A simple technical innovation to prevent needle stick injuries among dental professionals.

OBJECTIVE: Dental healthcare personnel face the potential danger of being exposed to infectious patients while administering local anesthesia injections during dental operations. This could lead to unintentional transfer of infectious diseases from patients to physicians. Although safety measures such as the One-hand-scoop technique and the use of safety syringes, plastic needle cap holders, and needles with safety caps are in place, there have been instances of needle stick injuries reported in clinics. This might be due to the lack of adherence to conventional safety measures or the impracticality of safety techniques and safety syringes. This article aims to demonstrate the utilization of dental tweezers, specifically London College tweezers or dental forceps, for the secure recapping of needles, eliminating the requirement for extra equipment or devices. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: After obtaining ethical approval (Approval No.: 024-01-2024) from the College of Dentistry, Dar Al Uloom University, 67 dental professionals, with consent for participation in the study, were included. They were requested to use dental tweezers/London College tweezers and dental extraction forceps such as maxillary anterior, mandibular anterior, and maxillary bayonet root forceps individually to recap the local anesthetic needles. The efficacy of these techniques was evaluated against the one-hand scoop technique for its ease, convenience, and reliability in preventing needle stick injuries. RESULTS: The evaluation of dental professionals regarding the ease of using dental tweezers to recap needles, compared to the one-hand scoop technique (p=0.592), maxillary bayonet root forceps (p=0.746), mandibular anterior forceps (p=0.380), and maxillary anterior forceps (p=0.808), did not yield statistically significant results. The assessment of the procedural simplicity of the one-hand scoop technique showed a satisfaction rate of over 40%, whereas the application of dental tweezers resulted in a satisfaction rate of 30%. However, the use of dental tweezers for needle recapping resulted in a satisfaction rate of over 50%, compared to a satisfaction rate of 30% for the one-handed scoop technique. CONCLUSIONS: There is no statistically significant difference in the assessment of the efficacy of dental tweezers and the one-hand scoop technique, bayonet root forceps, mandibular anterior forceps, maxillary anterior forceps, and dental tweezers for the needle capping technique. Therefore, dental forceps can be used instead of the one-handed scoop approach. The needle recapping procedure outlined in our study, aimed at preventing needle stick injuries, is simple to implement, and all dental specialties have convenient access to the required instruments.

Estimation of Vitamin D Levels Using a Chairside Diagnostic Test Kit in Patients with Gingivitis and Periodontitis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim: Periodontitis is an inflammatory condition of the periodontium that is instigated by microbial biofilms developed on the teeth. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the vitamin D status of gingivitis and periodontitis patients while maintaining a healthy group as the control using simple low-cost chairside pre-coated with 25-OH Vitamin D antigen rapid test kits. Materials and Methods: From outpatients visiting the college's periodontics clinics, a total of 101 patients were screened. The study sample includes 38 patients in the periodontitis group, 32 in the gingivitis group, and 31 in the healthy group. A middle-digit needle was used to collect blood samples, which were put into a test cassette with membrane that had been coated with 25-OH Vitamin D antigen on the test line area of the strip. Vitamin D Quick Test (Natejah) Semi-quantitatively detects 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) in human finger-stick complete blood at a cutoff convergence of 30 ± 4 ng/mL. Vitamin D blood levels below 80 nmol/L are considered to have deficient vitamin 25(OH)D levels. Clinical parameters between healthy, gingivitis, and different stages of periodontitis subjects were compared using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison. Fisher's exact test was done to compare vitamin D levels in the three groups. Results: Fisher's exact test revealed that there was a statistically significant increase in the number of subjects with stages 4 and stage 3 periodontitis who lacked vitamin D levels (less than 80 nmol/L). Whereas least deficient in Vit D were noticed among Healthy and Gingivitis subjects. When compared to healthy individuals, gingivitis, and various stages of periodontitis had significantly higher mean PI values in a Tukey's multiple comparison. Vitamin D deficiency was found to be 27.5% in subjects with gingivitis and 71.5% in subjects with periodontitis. Conclusion: Periodontitis is associated with vitamin D deficiency, in contrast to gingivitis and healthy subjects. The severity of periodontitis was likewise linked to the amount of vitamin D in the individual's blood. When compared to expensive, time-consuming, and laborious laboratory methods, the findings of this study suggest that a simple inexpensive chairside pre-coated with 25-OH Vitamin D antigen rapid test kits can be considered a viable alternative for determining vitamin D levels.

