Satisfaction with school dental service provided by mobile dental squads

Feedback on satisfaction with dental care is vital for continuous improvement of the service delivery process and outcome. The objective of this study was to assess the satisfaction with school dental service (SDS) provided via mobile dental squads in Selangor, Malaysia, under 4 domains of satisfaction: patient-personnel interaction, technical competency, administrative efficiency, and clinic setup using self-administered questionnaires. Among the 607 participants who had received treatment, 62 were satisfied with the services provided. In terms of domains, technical competency achieved the highest satisfaction score, whereas clinic setup was ranked the lowest. As for items within the domains, the most acceptable was "dental operator did not ask personal things which were not dentally related," whereas privacy of treatment was the least acceptable. In conclusion, whereas children were generally satisfied with the SDS, this study indicates that there are still areas for further improvement

Satisfaction with the oral health services. A qualitative study among non-commissioned officers in the Malaysian armed forces

Patient satisfaction is critical for the growth and prosperity of any oral health service or practice. The success of any oral health service can be assessed by an evaluation of the degree of satisfaction/dissatisfaction of its patients. Objective The aim of this study is to assess satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the oral health services among Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF). Method A qualitative study using the Nominal Group Technique was undertaken. Eighty subjects from the Rasah Camp, Seremban were randomly selected from four lists, namely privates, male and female corporals and sergeants and were Grouped into 10 discussion groups of eight participants each. Of the 10 groups, four groups comprised male corporals.. three groups of privates, two groups of sergeants and one group of female corporals. Two separate discussion sessions were conducted to elicit factors/items causing dissatisfaction and satisfaction expressed by the participants. Every participant then scored all the factors perceived as important by members of the group. The score ranged from 0-9 i.e., the least to the most important. Scores were weighted, and the weighted score of every participant for each item was added. The ratings of the factors were determined by comparing the sum Of the weighted scores. Results The six most important factors/items rated in the satisfaction discussion were modern equipment (9.07), friendly dentist (8.27), pleasant surgery (8.23), good quality treatment (7.93), friendly staff (7.18) and pain alleviation (6.07). These factors were further regrouped into three broad categories i.e. (1) Clinic set-Lip, (2) Patient-personnel interaction (PPI) and (3) Technical competency (TC). In the dissatisfaction discussion six factors/items were rated i.e. long waiting time (10.39), sequence of treatment not followed (7.18), non-availability of dentist (7.16), unfriendly staff (7.05), poor quality treatment (6.80) and restricted time for treatment (5.98). The three most important categories in the dissatisfaction discussion were (1) Administrative efficiency, (2) PPI and (3) TC. Conclusion A conceptual model was developed to explain the factors affecting patients' satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the oral health services. It is recommended that a questionnaire Survey be undertaken to validate and reflect the entire population of the MAF. Remedial measures highlighted in the areas of dissatisfaction should be addressed accordingly based on the quantitative study

A survey on oral hygiene practices among Malaysian adults

A survey on oral hygiene practices was conducted on 537 dentate adult patients aged 15 years and over. The aim of this study was to investigate the variation in dental behavior with regards to socio-demographic factors, namely age, sex, ethnicity, income, education and occupational status. Patients attending nine randomly selected government dental clinics were interviewed on their daily oral hygiene practices. The majority (89.7) of the subjects reported that they brushed their teeth, 68 used toothpaste containing fluoride, but only 8.4 flossed their teeth. Generally the younger group had better oral hygiene habits. The higher the socioeconomic status of the adults, the better their toothcleaning practices. Awareness concerning dental floss was low regardless of all the socio-demographic variables. It was concluded that there is a need to improve the dental health practices of adults in Malaysia

Utilization, knowledge and attitudes concerning sealants among Malaysian dentists: a national survey

The aim of this postal survey was to assess the utilization, knowledge and attitude concerning sealants among Malaysian dentists. A pretested questionnaire was sent to all dentists (1217) who were on the Dentist Register of Malaysia of 1987. A response rate of 61.1% was obtained. The results indicate that 52.6% of the respondents have used sealants, but of these only 13.6% have used them frequently. The two "knowledge" related questions receiving the most support concerned the suitability of the first permanent molars for sealants and the loss of sealants attributable to problems at the time of application. The two "attitudinal" questions receiving the most support concerned the value of sealants in preventing dental caries and the need for the profession to expand more efforts toward increasing public demand for sealants. Only about 50% of the respondents believed that sealants are cost-effective

