Information Retrieval and Awareness about Evidence-Based Dentistry among Dental Undergraduate Students—A Comparative Study between Students from Malaysia and Finland

Background: A fundamental skill in education includes the ability to search for, evaluate, and synthesize information, and this cannot be underestimated in dental education. The aim of this study was to assess how dental students from Malaysia and Finland acquire scientific information and to compare their information retrieval skills. Methods: Fourth and fifth-year dental students from Malaysia and Finland were invited to participate. A self-administered structured questionnaire including items about the use of information sources, subjective assessment of literature retrieval skills and knowledge was used. Results: A total of 226 dental students participated in the survey: 131 from Malaysia and 95 from Finland. In both countries, the highest interest for data retrieval among students was found in the oral surgery specialty. The three most used sources of information among Malaysian students were personal lecture notes, dental textbooks, and colleagues; while Finnish students used colleagues, lecture notes, and current clinical guidelines. Students’ knowledge of evidence-based practice was inadequate in both student groups. Though the majority of participants reported that they had good or passable skills in literature retrieval, more students from Finland judged themselves to have at least good skills compared to those from Malaysia. Conclusion: Dental education in both countries includes information retrieval studies and mandatory research projects. However, students did not often use those sources that are considered essential in evidence-based dentistry. Universities should further develop educational and training interventions that guide students to use knowledge resources more effectively for critically appraising scientific evidence

Information Retrieval and Awareness about Evidence-Based Dentistry among Dental Undergraduate Students—A Comparative Study between Students from Malaysia and Finland

Background: A fundamental skill in education includes the ability to search for, evaluate, and synthesize information, and this cannot be underestimated in dental education. The aim of this study was to assess how dental students from Malaysia and Finland acquire scientific information and to compare their information retrieval skills. Methods: Fourth and fifth-year dental students from Malaysia and Finland were invited to participate. A self-administered structured questionnaire including items about the use of information sources, subjective assessment of literature retrieval skills and knowledge was used. Results: A total of 226 dental students participated in the survey: 131 from Malaysia and 95 from Finland. In both countries, the highest interest for data retrieval among students was found in the oral surgery specialty. The three most used sources of information among Malaysian students were personal lecture notes, dental textbooks, and colleagues; while Finnish students used colleagues, lecture notes, and current clinical guidelines. Students’ knowledge of evidence-based practice was inadequate in both student groups. Though the majority of participants reported that they had good or passable skills in literature retrieval, more students from Finland judged themselves to have at least good skills compared to those from Malaysia. Conclusion: Dental education in both countries includes information retrieval studies and mandatory research projects. However, students did not often use those sources that are considered essential in evidence-based dentistry. Universities should further develop educational and training interventions that guide students to use knowledge resources more effectively for critically appraising scientific evidence

E-Professionalism among Dental Students from Malaysia and Finland

The increased use of social media in dentistry is associated with both advantages and disadvantages. A new form of professionalism, "e-professionalism," has emerged. It includes an online persona and online information in any format that displays cues to professional identity, attitudes, and behaviors. The objective was to explore the perceptions of Malaysian and Finnish dental students on e-professionalism. A survey of 613 Malaysian and Finnish students was performed. The main variables assessed were posting of objectionable or inappropriate content among students, attitudes towards unprofessional online content, perceived online presence, contacts with patients and faculty members on social media, and concerns about social media use. The prevalence of posting clearly unprofessional content was not high among dental students. Revealing information of patients was most common content of clear unprofessionalism. Students from Malaysia contacted patients and faculty members more actively in social media than students in Finland (73.6% of students in Malaysia and 11.8% in Finland had invited faculty members to be "friends"). Malaysian students were more concerned and more likely to react to inappropriate content on social media. Attitude of dental students towards social media use in dentistry were very positive in both countries. Students agreed that guiding patients online is a new responsibility for dentists in the digital age (86.4% of students in Malaysia and 73.4% in Finland). The findings indicate the existence of both benefits and dangers of social media on e-professionalism among students. There is a need to include robust digital professionalism awareness training for students.Peer reviewe

E-Professionalism among Dental Students from Malaysia and Finland

The increased use of social media in dentistry is associated with both advantages and disadvantages. A new form of professionalism, “e-professionalism,” has emerged. It includes an online persona and online information in any format that displays cues to professional identity, attitudes, and behaviors. The objective was to explore the perceptions of Malaysian and Finnish dental students on e-professionalism. A survey of 613 Malaysian and Finnish students was performed. The main variables assessed were posting of objectionable or inappropriate content among students, attitudes towards unprofessional online content, perceived online presence, contacts with patients and faculty members on social media, and concerns about social media use. The prevalence of posting clearly unprofessional content was not high among dental students. Revealing information of patients was most common content of clear unprofessionalism. Students from Malaysia contacted patients and faculty members more actively in social media than students in Finland (73.6% of students in Malaysia and 11.8% in Finland had invited faculty members to be “friends”). Malaysian students were more concerned and more likely to react to inappropriate content on social media. Attitude of dental students towards social media use in dentistry were very positive in both countries. Students agreed that guiding patients online is a new responsibility for dentists in the digital age (86.4% of students in Malaysia and 73.4% in Finland). The findings indicate the existence of both benefits and dangers of social media on e-professionalism among students. There is a need to include robust digital professionalism awareness training for students

