Smoking and attitudes towards its cessation among native and international dental students in Lithuania

Abstract Background: Dental professionals are uniquely positioned to discourage smoking among their patients. However, little is known about the role of cultural background and attitudes towards smoking in the education of these professionals. Our study aimed to compare native Lithuanian and international dental students’ smoking habits, knowledge about the harmfulness of smoking and attitudes towards smoking cessation. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of smoking and its cessation among dental students at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (Kaunas, Lithuania) in 2012. All Lithuanian and international dental students in each year of dental school were invited to participate in the survey during a compulsory practical class or seminar. Altogether 606 students participated in the survey with a response rate of 84.2%. Explanatory factorial analysis (EFA), multivariate Discriminant Analysis (DA) and Binary Logistic Regression (BLR) served for the statistical analyses. Results: The percentages of occasional/current regular smokers were 41.1% and 55.7% (p = 0.068) among Lithuanian and international male students, and 22.7% and 22.9% (p = 0.776) among Lithuanian and international female students, respectively. The international dental students had a deeper knowledge of the harmfulness/addictiveness of smoking and held more positive attitudes towards smoking cessation among their patients than did the native Lithuanian dental students. Conclusions: The findings of the study underscored the need to properly incorporate tobacco cessation training into the curriculum of dental education. However, consideration of the cultural background of dental students in building up their capacity and competence for intervening against smoking is essential

Graduating dentists’ perceptions about their professional competence in Finland and Lithuania

Abstract Aims: Efforts to harmonise dental education in Europe have been put into action by the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). The aim of the study was to explore graduating dentists’ perceptions about their professional readiness for clinical work in Finland and Lithuania. Materials and methods: The survey targeted fifth‐year dental students at the University of Oulu and the University of Turku in Finland, and at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania (Lithuanian and international students) in 2016‐2017. The competences were evaluated in the questionnaire in 21 dental procedures based on ADEE competences by options: “I’d manage well,” “I’d need more training” or “It would not quite succeed.” The option “I’d manage well” was chosen in the analyses. Results: Students felt that they were most competent in producing and maintaining accurate patient records (91.9%), implementing sterilisation and hygiene in dental practice (91.3%) and working with other members of dental team and health profession (90.0%). The largest differences between Finnish and Lithuanian students were in designing and adjusting occlusal splints (87.0% vs. 14.3%) and in undertaking subgingival scaling (95.7% vs. 57.1%). The biggest differences between Lithuanian and international students were in identifying (and treating) abnormal and anxiety‐related patient (73.1% vs. 25.5%) and implementing tobacco cessation (65.3% vs. 31.9%). Conclusions: The graduating dental students in Finland and Lithuania manage well in most of the clinical procedures based on the ADEE competences. The students were most confident when dealing with tasks that are common in dental practice

Multi‐response optimization of extrusion conditions of grain amaranth flour by response surface methodology

The study was designed to optimize extrusion processing conditions for production of instant grain amaranth flour for complementary feeding. Multi-response criteria using response surface methodology and desirability function analysis were employed during the study. The central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was used to determine the level of processing variables and to generate the experimental runs. The process parameters tested included extrusion temperature (110–158°C), screw speed (40–52 Hz), and feed moisture content (11%–16%), while response variable was protein digestibility, sensory acceptability, water absorption index, water solubility index, bulk density, and viscosity. Data obtained from extrusion were analyzed using response surface methodology. Data were fitted to a second-order polynomial model, and the dependent variables expressed as a function of the independent variables. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that extrusion parameters had significant linear, quadratic, and interactive effects on the responses. Numerical optimization indicated that the optimum extrusion parameters were extrusion temperature of 150°C, extrusion speed (screw speed) of 50 Hz, and feed moisture content of 14.41%. The responses predicted for optimization resulted in protein digestibility 81.87%, water absorption index 1.92, water solubility index 0.55, bulk density 0.59 gm/L, viscosity 174.56 cP (14.55 RVU), and sensory acceptability score of 6.69, with 71% desirability