Sociodemographic characteristics, clinicopathological parameters and survival among Malaysians with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)

Introduction: Western researchers showed that oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients exhibit lower survival rate and poorer prognosis compared to other type of cancer where several clinicopathological parameters have been implicated in the survival of patients. This study aims to assess the association between sociodemographic and clinicopathological parameters with survival of OSCC patients. Method: Data were collected from 253 histologically diagnosed OSCC patients attending selected clinics nationwide. Survival was analyzed for relation with habits, site, disease stage and nodal involvement. Results: Mean age was 58.9 ± 12.6 years with 8.3% aged less than 40. Majority is females (61.1%) and of Indian ethnic (48.0%). Most common habit was quid chewing (55.8%), followed by smoking (29.7%) and most came at stage IV (44.3%). Tongue was the most common site (38.9%), followed by buccal mucosa (35.0%). Factors associated with survival are smoking (p = 0.016), stage at presentation (p < 0.001) and nodal involvement (p < 0.001). Discussion: Majority of OSCC cases occurred among Indians where the patients were quid chewers and presents with advanced cancer. Survival of patients decreased steadily over the years. At 1 year after diagnosis, 67.2% was still alive but only 13.4% survived 5 years. Among the habits studied, only smoking was found to be associated with survival where among those smoking, only 38.7% is alive compared to 61.3% deceased. No association was found between site and survival. A highly significant association was seen for both cancer stage and nodal involvement with survival. More survivors were found among those who come at early stage (76.3%) compared to late stage (32.7%). Similarly, more than two thirds (69.1%) of those who present with negative nodal involvement were found to be alive. In conclusion, smoking, disease stage and nodal status are predictors of survival for OSCC patients in Malaysia. Acknowledgements: Grant-IRPA06-02-03-0174PR0054/05-05/, OPEX-UM 2008, 2009, 2010, Abraham, M.T., Anand, R., Tay, K.K., Mustafa, W.M.W., Yuen, K.M., Norlida, A., Rahman, Z.A.A

Oral mucosal lesions in Malay quid and non-quid chewers in Kelantan

The Malaysian nationwide survey on oral mucosal lesions (OML) in 1993/94 showed a low prevalence of OML in particular oral cancer and precancer (OPC) among Malays as compared to the Indians and the Indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak. A low prevalence of quid chewing habit was also noted in the Malays in that survey. The present study was conducted to investigate whether the low prevalence of OPC in the Malays was attributed to the low prevalence of quid users among the Malays and/or whether the quid contents used were different. Two examiners were trained prior to the survey. The interexaminer consistency of diagnosing the presence or absence of lesions was 91.3. An interview on their oral habits was also done. The mean age of 276 subjects examined was 61.1± 10.1 years. There were 23.6 men and 76.4 women. Among the subjects interviewed, 41.7 were smokers and 37.7 were quid chewers. The prevalence of OML was 20.3 while OPC was found in only 1.4 of the subjects examined. Among the quid chewers and non-quid chewers, the prevalence of OML was found to be 35.6 and 11 respectively. However the prevalence of OPC (only leukoplakia and lichen planus were detected; cancer, erythroplakia and oral submucous fibrosis were absent) was equally low in both groups (1.9 among quid chewers and 1.2 among non-quid chewers). Such low prevalence of OPC among Malay quid chewers differed from reported higher prevalences of OPC in the Malaysian Indians and the Indigenous people of Sarawak. A further analysis of the quid contents showed a low usage of tobacco (3.8) in the quid mixtures chewed by these subjects as compared to the quid mixtures reportedly used by the Indian and the Indigenous people Sarawak. It is concluded that the lack of tobacco in the quid mixtures used by the Malays may be related to the low prevalence of OPC in Malay quid chewers

Impact of water filters and consumption of bottled water on fluoride intake

The objectives of this study were to assess the intake of fluoride among 4-5 years old children from drinking water (FH20) and whether current practises of use of water filters and consumption of bottled water have any impact on fluoride intake. A questionnaire survey was conducted to elicit details of drinking water in 350 children aged 4-5 years old. The intake of fluoride from drinking water over a period of two days was biochemically determined in a subsample of 200 subjects. The majority of children (97.0%) had access to tap water, 23.1% to filtered tap water and 11.3% reported use of bottled water. The use of filters was found to be associated with ethnicity and socio-economic status (p<0.00). The mean fluoride concentration of unfiltered and filtered tap water were 0.541 ± 0.167 and 0.534±0.192 ppm, respectively. The mean volume of water consumed was 1348.76±482.70 mL/day while the mean FH2O was 726.7 ± 357.5 ug/day. The use of filters and consumption of bottled water were sparse with no significant impact on FH2O over a two-day study period

