Awareness and practice of Revised Code of Dental Ethics and Consumer Protection Act among dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh: A cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Given the imperative for dental practitioners to be familiar with the existing ethical principles and laws governing their practice, this study aimed to evaluate awareness and practice of the dentists (code of ethics) regulations 2014 and consumer protection act 2019 among dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh state, India. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among 384 dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh state, India. A questionnaire consisting of 25 items was used to assess awareness and practice of the dentists (code of ethics) regulations and consumer protection act. The data collected were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. RESULTS: Only 53(13.8%) dental practitioners in the study were aware that the dentists (code of ethics) regulations had been revised in 2014. About 190 (49.5%) practitioners were aware of the precise period for mandatory preservation of patient records. Most dental practitioners (278, 72.4%) accepted commissions in the form of gifts or cash from laboratories, radiologists, or pharmacists and 306 (79.7%) dental practitioners used unregistered dental lab technicians as employees in their practice. Furthermore, 297 (77.3%) practitioners were found to provide or sell drugs to patients in their clinic/office. The new regulations under consumer protection act 2019 were unknown to 194 (50.5%) dental practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that the awareness of dental practitioners towards the dentists (code of ethics) regulations 2014 and consumer protection act 2019 is inadequate. It highlights the need for training programmes and curriculum changes with a focus on ethical and legal issues in clinical dental practice.

Comparing traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods in dental education: a study of students' self-confidence and clinical performance.

Aim To compare students' self-confidence levels and clinical performance scores between traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods in dental schools in India.Methods A snowball sampling of undergraduate dental students who had completed their final year during 2021-2022 was undertaken. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to investigate students' self-confidence in performing 35 clinical procedures on a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, the clinical performance score in external practical assessment during final year was assessed to correlate the self-confidence levels with traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods.Results Students reported a higher level of self-confidence trained under the comprehensive (3.41 ± 0.40) compared with the traditional method (3.07 ± 0.50) (p <0.05). Interestingly, the median clinical performance score was higher for students using the traditional method (2.88) than for those using the comprehensive method (2.44); however, no significant difference was observed (p = 0.460). The correlation between self-confidence and clinical performance scores was strongly positive (r = 0.521).Conclusion This study concluded that both traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods have strengths and weaknesses. Combining these two methods could improve clinical training in India.

Oral health status, treatment needs, and patterns of utilization of dental services among village volunteers in Andhra Pradesh: A cross-sectional multi-stage cluster survey.

Background: Community health depends on the leadership duties of a diverse population, such as village volunteers. Hence, a study was conducted to assess oral health status, treatment needs, and patterns of utilization of dental services among village volunteers in Andhra Pradesh state. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 village volunteers in Andhra Pradesh state, India. A multi-stage cluster sampling procedure was employed in sample selection. A questionnaire was used to review the pattern of utilization of dental services. World Health Organization Oral Health assessment form 1997 was used to evaluate oral health status and treatment needs. Data collected were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0. Descriptive statistics were done. Results: Out of 400, 18% had never visited the dental clinic in their lifetime. The majority (33.5%) considered that dental problems were not a serious concern. Dental caries was seen in 69.5%, and 78.5% were presented with periodontal conditions. About 19.8% and 24.3% had crowding and spacing in incisal segments, respectively. The prevalence of oral mucosal disorders and dental fluorosis was 4.25% and 8.75%, respectively. Overall, 94% of the study participants needed dental treatment for various reasons. Conclusion: This study provides sufficient evidence to conclude that this population's oral health was poor, with increasing unmet dental treatment needs. Selected interventions and strategies should focus on these factors to decrease the burden of oral diseases among village volunteers.

Systematic Reviews in Dental Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Contribution from Indian Dentists During 1948-2022.

