Assessment of HIV/AIDS awareness among 500 patients referred to the Ankara University Faculty of Dentistry.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge of and attitudes to AIDS among patients referred to the Ankara University Faculty of Dentistry, Turkey. DESIGN: A random sample of 500 patients participated and completed a questionnaire which comprised of six basic questions aimed at assessing the respondent's general knowledge and attitude towards AIDS. The questionnaire also collected demographic information about each patient, including age, gender and level of education. RESULTS: : Out of 500 respondents, 65 (13%) had been tested for HIV. The majority of respondents, 479 (95.8%) were aware that AIDS was a transmissible disease, and of these, 410 (85.6%) knew that semen and blood were modes of transmission. In addition, 451 (90.2%) respondents were in favour of requiring AIDS testing for all patients undergoing dental treatment. Educational level was found to be the main factor affecting the number of correct answers regarding transmission of the disease. CONCLUSION: The study highlighted dental patients' misconceptions, risk perceptions, and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.

Assessment of bone mineral density in the jaws and its relationship to radiomorphometric indices.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate maxillary, mandibular and femoral neck bone mineral density using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to determine any correlation between the bone mineral density of the jaws and panoramic radiomorphometric indices. METHODS: 49 edentulous patients (18 males and 31 females) aged between 41 and 78 years (mean age 60.2 +/- 11.04) were examined by panoramic radiography. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the jaws and femoral neck was measured with a DXA; bone mineral density was calculated at the anterior, premolar and molar regions of the maxilla and mandible. RESULTS: The mean maxillary molar BMD (0.45 g cm(-2)) was significantly greater than the maxillary anterior and premolar BMD (0.31 g cm(-2), P < 0.05). Furthermore, the mean mandibular anterior and premolar BMD (1.39 g cm(-2) and 1.28 g cm(-2), respectively) was significantly greater than the mean mandibular molar BMD (1.09 g cm(-2), P < 0.01). Although BMD in the maxillary anterior and premolar regions were correlated, BMD in all the mandibular regions were highly correlated. Maxillary and mandibular BMD were not correlated with femoral BMD. In addition, mandibular cortical index (MCI) classification, mental index (MI) or panoramic mandibular index (PMI) values were not significantly correlated with the maxillary and mandibular BMDs (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The BMD in this study was highest in the mandibular anterior region and lowest in the maxillary anterior and premolar regions. The BMD of the jaws was not correlated with either femoral BMD or panoramic radiomorphometric indices.