E-Professionalism among Dental Students from Malaysia and Finland

The increased use of social media in dentistry is associated with both advantages and disadvantages. A new form of professionalism, “e-professionalism,” has emerged. It includes an online persona and online information in any format that displays cues to professional identity, attitudes, and behaviors. The objective was to explore the perceptions of Malaysian and Finnish dental students on e-professionalism. A survey of 613 Malaysian and Finnish students was performed. The main variables assessed were posting of objectionable or inappropriate content among students, attitudes towards unprofessional online content, perceived online presence, contacts with patients and faculty members on social media, and concerns about social media use. The prevalence of posting clearly unprofessional content was not high among dental students. Revealing information of patients was most common content of clear unprofessionalism. Students from Malaysia contacted patients and faculty members more actively in social media than students in Finland (73.6% of students in Malaysia and 11.8% in Finland had invited faculty members to be “friends”). Malaysian students were more concerned and more likely to react to inappropriate content on social media. Attitude of dental students towards social media use in dentistry were very positive in both countries. Students agreed that guiding patients online is a new responsibility for dentists in the digital age (86.4% of students in Malaysia and 73.4% in Finland). The findings indicate the existence of both benefits and dangers of social media on e-professionalism among students. There is a need to include robust digital professionalism awareness training for students

Social media usage among dental undergraduate students—a comparative study

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Social media use among students has infiltrated into dental education and offers benefits but may also cause problems. The aim of this study was to explore and compare current social media usage among dental undergraduate students from two countries—Malaysia and Finland. A self-administered structured online questionnaire was used. WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat were the services that were most familiar to the respondents from both countries. There were differences between the students from the two countries among the most preferred platforms. The most frequently used applications were WhatsApp (91.1% of students in Malaysia and 96.1% in Finland used it very frequently) and Instagram (74.3% of students in Malaysia and 70.0% in Finland used it very frequently). Students in Malaysia spent significantly more hours per week using the platforms as study tools than students in Finland. Over 80% of the Finnish dental students reported that lack of knowledge was not an issue in social media usage, while 85% of Malaysian students felt that lack of knowledge prevented them from using social media platforms frequently. The findings offer evidence that dental students used social media extensively.Peer reviewe

Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa in a child

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a form of severe skin adhesion defect due to the disruption of the dermal- epidermal junction. It is classified into simplex and dystrophic forms depending on the level at which the junction is compromised. Repeated ulcerations and bullae formation in the mouth lead to scarring that brings about various changes in the oral cavity. These include loss of sulcular depth, ankyloglossia, limited mouth opening and other dentoalveolar changes. At present while there is no cure for EB, the therapeutic approaches are essentially aimed at controlling the infections and maintaining an acceptable quality of life. Dental management should aim at maintaining a functional dentition that would help in mastication and favour nutrition. Oral manifestations and dental management in a child diagnosed with dystrophic EB since birth are presented here

Effect of different types of tea on Streptococcus mutans: An in vitro study

Context: If tea can be shown to have an inhibitory effect on the growth of Streptococcus mutans there can be a basis for using it as an agent for reducing caries. Aims: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of aqueous and organic extracts of three types of tea (green, oolong, and black tea) on the growth of S. mutans. Settings and Design: In vitro study. Material and Methods: Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of the three types of tea was done. Organic extracts of methanol and ethanol and aqueous extracts (50% and 100%) of tea were prepared. Fifty microliters of these extracts were inoculated into wells prepared on Mueller-Hinton agar plates that had been previously smeared with S. mutans. The agar plates were incubated at 37΀C for 24 hours. A similar procedure was followed using 0.2% chlorhexidine, which served as the positive control. Statistical Analysis Used: Analysis of variance (ANOVA), post hoc Tukey test, Student′s ′t ′ test (two-tailed, dependent), and Student′s ′t′ test (two-tailed, independent) were used for analysis of the data. Results: All the phytochemicals were found to be higher in oolong tea. Both aqueous and organic extracts of oolong tea showed greatest zones of inhibition, followed by green tea and black tea. Aqueous extracts of oolong and green tea showed greater zone of inhibition than chlorhexidine. All the three types of tea inhibited growth of S. mutans. The greatest inhibition was observed with aqueous extract of oolong tea. Conclusions: Oolong tea extracts (aqueous and organic) showed a greater inhibitory effect on the growth of S. mutans than the other tea extracts

Evaluation of bond strength and load deflection rate of multi-stranded fixed retainer wires: An In-Vitro Study

Background: Fixed orthodontic retainers must be well retained on the tooth surfaces, allow physiologic movement of teeth and exert minimal forces on the teeth to be retained. Previous studies analyzed the bond strength and amount of deflection caused due to the debonding force but not the magnitude of force needed for unit deformation. Aims: This study aims to evaluate and compare the bond strength and load deflection rate (LDR) of three different fixed retainer wires. Materials and Methods: The wires were divided into three Groups: A – three-stranded twisted ligature wire, B – Bond-A-Braid (Reliance Orthodontics), and C – three-stranded twisted lingual retainer wire (3M Unitek). Twenty models were prepared for each group with a passive 15 mm long lingual retainer wire bonded to two lower incisors. An occlusogingival force was applied to the wire until it debonded. For LDR, three-point bending test was done at 0.5 mm deflection. These forces were measured using a Universal Instron Testing Machine. Statistical Analysis: Mean bond strength/LDR and pairwise comparisons were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey's honest significant difference post hoc test, respectively. Results: Group C exhibited the highest mean bond strength and LDR of 101.17N and 1.84N, respectively. The intergroup comparisons were all statistically significant. Conclusion: Compared to the other two wire types, Group C might be better retained on the teeth due to its higher bond strength. With its relatively higher LDR value, it may resist deformation from occlusal forces, thereby reducing inadvertent tooth movement and yet remain flexible enough to allow physiologic tooth movements