Minimal Invasive Technique for the Esthetic Management of Dental Fluorosis.

Dental fluorosis is a severe dental extremity due to excess fluoride intake during enamel formation, resulting in color abnormalities and severe tooth defects on its surface. This dental condition leads to abnormal appearance ranging from mild white to dark brown, affecting the esthetic characteristics and personality of the patient that eventually lowers their self-confidence. Restoration procedures and tooth-whitening procedures are the well-appreciated treatment methods for treating this anomaly. The current clinical report illustrates the minimally invasive technique for esthetic management of dental fluorosis in a 27-year-old male affected by dental fluorosis. Clinical examination revealed dental fluorosis of class II spots according to Dean's classification of fluorosis severity. The treatment plan involves minimally invasive micro-abrasion, vital teeth bleaching, and resin infiltration technique for blending different microporous lesions, mild-to-moderate fluorosis, and hypoplasia stains.

Expression of survivin in oral leukoplakia and oral lichen planus.

BACKGROUND: Up to one third (3-33%) oral squamous cell carcinomas develop from potentially malignant lesions. Most common potentially malignant lesions (PML) are leukoplakia and lichen planus. It is very important to diagnose PML at early stage to prevent malignant transformation of lesion. Survivin is a smallest member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins. Survivin plays an important role in apoptosis regulation. High expression of survivin is an early event during oral carcinogenesis and it acts as a tool for the identification of precancerous lesions at higher risk of progression into invasive carcinoma. The aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of survivin in oral leukoplakia, oral lichen planus. METHODS: Fifteen patients with oral lichen planus and 15 patients with oral leukoplakia were selected as subjects for the present study and 15 patients with normal oral mucosa were selected as controls and were evaluated for expression of survivin. All sections were H&E stained and were studied immunohistochemically for the expression of survivin. RESULTS: Expression of survivin was evaluated based on the percentage of cells expressing surviving, as well as grading. Significant survivin expression was detected in oral leukoplakia and oral lichen planus (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Expression of survivin in potentially malignant lesions indicates the potential risk of malignant transformation.

An In Vitro Comparative Evaluation of Antimicrobial Efficacy of Propolis, Morinda Citrifolia Juice, Sodium Hypochlorite and Chlorhexidine on Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans.

AIM: To evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness of Propolis, Morinda citrifolia juice, Sodium hypochlorite and Chlorhexidine onEnterococcus feacalis (E. feacalis) and Candida albicans (C. albicans), as endodontic irrigants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four clinical isolates and one standard ATCC sample (29212) of E. feacalis and ATCC sample (90028) of C. albicans were inoculated into 5ml of peptone water each and incubated at 37° C for 3 to 4 hours to attain the turbidity corresponding to 0.5 McFarland standard CFU. We followed Disc and well diffusion Kirby-Bauer method to attain the zones of inhibition. RESULTS: Overall comparison of reagents revealed a significant difference among zones of inhibition. The standard concentration of 5% sodium hypochlorite, 2% chlorhexidine, 10% Propolis and 100% Morinda citrifolia juice illustrated the maximum inhibition zone for both test organisms. CONCLUSION: All four reagents had an antimicrobial effect on the microorganisms tested. Sodium hypochlorite and Chlorhexidine were more effectual than Propolis and Morinda citrifolia juice and there was increased antimicrobial efficacy with increasing concentrations. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: A study for finding safe herbal agents that can be used as endodontic irrigants revealed that Propolis, Morinda citrifolia juice has antibiotic properties and can replace routinely used agents thereby limiting the side effects.