The Barrier to Accessing Dental Healthcare Services Among the Institutionalized Visually Impaired Adults: A Qualitative Study.

Many studies have focused on the overall oral health of people with visual impairment, but there is a dearth of studies on the barriers to accessing dental healthcare services among institutionalized visually impaired people. Therefore, the current study aims to assess the barriers to accessing dental healthcare services among institutionalized visually impaired people. METHODS: A qualitative study design was conducted over the course of 10 months among institutionalized visually impaired individuals. A semi-structured interview was conducted among the participants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated, and qualitatively analyzed using MAXQDA software, version 22.0 (VERBI Software, Berlin). RESULTS: A total of 20 participants participated in the study. Three levels were used to classify the investigated barriers: the individual's level, which pertains to the obstacles they encountered in receiving oral health care and their viewpoints on the way that care is provided; the interpersonal degree and the system level, in order to determine the broader components and their impact. CONCLUSION: This study gives insight into the problems people have in assessing the dental services and facilities available. Three levels were used to identify the barriers among the study participants. Six themes emerged in the study that described their problems, which affected their mental health directly.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding intellectual property rights among medical, dental, and nursing professionals in a tertiary institution in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about intellectual property rights (IPRs) among medical, dental, and nursing students and faculties in a tertiary institute through cross-sectional survey in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from October to December, 2021 in a tertiary institution in Bhubaneswar city, Odisha. A self-structured, 29 close-ended questionnaires based on IPRs was used in the survey. The data obtained were tabulated and analyzed statistically using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0. All the components of KAP were measured as absolute and relative frequencies. They were also assessed as mean and standard deviation. Descriptive analysis through frequency distribution was calculated and the Chi-square test was applied. The correlation between the domains was determined using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULT: A total of 489 participants participated in the survey, out of which 196 (40.1%) were males and 293 (59.9%) were females; 177 (36.2%) were interns, 147 (30.1%) were postgraduates, and 165 (33.7%) were faculties from all the three fields (medical, dental, and nursing). A total of 192 (39.3%) participants were from medical, 198 (40.5%) from dental, and 99 (20.2%) were from the nursing field. The mean KAP scores were significantly (P < 0.0001) higher among nursing interns respondents (2.963, 0.637, and 0.390), dental postgraduate respondents (2.213, 0.844, and 0.351), and dental faculties (1.953, 0.876, and 0.481). The mean knowledge score was significantly (P < 0.0001) greater among females than males and the mean attitude and practice scores were significantly (P < 0.0001) greater among males than females. Pearson's correlation coefficientwas found to be significant for knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice domain. The values obtained were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This study showed that more KAP was found in dental faculties, dental postgraduates, and nursing interns. However, the need to know IPR is still lacking among the healthcare professionals. Since IPR is the need of the hour and it has a potential ahead, it is necessary to include it in the curriculum so as to increase the knowledge about IPR among individuals, which will enable to creation of dynamic innovations in the near future.

Assessment of oral health status amongst the Sevayats of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha: A cross sectional study.

Aim: To assess the oral health status amongst the Sevayats of Shree Jagannath temple, Puri, Odisha. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the oral health status among 488 Sevayats of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri, using a simple random sampling technique. Data were obtained by utilizing the WHO oral health assessment form for adults-2013. The documented data were assembled, entered into an MS Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed using SPSS version 26. The statistical tests applied for the analysis were one-way analysis of variance and the Chi-square test. The P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of the participants, around 30.3%, had an educational qualification of higher secondary, followed by high school, 26.2%. A total of 84.4% of participants cleaned their teeth with a toothbrush. Around 48.0% of participants were consuming paan and 11.7% were gutkha. The majority, 77.8% of the participants had periodontal pockets, and 79.09% of them had 4-5 mm of periodontal loss of attachment. The mean DMFT of all the participants was 5.23 ± 4.71. In the 25-44 and 45-60 years of age groups, 34.2% and 31.4% of the participants had tobacco pouch keratosis. About 72% of the subjects had bleeding gums. Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease among the subjects. The majority of the servitors who had a history of consuming paan were diagnosed with oral mucosal lesions.

Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccines in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to evaluate the acceptability levels for COVID vaccine(s) in various states in India. Published articles in PubMed/Scopus/Cochrane/DOAJ/the Web of Science that focused on assessing COVID-19 vaccine hesitation/vaccine acceptance using a survey/questionnaire were included. After extensive research, 524 records were found, and after screening on the basis of eligibility criteria, only 23 papers were added to this review. Increased vaccine assumption percentage (>70%) among the population was found in two surveys nationwide (92.8%) and in Delhi (79.5%). For pooled estimates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and heterogeneity, twenty-three studies (23) consisting of 39,567 individuals reported for acceptance of COVID 19 vaccine in India.. Out of these, 26,028 individuals accepted the COVID-19 vaccine, giving a pooled estimate of 62.6% (95% CI: 55.6-69.4) with considerable heterogeneity (χ2 = 3397.3, p < 0.0001; I2 = 99.40%). The results of this study give a brief insight into the percentage acceptance and hesitancy among the Indian population regarding COVID-19 vaccine immunisation. Future research and vaccine education initiatives can be steered by the findings of this work as a starting point.

