Discovery of drugs from medicinal plants continues to provide major leads against various
pharmacological targets, particularly in cancer diseases. Hence, there are increasing demands to discover
more therapeutic agents from various species of medicinal plants. Chemical compounds in plants are
important for human beings due to their therapeutic properties. Goniothalamus umbrosus, Typhonium
flagelliforme, Myrmecodia pendens, Strobilanthes crispus and Clinacanthus nutans, are among the herbal
species, which are consumed by cancer patients in order to combat against the growth of cancer cells. The
present review aims to highlight on the anti-cancer properties of the listed Malaysian herbs.
Perivitelline fluid, extracted from the fertilized eggs of horseshoe crabs, has been reported to play a
vital role in supporting embryogenesis as well as cell proliferation. The present study aims to evaluate the effect
of PVF on the expression of COL1A1 in human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). The cells were grouped into two;
untreated (control) and treated with a single dose of PVF (0.019 mg/ml). Gene expression was quantified for
COL1A1 on day 1, 3 and 7 using reverse transcriptase PCR. The expression of COL1A1 on day 3 of treated
group with PVF was the highest though there was a decline of COL1A1 expression on day 7. Mann Whitney test
was utilized to determine the significance of COL1A1 expression between treated and untreated groups.
Significant difference in the expression of COL1A1 was observed between the treated and untreated groups on
day 3 though there was no significance in the expression on day 7. The present study indicates that PVF may
have the potential to increase cell proliferation in human DPSCs.
Upon reviewing the literature, the prevalence of many systemic conditions such as diabetes,
hypertension, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis were reported to be high in Saudi Arabia. The relationship of these
conditions with tooth loss among Saudi population was not investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study
is to explore the relationship between tooth loss and most common medical conditions among Saudi dental
patient. The study participants were 250 patients who were randomly selected from the College of Dentistry
database of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Participants were requested to answer self-administered questionnaires related to their demographic as well as
general health questions concerned to the presence of systemic medical conditions. Missing teeth were
determined after examining the orthopantogram radiographs and reviewing the Romexis and SALUD databases.
Descriptive statistics, independent t-test and linear multiple regression model were performed using SPSS
software. The mean number of missing teeth among the study population was 5.8 teeth per person. The mean
number of missing teeth was higher among subjects with diabetes, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis,
cardiovascular diseases, or osteoporosis compared to healthy individuals. A multiple linear regression analysis
model revealed that diabetes, hypertension and rheumatoid were significant predictors of missing teeth among
Saudi population. These results highlight the importance of the effect of medical conditions on oral health.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an important bacterium with significant pathological implications
in the field of medicine. Attempting to cure bacterial infections at an advanced stage results in considerable waste
of time, effort and expenditure. Thus, the prevention of such illnesses is paramount. Besides using chemical
drugs to treat infections, several non-organic extracts have been tested in trials and been shown to impede the
bacteria’s growth. This paper proposes that the modified hydrothermal nanotitania extract has great potential to
combat this lethal organism. The viability of S. aureus was shown to be markedly reduced following the addition
of nanotitania extract with 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.05% silver after 24, 48, and 72 hours. The ability of the
nanotitania extract to inhibit the growth of S. aureus indicates its antimicrobial characteristics.
Tornwaldt (Thornwaldt) or nasopharyngeal cyst is a cyst occurred at the connection site of
pharyngeal endoderm and notochord remnant, usually located in the midline postero-superior wall of
nasopharynx. Nasopharynx’s obstruction, recurrent infection or trauma may exacerbate mucous secretion
by the potential space lining. Although rare and is usually symptomless, it is not uncommon for the patients
to have some nasal, ear, cervical or oral symptoms. We report a case of Tornwaldt cyst with rare
associated dental symptoms. The patient’s initial presentations were dry mouth, cheek biting, post nasal
drip and few nasal symptoms including frequent snoring, sleep apnoea, mouth breathing, sneezing, sore
throat and itchiness. These symptoms were tremendously and immediately relieved once the cyst was
surgically removed.