Aims and Objective: Although systematic reviews (SRs) are the backbone of evidence-based dentistry, they have appeared infrequently in dental literature and their importance may not be recognized by dentists. So, this study aimed to identify SRs in dental research contributed by Indian dentists to the PubMed database during 1948-2022 and describes their epidemiological and descriptive characteristics. Materials and Methods: An electronic search of the PubMed database was performed from 1948 through September 2022. SRs were considered for inclusion if they were related to oral health and published by Indian dentists as the first author. From this collection, the following characteristics of SRs were described: name of the journal, type of journal (e.g., general dentistry, specialty dentistry, non-dental), year of publication, author's affiliation, and focus of the SR. Results: The search identified 439 SRs in dentistry indexed in the PubMed database during 1948-2022. There were only 5 SRs published from 2007 to 2010 with maximum publications during the year 2021 (n = 114; 25.97%). About 32.35% of the SRs (n = 142) were published in 10 journals with the maximum contribution from the Journal of Conservative Dentistry (n = 22; 5.01%). The majority of the SRs were published in the field of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry (n = 72; 16.40%), followed by Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics (n = 63; 14.35%). Conclusion: The contribution of SRs in dental research from India is small but growing. There is a clear need to improve SRs in dental research qualitatively and quantitatively.

Comparative evaluation of the effect of adhesive restorative composite resins on the reinforcement of peri-cervical dentin: An in vitro study.

Background: Peri-cervical dentin (PCD) and its reinforcement play a crucial role in the fracture resistance of root canal-treated teeth. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the fracture resistance of dual-cure, nano-hybrid, and short-fiber reinforced composite resins restored PCD with conventional hybrid composite (CHC) resin restored endodontically treated mandibular premolars. Settings and Design: Academic, in vitro study. Materials and Methods: The prepared mandibular premolar samples were randomly divided into five groups of 10 each. In Group 1, teeth were left intact. The remaining 40 teeth were endodontically treated and obturated as follows: In Group 2, teeth were obturated with gutta-percha till cementoenamel junction and restored with CHC. Teeth in Groups 3, 4, and 5 were obturated to a depth of 5 mm from the cervical line and restored with dual-cure, nano-hybrid, and short-fiber reinforced composite resins, respectively. Fracture resistance was tested using a universal testing machine. Statistical Analysis Used: One-way analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey's test. Results: Short-fiber reinforced composite resin showed a significantly higher mean fracture resistance value compared with other experimental groups. The mean fracture resistance values were obtained as Group 1 > Group 5 > Group 4 > Group 3 > Group 2. Conclusions: Reinforcement with short-fiber reinforced composite showed significantly higher fracture resistance compared with nano-hybrid and dual-cure composite resins.

Evaluation of dentifrices of complementary and alternative medicinal systems on plaque formation and gingivitis: A randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Bio-film formation is a natural process in the oral environment, but needs to be controlled through regular brushing in order to prevent the development of caries and periodontal diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A wide variety of dentifrices of complementary and alternative medicinal systems are available in the market which claims superior plaque control. A randomized controlled double-blinded concurrent parallel clinical trial was conducted with the objective to evaluate and compare the clinical effectiveness of three commercially available dentifrices of complementary and alternative medicine systems with that of a placebo dentifrice on Gingival Index (GI) and Plaque Index (PI) scores after 15, 30, 45 and 60 days of usage among 80 adults aged 35-44 years. RESULTS: The mean GI scores reduced by 29.19 %, 22.28 %, 32.43 % and 10.33 % in the herbal dentifrice, homeopathic dentifrice, conventional dentifrice, and placebo dentifrice groups by the end of the study period. Highest reduction of 33.5% and 34.87 % in PI scores were seen in the herbal and conventional dentifrice. This reduction was statistically significant (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The herbal dentifrice tested in the present study has demonstrated anti-gingivitis and anti-plaque efficiency equivocal to the conventional dentifrice. The homeopathic dentifrice was as good as a placebo. Key words:CAM dentifrices, Homeopathic dentifrice, plaque, gingivitis, tooth brushing.