Barriers in Dental Care Utilization-An Explorative Study among Transgender Community of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Introduction: Transgenders (TGs) are one of the vulnerable groups in our society. Trans people experience substantial health disparities and barriers to appropriate health care services that keep them from achieving the highest possible health status. Methodology: The study was conducted over the course of 12 months at the Transgender Shelter Home. Focus group discussion (FGD) took place with 6-12 participants and the researcher acted as moderator. The questions were asked under four domains; sociodemographic variables, behavioral variables, medical and health status variables, and access and utilization of dental services barrier variables. Transcripts were coded and data analysis was concurrent with data collection to allow to know new insights. The data analysis was done by MAXQDA software 2022.0.0. It is being developed and distributed by VERBI Software based in Berlin, Germany. Results: The barriers and facilitators explored were categorized at three levels: (1) the personal level, relating to those barriers and facilitators that the individual faced for their oral health care, and the perspectives regarding the delivery of care; (2) the inter-personal level; and (3) the system level, for identifying the wider elements and their influence. Discussion: Social stigma and marginalization have been linked to adverse health effects, including personal attributes, structural and environmental factors, and personal perceptions of stigmatization. Conclusion: It is evident that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities have specific but varied health care needs, and the greatest way to treat these necessities is via exposure to professional, health care coverage.

Bibliometric analysis of three international journals on public health dentistry: A comparative study from 2011 to 2020.

Background and Objective: The research question was to conduct a comparative analysis of articles published, citations, grants and authors co-occurence in three journals of Public health dentistry namely Journal of Public Health (JIF-1.821), Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (JIF-3.803) and Community Dentistry Health(JIF-1.079). This study was triggered, because of the constant growth of the academic production of articles in the world. The objective of this study is to describe the design of studies published in the period 2011 - 2020 of the three mentioned journals. Material and Methods: A retrospective, observational, comparative study was conducted for JPHD, CDOE ad CDH. All issues of JPHD, CDH and CDOE from 2011 to 2020 were manual searched and also assessed through Scopus database. The data were organized and analyzed using software SPSS version 21.0; and citation mapping process using VOSviewer software. Results: A total of 1544 articles were retrieved from all the three journals. The largest number of manuscripts was published in the Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology journal. The pattern of study design in JPHD (65.69%) and CDH(74.79%) was majorly cross sectional studies followed by cohort studies(19.46%) and randomized controlled trials (8.34%) respectively. In all the three journals, maximum authors were more than three in number. Majority of the original research work focused on oral health such as oral health status, literacy, oral health quality of life. Conclusion: The publication pattern in all the three journals were interestingly related to each other; most articles published were original research work intending an enhanced inclination of researchers toward observational affirmations.

Advancements in diagnostic techniques for oral cancer detection.

Oral malignancy is among the highest prevalent malignancies all over the world. In comparison to systemic malignancies such as lung cancer and colon cancer, they are frequently overlooked by the general public. Nevertheless, they can be exceedingly lethal if left ignored, regardless at the early stage of the condition. Dentists are the finest qualified healthcare specialists in this sector and are responsible for detecting benign and potentially malignant oral conditions such as oral cancers. Oral carcinoma's high prevalence and delayed appearance are serious international medical concerns. Early detection and management of oral carcinoma are the key goals of the World Health Organization (WHO). The identification of key clinical manifestations during the preliminary oral examination can enhance the patient's likelihood of living. Unfortunately, the conventional technology's practical value is limited by a number of drawbacks. Current advancements in optical scanning techniques, such as tissue-fluorescence imaging and optical coherence tomography, have proven to be quite effective. In particular, nanoparticle-based immunosensors, genomics, and salivary biomarkers, epigenetics and microarray have all received a lot of attention. Raising awareness about frequent dental examinations and using noninvasive, effective, and cost-effective screening tools would improve initial stage detection of oral carcinoma and improve patients' longevity.

Oral health status among Bhoi children of Nimapara block in Puri district, Odisha - A cross-sectional study.

Background: In Odisha, the scheduled castes account for 17.13% of the overall population. In spite of prioritizing the oral health status of children globally, oral diseases continue to be a major public health problem in India. Due to lack of literature and baseline data, the aim of the study was to assess the oral health status of children of Bhoi scheduled caste of Nimapara block in Puri district of Odisha. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 208 Bhoi children who were enrolled using a multistage randomized sampling method in Nimapara Block of Dhanua Gram Panchayat, Puri District. Information on sociodemographic details and oral health status were collected using the modified WHO Oral Health Assessment Form for children, 2013. Number and percentages was derived using MS Excel and SPSS package version 26.0. Comparison between discrete and continuous data was done using Chi-square test and ANOVA. P value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The mean DMFT and dmft of the total study participants were 1.28 ± 1.159 and 2.53 ± 1.058, respectively, and these findings were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Among the age group of 6-12 years, the mean number of sextants with bleeding and calculus were 0.66 ± 0.476 and 0.62 ± 0.686, respectively, and among 13-15 years aged group, they were 0.86 ± 0.351 and 1.52 ± 0.688. Mild fluorosis was detected in the study population. Dental trauma was seen in 21% of the Bhoi children. Conclusion: Most of the participants had poor oral hygiene and the prevalence of dental caries was high. As there is lack of knowledge about oral hygiene maintenance, proper health education should be administered. Under these circumstances, the implementation of preventive programs such as pit and fissure sealants, atraumatic restorative restorations can be implemented to reduce the dental caries.