Tobacco usage among dental students and the amount of training they received may have an impact on tobacco cessation activities undertaken for their patients. This study aims to assess Malaysian dental students’ tobacco use, exposure to second-hand smoke and their attitude towards tobacco control activities and curriculum. This was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Global Health Professions Students Survey (GHPSS). The questionnaire was distributed to all Malaysian fourth and fifth year
dental students in four public dental schools (n=372), namely University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The data were analysed using descriptive and chi square tests. In total, (n=349) respondents completed the questionnaire, yielding a 93.8% response rate. Although the prevalence of Malaysian dental students who ‘ever smoked’ was 21.2%, the prevalence of current smokers was low (2.3%). About 62% and 39% of students reported having been exposed to second-hand smoke in public and at home, respectively. USIM students were significantly less likely to recall having received training about approaches to smoking cessation (52.9%, p<0.001). Significantly fewer smokers than nonsmokers agreed on tobacco banning policy. Regardless of their smoking status, the majority of dental students showed positive attitudes towards dentists’ role in tobacco cessation. Tobacco user among Malaysian dental students was low. There were statistically significant differences between ever smokers and non-smokers’ attitudes towards tobacco banning policy. The majority of dental students showed positive attitudes towards dentists’ role in
tobacco cessation.
Keywords: Attitudes; GHPSS; public health; smoking; tobacco
Intramuscular haemangioma is relatively rare and accounts for less than 1% of all haemangioma.
Most of these tumours occur in the trunk, arms and legs. Only 14% of all intramuscular haemangioma arise
from the head and neck region, with masseter muscle representing the most common site of involvement,
followed by the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles. We present a case of a 60-year-old man with a
soft lump in the left cheek. Imaging of the neck showed irregular, dilated enhancing vessels seen in the left
masseter muscle suggestive of intramuscular haemangioma. Excisional biopsy was performed, and
histopathological findings confirmed the diagnosis.
Branchial apparatus anomalies usually manifest in teenage or early adult life. Infection complicates
second branchial pouch anomalies usually presented as a neck lump or discharging sinus. It is the most common
form of anomalies compared to another branchial pouch aberrant. However, it is extremely rare to find a
complete branchial fistula with both internal and external openings. Misdiagnosis usually occurs leading to
inappropriate and suboptimal treatment. Here, we report of a case of complete second branchial pouch fistula
and discuss the clinical presentation and surgical management of such lesion.
Many studies have indicated that hearing-impaired (HI) children have poor oral hygiene mainly
contributed by difficulties in communication. The objectives of the study were to assess the difficulties
experienced by HI children during dental visit and the effectiveness of “Oral Health Care for the HearingImpaired”
(OCHI) programme in improving the oral health knowledge and practice, and reducing the dental
plaque maturity scores among HI children. A community intervention study was conducted and training of trainers
(TOT) was done to train the teachers in delivering oral health education (OHE) and practices by using developed
booklet and video. The difficulties faced by the HI children during dental visit, and the oral health knowledge and
practice (OHKP) were assessed by face-to-face interview with HI children whilst the dental plaque maturity was
assessed using GC Tri Plaque ID Gel™ (TPID) during pre-intervention, post-intervention-1 and postintervention-2.
Data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Among the teachers, there was an increase in the
mean (SD) total knowledge and attitude score during post-TOT compared to pre-TOT, 46.1 (2.44) and 43.7
(4.01); (p
The study aimed to compare the scope and pattern of practice between general dental practitioners (GDPs), restorative dentistry specialists and endodontists. Self-administered postal questionnaires were distributed to 22 restorative dentistry specialists, 16 endodontists and a random sample of 566 GDPs. The pre-tested questionnaire inquired about demographic data, endodontic practices and referrals. Fisher’s exact test with Bonferroni adjustment was performed for pairwise comparisons. The overall response rate was 73.8%. The restorative dentistry specialists and the endodontists performed a wider array of endodontic procedures than the GDPs and were more consistent in the use of specific armamentarium (p
Human salivary exosomes have been identified as a highly informative nanovesicle with clinical-relevant information for variation of diagnostic purposes. As a continued effort from previous studies on human salivary exosomes effect at gene expression level, this study is carried out to observe the morphology of human periodontal fibroblast (HPdLF) treated with exosomes cells under the same period of changes in genotypic level occurred. In vitro, HPdLF cells were cultured for 24 hours with 10 μg/ml of human salivary exosomes. The morphology of HPdLF cells was examined under inverted light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for both control samples and samples treated with human salivary exosomes, while the cell count was performed via trypan blue staining. There was no significant difference in the morphology under the inverted light microscopy and the cell number of HPdLF cells for both treated and untreated cells with exosomes. However, for SEM, the treated HPdLF with salivary exosomes showed slight observable changes on the filopodia, lamellipodia, cytoplasmic vesicles and the cytoskeleton of the cells. Even within a short period (24 hours) of culturing time for cells with human salivary exosomes, the samples showed minimal changes which positively suggested a simultaneous event of exchanging materials from human salivary exosomes to cells had occurred, hence, potentially proving that human salivary exosomes can enhance cell proliferation.
