Effectiveness of a new toothbrush design versus a conventional tongue scraper in improving breath odor and reducing tongue microbiota.

For centuries, specific instruments or regular toothbrushes have routinely been used to remove tongue biofilm and improve breath odor. Toothbrushes with a tongue scraper on the back of their head have recently been introduced to the market. The present study compared the effectiveness of a manual toothbrush with this new design, i.e., possessing a tongue scraper, and a commercial tongue scraper in improving breath odor and reducing the aerobic and anaerobic microbiota of tongue surface. The evaluations occurred at 4 moments, when the participants (n=30) had their halitosis quantified with a halimeter and scored according to a 4-point scoring system corresponding to different levels of intensity. Saliva was collected for counts of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Data were analyzed statistically by Friedman's test (p<0.05). When differences were detected, the Wilcoxon test adjusted for Bonferroni correction was used for multiple comparisons (group to group). The results confirmed the importance of mechanical cleaning of the tongue, since this procedure provided an improvement in halitosis and reduction of aerobe and anaerobe counts. Regarding the evaluated methods, the toothbrush's tongue scraper and conventional tongue scraper had a similar performance in terms of breath improvement and reduction of tongue microbiota, and may be indicated as effective methods for tongue cleaning.

Effectiveness of a new toothbrush design versus a conventional tongue scraper in improving breath odor and reducing tongue microbiota

For centuries, specific instruments or regular toothbrushes have routinely been used to remove tongue biofilm and improve breath odor. Toothbrushes with a tongue scraper on the back of their head have recently been introduced to the market. The present study compared the effectiveness of a manual toothbrush with this new design, i.e., possessing a tongue scraper, and a commercial tongue scraper in improving breath odor and reducing the aerobic and anaerobic microbiota of tongue surface. The evaluations occurred at 4 moments, when the participants (n=30) had their halitosis quantified with a halimeter and scored according to a 4-point scoring system corresponding to different levels of intensity. Saliva was collected for counts of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Data were analyzed statistically by Friedman's test (p<0.05). When differences were detected, the Wilcoxon test adjusted for Bonferroni correction was used for multiple comparisons (group to group). The results confirmed the importance of mechanical cleaning of the tongue, since this procedure provided an improvement in halitosis and reduction of aerobe and anaerobe counts. Regarding the evaluated methods, the toothbrush's tongue scraper and conventional tongue scraper had a similar performance in terms of breath improvement and reduction of tongue microbiota, and may be indicated as effective methods for tongue cleaning.

Risco ocupacional de adquirir tuberculose entre trabalhadores de enfermagem hospitalar / Occupational riskof acquiring tuberculosis among hospital nursing workers

Nos hospitais, os indivíduos tuberculosos säo atendidos por vários profissionais e dentre eles os trabalhadores de enfermagem. Esses trabalhadores estäo sujeitos a riscos de infecçäo tuberculosa. O estudo objetivou: levantar o número de trabalhadores de enfermagem do hospital que adquiriram tuberculose, e as características gerais em um período pré determinado; levantar a morbidade dessa doença e discutir o risco ocupacional entre estes trabalhadores. Em um ano os trabalhadores apresentaram risco 3,86 vezes maior e em outro, 1,47 vezes maior de adquirir a doença. Neste estudo a tuberculose foi considerada de risco ocupacional para os trabalhadores de enfermagem.

Processamento radiográfico: câmara escura portátil: relaçäo entre filtro de luz e densidade de base + véu / Radiographic processing: portable darkroom: relation beetwen light filtering and base density plus fog

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito sobre a densidade de base + véu de filmes radiográficos, decorrentes do uso da luz filtrada pelo polímero acrílico utilizado nas câmaras portáteis para processamento radiográfico. Filmes Kodak Ultra-speed e Ektaspeed Plus foram colocados no interior de uma câmara desse tipo e submetidos durante cinco minutos às condiçöes de iluminaçäo natural e artificial em que elas säo rotineiramente utilizadas. Depois disso, os filmes foram processados pelo método temperatura-tempo em câmara escura convencional, juntamente com filmes dos mesmos grupos de sensibilidade que serviram como controle. Os valores densitométricos obtidos das amostras dos filmes foram analisados pelo teste de Mann-Whitney que indicou ao nível de 1 por cento de significância, que os filmes submetidos às condiçöes da câmara portátil apresentaram densidades de base + véu maiores em relaçäo aos grupos controle. Os resultados mostraram que o filme Ektaspeed Plus apresentou valores maiores de densidade de base + véu em comparaçäo com o filme Ultra-speed e que, embora o acrílico filtre a luz de forma similar ao filtro Kodak GBX 2, a maior intensidade de luz no interior da câmara escura portátil ocasionou o aumento na densidade de base + véu