The social impact of oral and facial pain in an industrial population

The aim of this study is to determine the social impact of oral and facial pain in a sample involving an industrial population. Out of a total of 355 subjects interviewed, nearly one-half claimed to have oral and facial pain in the previous one month prior to the survey. The most common type of pain was that related to hot or cold fluids or sweet things followed by toothache. On the average, the pain lasted for 4.2 days (SD = 4.9) per person in the past one-month. About one in five persons with pain reported that it was severe enough to disrupt sleep. About one in ten persons reporting pain had to take sick leave because of the pain. However, only one in four persons with pain consulted a doctor or dentist. More than one-third tried to cope with the pain and did nothing while the rest tried various means of self-cure. It is therefore postulated that in this population, pain per se is a poor predictor of utilisation of dental services. Further research into pain coping behaviour and how this affects of pattern of utilisation of dental services is indicated in order to formulate a strategy to encourage the habit of seeking prompt dental care by the target population

Periodontal status and treatment needs among Indian estate population

The aim of this study was to determine the periodontal status and treatment needs among the Indian estate population. The Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs was used to obtained clinical data on 208 Indian subjects residing in three estates in the state of Selangor. The prevalence of periodontal disease among the subjects was 100. Less than 1 of the subjects had bleeding on probing as the highest CPITN score. About 97 of the subjects showed evidence of periodontal pocket of 4mm or more. Of these, half showed pocketing of 6mm or more. No statistically significant difference (p> 0.05) was observed between males and females in terms of the most severe periodontal conditions encountered. About 2.5, 1.6 and 0.9 sextants were involved with pocketing of 4-5mm, calculus and pocketing of 6mm or more respectively. Again this pattern of sextants involvement shows no significant difference by gender (p>0.05). All subjects required oral hygiene instruction and 97.4 required scaling. Complex periodontal care was required by 48.7 of the subjects. The findings of this study indicate an urgent need for an oral health promotion programme to be instituted aimed at the prevention of periodontal disease and the utilization of appropriate manpower for the control and management of the existing disease in the Indian estate population

Knowledge, perceptions and clinical application of the shortened dental arch concept among Malaysian government dentists

Background: Dracaena cinnabari (DC) is a perennial tree that located on the Southern coast of Yemen native to the Socotra Island. This tree produces a deep red resin known as the Dragon's blood, the Twobrother's Blood or Damm Alakhwain. The current study performed to evaluate the safety of the DC resin methanol extract after a single or 28 consecutive daily oral administrations. Methods: In assessing the safety of DC resin methanol extract, acute and sub-acute oral toxicity tests performed following OECD guidelines 423 and 407, respectively, with slight modifications. In acute oral toxicity test, DC resin methanol extract administered to female Sprague Dawley rats by oral gavage at a single dose of 300 and 2000 mg/kg body weight. Rats observed for toxic signs for 14 days. In sub-acute oral toxicity test, DC resin methanol extract administered to the rats by oral gavage at 500, 1000, and 1500 mg/kg body weight daily up to 28 days to male and female Spradgue Dawley rats. The control and high dose in satellite groups were also maintained and handled as the previous groups to determine the late onset toxicity of DC resin methanol extract. At the end of each test, hematological and biochemical analysis of the collected blood were performed as well as gross and microscopic pathology. Results: In acute oral toxicity, no treatment-related death or toxic signs were observed. It revealed that the DC resin methanol extract could be well tolerated up to the dose 2000 mg/kg body weight and could be classified as Category 5. The sub-acute test observations indicated that there are no treatment-related changes up to the high dose level compared to the control. Food consumption, body weight, organ weight, hematological parameters, biochemical parameters and histopathological examination (liver, kidney, heart, spleen and lung) revealed no abnormalities. Water intake was significantly higher in the DC resin methanol extract treated groups compared to the control. Conclusion: This study demonstrates tolerability of DC resin methanol extract administered daily for 28 days up to 1500 mg/kg dose