Infection of the oral cavity with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated as one of the risk factors for the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Among the high-risk HPV types, HPV 16 and 18 are the most common infective agents in oral cancers. This study aimed to compare the presence of high-risk HPV in genetic materials obtained from saliva, blood and tissues of OSCC patients in Malaysia. The genomic DNA was extracted from saliva (n=13), blood (n=59) and tissue (n=63) and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of human beta globin gene to confirm the presence and integrity of DNA. Positive amplification was then screened for high-risk HPV by nested PCR using MY11/09 and GP5+/6+ consensus primers, followed by a further confirmation by DNA sequencing of the positive samples. As a result, two saliva samples (2/13; 15.4%) were found to harbour HPV 16 and one tissue sample (1/63; 1.6%) was shown to be positive for HPV 18. However, none of the blood samples were positive for high-risk HPV. Thus, HPV is more likely to be found in the saliva of OSCC patients as compared to blood and tissue samples. The detection of high-risk HPV in OSCC patients is useful in deciding how to manage the patient as HPV-associated OSCC has better prognosis.
Oral candidiasis is an opportunistic infection of the oral cavity. This study aimed to determine prevalence of oral candidiasis in patients with palatal coverage orthodontic appliances and prostheses and its risk factors. Three groups of patients were recruited after an informed consent. The two tested groups were the denture and the upper removable orthodontic appliance (URA) groups while patients with no prosthesis/appliance acted as control. The assessments included demographic profile, denture/URA age, night-time wearing and duration of wearing. Signs and symptoms of candidiasis were examined intra-orally. Unstimulated salivary flow rate test was also performed. Smears samples were taken from palatal mucosa and impression surfaces of denture/URA and stained with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS). The data were analysed using descriptive and chi-square tests. A total of 86 patients were recruited; denture (n=30), URA (n=22), control (n=34). Denture and URA groups had significantly more positive cases of candidal infection (56.7 and 72.7% respectively) as compared to control group (20.6%). Among the subjects with oral candidiasis, denture patients were detected to have more severe amount of candidal hyphae (20%) than URA (13.6%) group. The relationships between oral candidiasis and these risk factors i.e. age, night-time wearing, daily total hours of wearing and denture/URA hygiene were statistically significant (p
The present study aims to investigate and compare the hard and soft tissue cephalometric measurement among Malaysian Malay and Chinese subjects. This study is a cross-sectional study of secondary data. Data consists of 470 standardized lateral cephalometric radiographs of Malaysian Malay and Chinese adults which were picked randomly among orthodontic patients of Hospital USM. The criteria of selection were pre-treatment lateral cephalometric film of Malay and Chinese orthodontic patients aged 18-25 years which has good quality with visible landmarks. All cephalometric landmarks were located and determined and subsequently all measurements were done per COGS analysis using CASSOS software. Independent t-tests were performed for statistical comparison. Out of the 38 measurements, 4 were found significantly different between the sexes for Malaysian Chinese and 18 were found significantly different between the sexes for Malaysian Malay. Statistically significant disparities were also found between Malaysian Malay and Chinese as 16 measurements has p-value of < 0.05. Disparities were observed in COGS values between the two races and each sex group.
This study was to determine the sociodemographic and clinicopathological factors that were associated with mortality of OSCC patients managed at Hospital USM. The prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) in these patients and its association with epithelial proliferation rate were also determined. A retrospective study was conducted whereby medical records of patients diagnosed with OSCC and tissue specimens from 2005 to 2015 were studied. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens were evaluated for histological grading of OSCC, p16 overexpression and Ki-67 immunostaining. Descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistics regressions were used for data analysis. Prognostic factors for mortality includes male gender (AOR=10.89; 95% CI: 1.99, 59.65; p = 0.006), alcohol consumption (AOR = 16.45; 95% CI: 1.36, 59.65; p = 0.028), not receiving treatment (AOR = 5.88; 95% CI: 1.03, 33.61; p = 0.046) and late stage (T3, T4) at presentation (AOR = 4.85; 95% CI: 1.12, 21.02; p = 0.035). Significant association was found between high-risk HPV positivity and higher epithelial proliferation rate expression (p < 0.003) in the OSCC tissue specimens.
