Teledentistry

Problem Statement: Healthy People 2030 strategic goals and objectives are focused on increasing health access and quality of care yet, millions of individuals still experience shortages of available oral health care services, limited oral health care providers, and living in rural areas, geographically distant from oral health care centers, all compounded by a current global pandemic. Purpose: Investigate literature related to the role of teledentistry during a global pandemic and its associated benefits, effectiveness, and barriers on patient oral healthcare access and quality of care outcomes and to identify oral healthcare providers\u27 knowledge, attitude, and perceptions on the utilization of teledentistry telecommunication tools during virtual patient visits. Methodology: An extensive review of the literature was conducted utilizing electronic databases and websites of seminal journals and professional organizations and associations, in the English language. Specific databases used to conduct the literature reviews include EBSCO Host, PubMed, and CINHAL; accessed through Old Dominion University’s Libraries and direct access to the American Dental and Dental Hygienist’s Associations’ websites. Inclusion criteria were limited to peer-reviewed journals, the use of keyword searches such as Teledentistry, Telehealth, Telemedicine, pandemic, COVID 19, dental health, as well as documents exclusive to professional organizations such as Access, RDH magazine, and the American Dental Hygienist’s Association. Articles selected were no greater than ten years old. Discussion: Telehealth or Telemedicine and Teledentistry are multidimensional solutions to these challenges providing remote patient monitoring, health and oral health promotion, using telecommunication and videoconferencing tools. All aligning with Healthy People 2030 goals and objectives by improving access and quality to health and oral healthcare services during a global pandemic. Conclusion: There is emerging evidence supporting the effectiveness and efficacy of teledentistry in providing remote patient monitoring and consultation, and as a potential solution to increase access and quality of care during a global pandemic.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_healthsciences/1003/thumbnail.jp

Interprofessional Education: Medical and Dental Hygiene Student Competencies During the Delivery of Patient Care

Purpose: Interprofessional education (IPE) helps prepare health care students for collaborative delivery of patient care. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate changes in self-perceived collaborative competencies of dental hygiene and medical students after a live patient care IPE experience. Methods: Dental hygiene (n=23) and medical students (n=26) were paired for a single-encounter IPE experience with adult patients. Following the collaboration, participants completed the 20-item, seven-point Likert scale retrospective pre-test/post-test Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS) to assess changes in perceived collaborative competencies as a result of the IPE experience. Participants reflected on current and prior self-perceived interprofessional collaborative competence in the areas of communication, collaboration, roles and responsibilities, collaborative patient/family-centered approach, conflict management/resolution, and team functioning. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: All participants (n=49) completed the IPE survey for a response rate of 100%. Pre-test mean scores ranged from M=5.40, SD=.46 to M=6.31, SD=1.23 and post-test scores ranged from M=6.09, SD=.46 to M=6.72, SD=.86 for all participants. All paired item mean score differences were statistically significant (p≤.05) indicating increased self-reported collaborative competence. Conclusions: A live patient care IPE experience created a positive perception of collaborative competence among medical and dental hygiene student participants. Dental hygiene curricula should include IPE, including live patient experiences to foster students’ collaborative competence and preparation for interprofessional collaboration in the workplace

On the accuracy of retrieved wind information from Doppler lidar observations

A single pulsed Doppler lidar was successfully deployed to measure air flow and turbulence over the Malvern hills, Worcester, UK. The DERA Malvern lidar used was a CO2 µm pulsed Doppler lidar. The lidar pulse repetition rate was 120 Hz and had a pulse duration of 0.6 µs The system was set up to have 41 range gates with range resolution of 112 m. This gave a theoretical maximum range of approximately 4.6 km. The lidar site was 2 km east of the Malvern hill ridge which runs in a north-south direction and is approximately 6 km long. The maximum height of the ridge is 430 m. Two elevation scans (Range-Height Indicators) were carried out parallel and perpendicular to the mean surface flow. Since the surface wind was primarily westerly the scans were carried out perpendicular and parallel to the ridge of the Malvern hills. The data were analysed and horizontal winds, vertical winds and turbulent fluxes were calculated for profiles throughout the boundary layer. As an aid to evaluating the errors associated with the derivation of velocity and turbulence profiles, data from a simple idealized profile was also analysed using the same method. The error analysis shows that wind velocity profiles can be derived to an accuracy of 0.24 m s-1 in the horizontal and 0.3 m s-1 in the vertical up to a height of 2500 m. The potential for lidars to make turbulence measurements, over a wide area, through the whole depth of the planetary boundary layer and over durations from seconds to hours is discussed

Bisphenol A Blood and Saliva Levels Prior to and after Dental Sealant Placement in Adults

