. The MIC of the first nanoparticle for Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus mutans was 31.25 and 125 μg/ml, respectively. The MIC of the second nanoparticle for S. sanguinis was 125 μg/ml. In the case of S. mutans up to a concentration of 500 μg/ml, no growth inhibition was observed. The results showed that nickel oxide nanoparticles have acceptable antibacterial properties against S. mutans and S. sanguinis, which can be used in dental materials to prevent dental caries. However, this requires the determination of cellular toxicity and its side effects in future studies.

Mitral and aortic valve regurgitation following surgical and transcatheter perimembranous ventricular septal defect closure in children and adolescents: midterm outcomes

Abstract Background Closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defects (pmVSD), either surgical or percutaneous, might improve or cause new-onset mitral regurgitation (MR) and aortic regurgitation (AR). We aimed to evaluate the changes in MR and AR after pmVSD closure by these two methods. Material and method We performed a comparative retrospective data review of all pediatric patients with pmVSDs treated at our institution with surgical or antegrade percutaneous methods from 2014 to 2019 and 146 consecutive patients under 18 years were enrolled. We closely looked at the mitral and aortic valve function after repair. Included patients had no or lower than moderate aortic valve prolapse and baseline normal mitral or aortic valve function or less than moderate MR or AR. Results Out of 146 patients, 83 (57%) pmVSDs were closed percutaneously, and 63 (43%) pmVSDs were closed surgically. 80 and 62 patients were included for MR evaluation, and 81 and 62 patients for AR evaluation in percutaneous and surgical groups. The mean follow-up time was 40.48 ± 21.59 months in the surgery group and 20.44 ± 18.66 months in the transcatheter group. Mild to moderate degrees of MR and AR did not change or decreased in most patients. In detail, MR of 70% and AR of 50% of the valves were resolved or decreased in both groups. 13% of patients with no MR developed trivial to mild MR, and 10% of patients with no AR showed mild to moderate AR after pmVSD closure in both methods. There was no significant difference between the two methods regarding emerging new regurgitation or change in the severity of the previous regurgitation. Conclusion pmVSD closure usually improves mild to moderate MR and AR to a nearly similar extent in both percutaneous and surgical methods among children and adolescents. It might lead to the onset of new MR or AR in cases with no regurgitation

Pest rodents as the essential elements of Mycobacterium bovis controlling programs

Introduction: As a rule in any Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) control program, recognition of infection source is of great importance. Hence in this study, isolation and evaluation of Mycobacterial genomic patterns obtained from rodents of infected farms by RFLP method was conducted. Material and Method: Fifteen mice submitted from infected cattle farms with BTB that were collected in four provinces of IRAN were used in this study. Culture of Mycobacterium and RFLP–PGRS and RFLP–DR analysis of bovine isolates from the same areas were performed in the usual manner. Following the detection of different patterns between mice and cattle isolates, identification by PCR of IS6110 and RV0577, RD typing and sequencing of 16SrRNA and rpoB was conducted. Result: Three isolates were obtained out of the 15 mice samples cultured from 2 out of the 4 separate provinces. RFLP analysis with PGRS and DR probes identified 2 different patterns from 5 cattle isolates and 1 single pattern from 2 mice isolates located at Ahwaz province, and 2 different patterns from 9 bovine isolates and 1 pattern from 1 mouse isolates located at West Azerbaijan were identified. Two mice isolates from Ahwaz province were negative at the above PCRs and sequencing of 16SrRNA and rpoB revealed that these isolates are Mycobacterium kansasii. Another mouse identified as belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex by PCRs and RD typing revealed that this isolate must be Mycobacterium microti. Discussion: This study was unable to track tangible evidence of tuberculosis transmission by mice. Hence to prove this hypothesis, further studies are advised. However, it was found that mice are potentially a reservoir of zoonotic pathogens, and therefore its importance in this regard must be considered as an effective element of any controlling program