Assessing readiness to manage medical emergencies among dental students at four dental schools

Background and Purpose Dentists treat a wide range of patients, including patients with compromised health conditions. While rendering treatment, various medical emergencies can and do occur. To help increase the knowledge required to manage such emergencies, dental students must be trained while in dental school. This study aims to assess the level of medical emergency preparedness and knowledge among dental students at four dental schools. Material and Methods The participating dental schools were IUSD, Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry, Marquette University School of Dentistry, and the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. Groups were designed to include 20 dental students from Years 1 to 4. Students were asked to fill out a survey and were then tested on 10 clinical medical emergency scenarios. Results A total of 331 dental students participated in the study. The scores based on 10 case scenarios presented with a range of 4.35–8.02. There was no statistically significant difference in the level of preparedness when dental schools were compared. However, Year 1 and Year 2 dental students had significantly lower total scores than those of Years 3 and 4. The students in Years 1 and 2 demonstrated less confidence in their current knowledge to manage medical emergencies. Satisfaction with the training received ranged from 38% to 84%. Conclusion The results from this study indicate that students’ preparedness to manage medical emergencies at these four dental schools is statistically similar. Additional yearly training could enhance students’ preparedness in the management of medical emergencies in the dental setting

Theoretical and experimental investigations of mesoporous C3N5/MoS2 hybrid for lithium and sodium ion batteries

The electrochemical properties of mesoporous CN with a triazole-based C–N framework coupled with MoS as hybrid electrode materials for lithium and sodium ion batteries are investigated. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the reversible adsorption of the lithium and sodium ions follows the order CN/MoS hybrid > CN > g-CN. Bader charge analysis shows that the charge transferred from lithium and sodium ions is more distributed across the hybrid material as compared to the pure CN. It is experimentally found that the optimized mesoporous CN/MoS hybrid shows a 3.86 and 10.80 times increase in reversible capacities as compared to mesoporous g-CN for lithium and sodium ion batteries, respectively. Based on the comparative mechanism studies, the limited intercalation kinetics and surface-derived ion storage hinder the application of the mesoporous g-CN in lithium and sodium ion batteries, respectively. The synthesized mesoporous CN/MoS hybrids with mesopore channels, expanded gallery height and desired ion adsorption energies provide insights to improve the electrode performances of carbon nitrides-based materials for lithium and sodium ion batteries

Comparison between heparin-conjugated fibrin and collagen sponge as bone morphogenetic protein-2 carriers for bone regeneration

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is used to promote bone regeneration. However, the bone regeneration ability of BMP-2 relies heavily on the delivery vehicle. Previously, we have developed heparin-conjugated fibrin (HCF), a vehicle for long-term delivery of BMP-2 and demonstrated that long-term delivery of BMP-2 enhanced its osteogenic efficacy as compared to short-term delivery at an equivalent dose. The aim of this study was to compare the bone-forming ability of the BMP-2 delivered by HCF to that delivered by clinically utilized BMP-2 delivery vehicle collagen sponge. An in vitro release profile of BMP-2 showed that HCF released 80% of the loaded BMP-2 within 20 days, whereas collagen sponge released the same amount within the first 6 days. Moreover, the BMP-2 released from the HCF showed significantly higher alkaline phosphatase activity than the BMP-2 released from collagen sponge at 2 weeks in vitro. Various doses of BMP-2 were delivered with HCF or collagen sponge to mouse calvarial defects. Eight weeks after the treatment, bone regeneration was evaluated by computed tomography, histology, and histomorphometric analysis. The dose of BMP-2 delivered by HCF to achieve 100% bone formation in the defects was less than half of the BMP-2 dose delivered by collagen sponge to achieve a similar level of bone formation. Additionally, bone regenerated by the HCF-BMP-2 had higher bone density than bone regenerated by the collagen sponge-BMP-2. These data demonstrate that HCF as a BMP-2 delivery vehicle exerts better osteogenic ability of BMP-2 than collagen sponge, a clinically utilized delivery vehicle