A case of extreme distal migration of the left maxillary canine is reported. The canine had erupted buccal to the contact area between the left second premolar and first molar. Past reports of similar ectopia are reviewed.
The sophisticated cities, the ancient culture, splendid hotels, wonderful beaches, the variety of food, the beautiful people, the predictable climate and above all the smiling friendliness of the Thais make up some of the exotic attractions extolled by Thailand's tourist industry. For the last 8 years, through the good offices of British Council, several British academics have appreciated all that but have also had the privilege of working alongside Thai colleagues in a much more down-to-earth mode. In 1980 the Thai Government decided that a dental faculty with a target output of 40 DDS graduates per annum should be set up at the Prince of Songkhla University at Hadyai, a town of some 100,000 inhabitants about 1000 km south of Bangkok near the Malaysian border. The university itself is modern, situated on a splendid campus and has a well-established medical faculty. At that time, there were, in Thailand, four dental faculties: two in Bangkok, one in Chiang Mai and one at Khon Kaen. Prince of Songkhla was to be the fifth.
Susuks or charm needles are a form of talisman inserted and worn subcutaneously, in the face and other parts of the body, in the belief that they will enhance or preserve the wearer's beauty, youth, charisma, strength or health, or bring success in business. This mystic practice is found among some south-east Asian people, especially Malayan and Muslim females. Most susuk wearers are secretive about their hidden talismans, but these gold or silver needles are being discovered with increasing frequency now that radiographs are used more widely. An understanding of this practice and an awareness of its existence is important to avoid misdiagnosis and mismanagement of these patients. The practice of susuk wearing and its relevance to dentistry is discussed. Nine cases of facial susuk wearers are presented and previous reports are reviewed.
Smoking has been associated with increased risk of periodontitis. The aim of the present study was to compare the periodontal disease severity of adult heavy smokers and never-smokers referred for assessment and treatment of chronic periodontitis.
This article presents a distant complication in the auricle following the administration of a standard inferior alveolar nerve block. The patient experienced profound numbness of the auricle on the ipsilateral side of the injection that lasted for about an hour following unintended injection to the auriculotemporal nerve.
Dentistry is highly energy and resource intensive with significant environmental impact. Factors inherent in the profession such as enormous electricity demands of electronic dental equipment, voluminous water requirements, environmental effects of biomaterials (before, during and after clinical use), the use of radiation and the generation of hazardous waste involving mercury, lead etc have contributed towards this. With rising temperatures across the world due to global warming, efforts are being made worldwide to mitigate the effects of environmental damage by resorting to sustainability concepts and green solutions in a myriad of ways. In such a scenario, a professional obligation and social responsibility of dentists makes it imperative to transform the practice of dentistry from a hazardous to a sustainable one, by adopting environmental-friendly measures or 'green dentistry'. The NHS in the UK has been proactive in implementing sustainability in healthcare by setting targets, developing guidance papers, initiating steering groups to develop measures and implementing actions through its Sustainable Development Unit (SDU). Such sustainable frameworks, specific to dentistry, are not yet available and even the scientific literature is devoid of studies in this field although anecdotal narratives abound. Hence this paper attempts to present a comprehensive evaluation of the existing healthcare sustainability principles, for their parallel application in the field of dentistry and lays out a blueprint for integrating the two main underlying principles of sustainability - resource use efficiency and eliminating or minimising pollution - in the day-to-day practice. The article also highlights the importance of social values, community care, engaging stakeholders, economic benefits, developing policy and providing leadership in converting the concept of green dentistry into a practised reality.
Objective: The primary objective of this study was to examine the association between smoking and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among dentate people aged 16 years and above in England.
Methods: Cross-sectional study, based on the Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) 2009. ADHS 2009 involved data collection from 11,380 face-to-face interviews and 6,469 dental examinations from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This study focuses on the dentate sample from England, consisting of 5,622 individuals who underwent dental examination. OHRQoL was measured by two indices; Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) and Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP). Unadjusted and adjusted zero-inflated regression models were used. Adjustment was sequentially done for socio-demographics, clinical oral conditions and self-reported general health.
Results: Prevalence of those who had never smoked, past smokers and current smokers were 45.6%, 35.3% and 19.2% respectively. Current smokers had considerably higher mean OHIP-14 and OIDP scores than non-smokers. There was a statistically significant association between smoking and OHRQoL (both OHIP-14 and OIDP) even in the fully adjusted models. Current smokers were more likely to report worse OHRQoL compared to those who had never smoked in both OHIP-14 and OIDP score. There was no statistically significant difference between past smokers with those who had never smoked in reporting OHIP-14 and OIDP. Among those reporting OHRQoL, there was a stepwise gradient risk of reporting no oral impact, where the probability was higher among those who had never smoked, followed by past smokers and current smokers both in OHIP-14 and OIDP.
Conclusion: Smoking was independently associated with worse OHRQoL, even after adjusting for a range of socio-demographic factors, clinical oral conditions and self-reported general health.