Oral health-related quality of life: acrylic versus flexible partial dentures

Background: Teeth lost are usually replaced by all-acrylic removable partial dentures (RPD) because of its affordability and ease of fabrication. The all-acrylic RPD is said to cause significant periodontal injury and consequently affect the oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) of denture wearers.Objective: To determine and compare OHRQoL of all-acrylic and flexible RPD wearers at baseline and after use of dentures.Design and setting: Study was quasi-experimental using a cross-over design, involving 30 patients with Kennedy class IV and anterior class III arches. Patient recruitment and review were done over an eight-month period in the Prosthetic Unit of a tertiary health facility. OHRQoL was assessed with the oral health impact profile-14 questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and multivariate analysis at asignificant level of p <.05.Results: Mean age of patients was 33.8 ±10.0 years; at baseline, patient reported occasionally, fairly often or very often for 11(78.6%) OHIP items. However, after using the acrylic and flexible partial dentures, 11(36.6%) patients reported having trouble pronouncing words and 9(30.0%) found it uncomfortable to eat respectively. At baseline,there was a difference in mean OHIP scores with age (p=.02); scores reduced from 12.4 ± 9.8 to 4.8±5.3 (CI= 3.3–12.0, p=.001) after using the all-acrylic denture and 3.8±5.6 (CI= 4.3–13.0, p<.001) with the flexible denture.Conclusion: There was improvement in the OHRQoL of patients with use of flexible partial dentures. Therefore, thermoplastic materials are possible alternative RPD base materials in patient management.Keywords: OHIP-14, Removable partial dentures, Quality of Life, acrylic dentures, flexible denturesFunding: None declare

Audit of Oral Histopathology Service at a Nigerian Tertiary Institution over a 24-Year Period

No AbstractKEYWORDS: Oral, Biopsy, Histopathology Service, Nigeria

A cross-country comparison of the prevalence of exposure to tobacco advertisements among adolescents aged 13–15 years in 20 low and middle income countries

Background This study assessed the prevalence and influence of exposure to pro-tobacco advertisements among adolescents in 20 low and middle income countries (LMICs). Methods The 2007–2008 Global Youth Tobacco Survey was analyzed for students aged 13–15 years in 20 LMICs. Overall and sex-specific prevalence of exposure to tobacco advertisements in several media, as well as the prevalence of smoking susceptibility (i.e., the lack of a firm commitment among never smokers not to smoke in the future or if offered a cigarette by a friend) were assessed. The variability of the point estimates was assessed using 95% confidence intervals (CI). Logistic regression was used to assess the effect of exposure to multiple (i.e., ≥2) pro-tobacco advertisements on current smoking, adjusting for age and sex (P < 0.05). Data were weighted and analyzed with Stata version 11. Results Overall country-specific prevalence for different advertisement sources ranged as follows: movies/videos (78.4% in Lesotho to 97.8% in Belize); television programs (48.7% in Togo to 91.7% in the Philippines); newspapers/magazines (29.5% in Togo to 89.7% in the Philippines); and outdoor community events (30.6% in Rwanda to 79.4% in the Philippines). The overall proportion of never smokers who were susceptible to cigarette smoking ranged from 3.7% in Sri Lanka to 70.1% in Kyrgyzstan. Exposure to ≥2 sources of pro-tobacco advertisements was associated with significantly increased odds of cigarette smoking among adolescents in several countries including South Africa (adjusted odds ratio, a OR = 4.11; 95% CI:2.26-7.47), Togo (a OR = 3.77; 95% CI:1.27-11.21), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (a OR = 1.42; 95% CI:1.01-1.99), Republic of Moldova (a OR = 1.53; 95% CI:1.11-2.12), Belize (a OR = 13.95; 95% CI:1.91-102.02), Panama (a OR = 5.14; 95% CI: 2.37-11.14) and Mongolia (a OR = 1.52; 95% CI:1.19-1.94). Conclusions Prevalence of exposure to various pro-tobacco advertisements was high among adolescents in the LMICs surveyed. Enhanced and sustained national efforts are needed to reduce exposure to all forms of tobacco advertising and promotional activities