Purpose: This study examined the effects of a widely used (Delton® Pit & Fissure Sealant – Light Cure Opaque, DENTSPLY Professional, York, PA) pit and fissure sealant material on bisphenol A (BPA) levels in blood and saliva, among both low and high–dose groups over time. Methods: A convenience sample of 30 adults from the Old Dominion University population were randomly and evenly divided into 2 independent variable groups: a low–dose group (1 occlusal sealant application) and high–dose group (4 occlusal sealant applications). A 2 group, time series design was used to examine the presence and concentration of BPA in serum and saliva after sealant placement. Differences comparing low–dose and high–dose groups were examined 1 hour prior (baseline), 1 hour post, 3 hours post and 24 hours after sealant placement, as measured by a direct–competitive BPA Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Hypothesized outcomes were evaluated by applying a parametric, 2 way ANOVA for repeated measures technique to data on the 30 participants ranging in age from 18 to 40 years, and were of mixed gender and ethnicity. Results: BPA was detected in the saliva of all participants prior to sealant placement and ranged from 0.07 to 6.00 ng/ml at baseline. Salivary BPA concentration levels peaked over a 3 hour period following sealant placement and returned to baseline levels within 24 hours. BPA was significantly elevated at all post–sealant placement time periods for both the low–dose (1 occlusal sealant application) and high–dose (4 occlusal sealant applications) groups with peak levels of 3.98 ng/ml and 9.08 ng/ml, respectively. The blood serum did not contain BPA at any point in this investigation. Conclusions: Exposure to BPA from sources other than dental resins contributes to salivary baseline concentration levels and indicates environmental exposure and use of products containing BPA. Use of specific molecular formulations of dental sealant material determines the release of BPA, therefore, dental sealant materials should be reviewed independently when questioning the release of BPA from dental sealants. In addition, dosage amounts of the dental sealant material used in this study do not influence the serum concentration levels of BPA. Further research is needed to examine the cumulative estrogenic effects of BPA from dental sealants

Oral Health Promotion: Knowledge, Confidence, and Practices in Preventing Early-Severe Childhood Caries of Virginia WIC Program Personnel

Purpose: This study assessed the oral health knowledge, confidence and practices of Virginia personnel in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Methods: In 2009, 257 WIC personnel were electronically emailed via an investigator-designed 22-item Survey Monkey® questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Fishers Exact tests compared personnel demographics and oral health knowledge, confidence and practices at the p≤0.01 and 0.05 significance level. Results: Response rate was 68%. WIC personnel were knowledgeable about basic oral health concepts. More than half of those reporting were not confident assessing for visual signs of dental decay and do not routinely assess for visual signs of decay. Only 4% of personnel apply fluoride therapy. Conclusion: Findings support the need for health promotion/disease prevention at WIC. This study supports the NDHRA priority area, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention: Validate and test assessment instruments/strategies/mechanisms that increase health promotion and disease prevention among diverse populations

Stochastic analysis of surface roughness

For the characterization of surface height profiles we present a new stochastic approach which is based on the theory of Markov processes. With this analysis we achieve a characterization of the complexity of the surface roughness by means of a Fokker-Planck or Langevin equation, providing the complete stochastic information of multiscale joint probabilities. The method was applied to different road surface profiles which were measured with high resolution. Evidence of Markov properties is shown. Estimations for the parameters of the Fokker-Planck equation are based on pure, parameter free data analysis

The Effect of the Environment on alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001) Surface Structures

We report that calculating the Gibbs free energy of the alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001) surfaces in equilibrium with a realistic environment containing both oxygen and hydrogen species is essential for obtaining theoretical predictions consistent with experimental observations. Using density-functional theory we find that even under conditions of high oxygen partial pressure, the metal terminated surface is surprisingly stable. An oxygen terminated alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001) surface becomes stable only if hydrogen is present on the surface. In addition, including hydrogen on the surface resolves discrepancies between previous theoretical work and experimental results with respect to the magnitude and direction of surface relaxations.Comment: 4 pages including 2 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Activation mechanism of rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase 5′-p-Fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine as a probe of the MgATP-binding site of the calmodulin-bound and calmodulin-free enzyme

Abstract5′-p-Fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine (FSBA), an ATP-like affinity labelling reagent, reacted with rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase (skMLCK) and its calmodulin complex in a site-specific manner. Reaction was dependent upon the presence of the adenosine moiety of FSBA, saturated with increasing FSBA, was inhibited by MgATP, and was accompanied by stoichiometric incorporation of [14C]FSBA. The kinetic constants describing the reaction were similar for skMLCK and its calmodulin complex: k3= −0.040 min−1 and −0.038 mint-1, and Ki=0.18 mM and 0.40 mM, respectively. It is concluded that the MgATP-binding site on skMLCK remains accessible at all times and maintains a near constant conformation

Frequency analysis of air quality time series for traffic related pollutants

In the present work, annual time series of traffic related pollutants (CO and PM10) were considered for frequency analysis (Fourier series) with the aim to understand the underlying physical processes and the influence of emission sources on the variability of the air pollutant concentrations. Several urban traffic and suburban background air quality stations located in Porto metropolitan area (Portugal) were analysed. The results obtained for CO and PM10 reveal the important contributions of short-term fluctuations (12 h and 24 h periods). However, the spectrum signals at low frequencies are significantly different between these pollutants thus stressing that temporal variations of CO and PM10 are influenced by different processes. Cross-spectrum analysis of the air quality time series against wind measurements and traffic counts allowed us to identify the contribution of long-range transport over a period of about 21 days to the PM10 fluctuations. Also, a correlation of over 80% between the pollution levels in the vicinity of traffic sources and suburban background levels are found for these harmonic components in the PM10 spectrum, while correlations for CO is below a significant level. Thus, the spectrum and cross-spectrum analysis performed in this study reveal the distinct influence of local traffic emissions and long-range transport to CO and PM10 fluctuations in the polluted urban area. The methodology shows to be a powerful tool for the analysis of the causes of air pollution