Impact of interprofessional education on the teaching and learning of higher education students: A systematic review.

AIM: This systematic review was to explore the potentialities and limitations of Interprofessional Education (IPE), from the perspective of undergraduate students. BACKGROUND: The increasing complexity in health increasingly demand professionals with the capacity to act in the face of new global challenges. Thus, this pedagogical approach presents itself as one of the most promising choices in facing these new obstacles. DESIGN: A synthesis of quantitative studies and mixed methods. METHODS: Studies involving quantitative analyzes were included, with no restriction on the date of publication and language. The search strategy was carried out in the electronic databases: PubMed, Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), Cochrane Library and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). In addition, searches were carried out in gray literature on the ERIC platforms (ProQuest), ProQuest Disserts and Theses Full text and Academic Google. The assessment of the quality of the studies was carried out using the instrument by Downs and Black. The risks of bias in the studies were examined with the aid of the adapted version of the Cochrane Collaboration tool, with the domains of the Downs and Black instrument. RESULTS: After standardized filter procedures, critical summaries and assessment of relevance to the eligibility criteria, 11 articles were included. The results showed that most students have a positive perception of IPE, with different factors influencing this research finding. The need to develop more robust assessment instruments is highlighted, in view of the insufficiency of tools with sufficient methodological rigor to measure real changes in attitudes among different groups of students. CONCLUSION: More consistent research is needed, which assesses, in a longitudinal way, the effects that the IPE has on the teaching and learning of undergraduate students and its impact after professional training.

Dental caries: Genetic and protein interactions.

OBJECTIVE: To present a genetic and protein interaction analysis associated with dental caries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The first step was to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) through an electronic database search. Case-controls that reported associations between genes and dental caries were the main type of study design used as inclusion criteria, retrieved from the PubMed and the Virtual Health Library databases, comprising the chronological range from 1982 to 2017. The SLR was guided by PRISMA protocol and the methodological quality of the studies was established through Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). In the second step, the String Protein Interaction (SPI) approach was used to analyze protein interaction (by esyN software) and also the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to check biological pathways associated with dental caries genes. RESULTS: A total of 51 articles were included to perform this SLR, describing a number of 27 genes associated with dental caries development. At the genetic level, 23 genes have at least one other gene with which they interact. The genes TUFT1, VDR, TFIP11, LTF, HLA-DRB1, MMP2, MMP3 and MUC5B were shown to be connected in interactive networks by at least 10 other genes. CONCLUSION: It is essential to apprehend the multifactorial pattern of inheritance in human disease. This study presents pathways which may be directly correlated with several dental caries phenotype and this contributes to a better understanding of this disease, opening up a wider range of biotechnology options for its effective control in the future.

KLK4 Gene and Dental Decay: Replication in a South Brazilian Population.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to identify and replicate the participation of KLK4 gene polymorphisms in the susceptibility to dental decay. METHODS: A total of 200 patients were recruited using ICDAS criteria - 100 of them with dental caries and 100 with no history of the disease. Buccal cells were collected and the DNA was extracted and amplified using PCR. RESULTS: During the descriptive analysis, the variables ethnicity, biofilm, and gingivitis and the markers rs2242670 and rs2978642 were statistically significant. In the multivariate analysis, the marker rs2242670 and the variable biofilm maintained statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Genetic variations in the KLK4 gene may contribute to dental decay.

Chronic conditions policies: oral health, a felt absence.

The global health scenario shows an epidemic of non-communicable diseases that lead to long-term chronic conditions, some of which are incurable. Many infectious diseases, owing to their development and length, also generate chronic conditions. Similarly, non-morbid states, such as pregnancy, and some life cycles such as adolescence and ageing, follow the same logic. Among all these chronic conditions there is a significant interrelationship with oral health, both in parallel events and common risk factors. This article presents cross-sectional qualitative research into World Health Organisation recommended health policies to address chronic conditions. Several documents published by the organisation were analysed to verify the presence of references to oral health in relation to chronic conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as these most frequently have oral manifestations. The analysis showed no significant references to oral health or its indicators within the published texts. The study recognises the value of the work developed by the World Health Organisation, as well as its worldwide leadership role in the development of health policies for chronic conditions. This article proposes a coalition of dentistry organisations that could, in a more forceful and collective way, advocate for a greater presence of oral health in drafting policies addressing chronic conditions.