The 100 most cited articles in prosthodontic journals: A bibliometric analysis of articles published between 1951 and 2019.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Bibliometric studies to determine the characteristics of the most cited articles in prosthodontic journals are lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of the 100 most cited articles in prosthodontic journals between 1951 and 2019. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Google Scholar database was used to retrieve the list of journals with titles containing the term "Prosthodontic" or "Prosthetic." Twelve journals were filtered, and of these, only 8 were related to dentistry and hence were included in the study. A search was then performed for each of the selected journals under "Publication Name," and articles were arranged by the category "Times Cited." The 100 most cited articles from the 8 journals were selected and analyzed with regard to journal name, year of publication, authors and their country, type of study, and area of research. RESULTS: The 100 most cited articles were published between 1958 and 2013, with the numbers of citations ranging between 2368 and 343. The journal with the largest number of the articles cited was the "Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry" with 72 articles, followed by the "International Journal of Prosthodontics" with 25 articles. The decade with most articles published was the 1990s with 33 articles. Many of the authors of most cited articles were from the United States or Sweden. Most articles reported reviews (35 articles), followed by experimental studies (34); the most commonly cited area of research was related to dental implants. CONCLUSIONS: This bibliometric analysis of the 100 most cited articles revealed interesting facts about scientific progress in the field of prosthodontics.

Impact of periodontal knowledge and attitude on the status of the periodontium: A profile on West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Although regular patient education regarding the periodontal health/disease is advocated as a means of improving oral health, impregnable associations of periodontal knowledge and attitude with periodontal status have not been demonstrated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a cross-sectional study conducted, 2400 participants were surveyed using a specially designed pretested pro forma to evaluate the knowledge and attitude concerning periodontal health and disease. The oral exanimation included recording of oral hygiene index, gingival index (GI), community periodontal index (CPI), and loss of attachment. Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional review board. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 41.6 ± 9.5 years. The greater portion of individuals had high knowledge score (55.9%) and negative attitude (68.4%) toward periodontal health/disease. The mean oral hygiene index scores and GI scores were higher among individuals with high knowledge score and with negative attitude, and the differences were statistically significant among the groups. There was no difference in the mean plaque scores among individuals with different knowledge scores, but a higher score for individuals with negative attitude (1.24 ± 0.87) was evident. The proportion of individuals with healthy periodontium (score 0 for CPI and loss of attachment) had low knowledge score (54.3%); however, a positive attitude was elicited in 51.9% of the population. CONCLUSION: High knowledge score and negative attitude were related to periodontal status in West Godavari. Therefore, it can be emphasized that the presence of a positive attitude plays a key role in achieving better periodontal status.

The revised Declaration of Geneva, 2017, and India's contradictory legal provisions.

The World Medical Association (WMA) provides ethical guidance to physicians through its Declarations, Resolutions and Statements. WMA first adopted its resolution on physician participation in capital punishment in 1981, which then amended in 2000 and 2008. The revised Declaration of Geneva was adopted by the World Medical Association General Assembly on October 14, 2017, in Chicago. WMA reaffirmed that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process, including its planning and the instruction and/or training of persons to perform executions. Indian Medical Association (IMA) is signatory to all these policies and resolutions since it is a founder member of WMA. Most other national and international associations of Medical and other health professionals also forbid participation of their members in capital punishment.

Awareness, Attitude, and Prevalence of usage of magnification devices among the dental practitioners in the state of Andhra Pradesh - A questionnaire-based study.

BACKGROUND: Dentistry, dealing with teeth and supporting tissues in the oral cavity is not only an ever-evolving science but also an art combined with good eye-hand coordination. It not only encompasses clinical and theoretical skills which play a crucial role in the success of therapy but also a lot of intrinsic work is accomplished in dentistry. In a journey to fulfill the above accomplishments and for facilitating early diagnosis of pathologies which usually go unnoticed, a clearer and magnified field of vision are also essential. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the awareness, attitude, and prevalence of the usage of magnification devices among the dental practitioners in the state of Andhra Pradesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire-based study was conducted to assess the awareness, attitude, and prevalence of magnification devices among the 370 dental practitioners in Andhra Pradesh. All the participants were provided with a prestructured questionnaire comprising of 24 questions and answering was completely self-based. RESULTS: Among the participants, majority were aware about magnification in dentistry (91.1%), and also of the different types of magnification devices available (90.5%). On the other hand, when the reason for not using magnification devices was taken into consideration, 32.7% attributed that they have not experienced the devices and 32.4% felt that devices were too expensive. Moreover, when regarding the usage of devices was taken into account, only 23.8% of the total participants were exposed to the usage of magnification aids. CONCLUSION: Among the selected group of participants, even though majority were aware of magnification in dentistry its application in practice was very less.