A study was done to assess and compare the levels of infection control practices amongst Year
3, 4 and 5 undergraduate dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Malaysia. This
study also compared the levels of infection control practices between the operators and the assistants
performing a similar task. A checklist was designed based on the Infection Control Guidelines published by
the Faculty of Dentistry. The audit checklist criteria were specific to the operators and assistants or common
to both. 10 pairs of students (operators and assistants) were randomly selected from Polyclinics A, B and C,
representing Year 3, 4 and 5 students respectively (n=60). The subjects were audited as soon as they
entered the clinic, during treatment and up until they exited the polyclinic. The data collected were analysed
using SPSS and Rasch model. Year 3 students performed better infection control practices (1.43 logit)
followed by Year 5 (0.96 logit) and Year 4 (0.94 logit) students. The operators in Year 5 and the assistants
in Year 3 and 4 were more compliant to infection control practices. 100% of students complied with removal
of gown before leaving the clinic. However, only 1.7% of dental students wore protective goggles or face
shield during treatment and disinfected prostheses before and after inserting into patient’s mouth.
Introduction and reinforcement of infection control practices should be incorporated at the beginning of each
academic year for all students to allow for better practice and delivery of treatment to patients.
Euphorbia tirucalli Linn. is traditionally used as medicine especially in the treatment of diseases
caused by bacterial pathogens. The objectives of the present study were to identify the bioactive
compounds in the stem of Euphorbia tirucalli Linn. using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS)
analysis, and to investigate their potentials as an alternative for antimicrobial activity. Two-microliters
of dried powdered of Euphorbia tirucalli Linn. stem were mixed with methanol followed by injection into
splitless mode of GC-MS. Separation was achieved by Elite-5MS fused capillary column. The mass spectra
were compared with the spectra of known components stored in the NIST and WILEY databases for
compound identification. Forty-six chemical constituents were identified. The major constituents were
lanosta-8,24-dien-3-ol, (3β)- (13.60%), (23S)-ethylcholest-5-en-(3β)-ol (7.02%), linoleic acid (2.96%) and
viminalol (2.57%). Most of the active compounds present in the stem of Euphorbia tirucalli Linn. have
previously been shown to exhibit antimicrobial properties.
Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) measures the extent of agreement and consistency among
raters for two or more numerical or quantitative variables. This review paper aimed to present several tables that
could illustrate the minimum sample sizes required for estimating the desired effect size of ICC, which is a
measurement of the magnitude of an agreement. Determination of the minimum sample size under such
circumstances is based on the two fundamentally important parameters, namely the actual value of the ICC and
the number of observations made by each subject. The sample size calculations are derived from Power Analysis
and Sample Size (PASS) software where the alpha and minimum required power is fixed at 0.05 and higher than
0.80 respectively. A discussion on how to use these tables for determining sample sizes required for each of the
various scenarios and the limitations associated with their use in each of these scenarios is provided.
This in-vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the marginal leakage and penetration ability of
a moisture-tolerant (Embrace WetBondTM) and a conventional (ClinproTM) resin-based sealants under three
different enamel surface preparations (acid etched, acid etched and saliva contaminated and bur
preparation and acid etched). One hundred and twenty extracted caries free human premolars teeth were
cleaned and randomly divided into six groups of equal numbers, according to the type of sealants used and
surface preparations. All the sealed teeth were subjected to thermocycling and immersed in a methylene
blue dye. Each tooth was then embedded into acrylic resin before it was sectioned into four sections per
tooth. Marginal leakage and unfilled surface area (indicating penetration depth of resin) were then
measured using an optical 3D measurement device (Alicona Infinite Focus®). Both sealants exhibited
comparable proportion of marginal leakage on acid etched only surfaces. Moisture-tolerant sealant showed
the least proportion of marginal leakage on bur prepared and etched surfaces. Presence of saliva has
detrimental effect on adhesion of both sealants. Nevertheless, depth of penetration of sealant into the
fissures is comparable with both sealant types irrespective of the surface preparations.
Primary intra-osseous squamous cell carcinoma (PIOSCC) is a rare tumour which occurs centrally
within the jaws. It is believed to arise from odontogenic epithelial remnants or from pre-existing odontogenic
cysts/tumours. A case of PIOSCC arising from an odontogenic cyst in a 57-year-old female is discussed.
Initial clinical and radiographic examination was suggestive of an odontogenic cyst / cystic tumour. The
lesion was enucleated and sent for diagnostic histopathology which revealed the presence of an invasive
carcinoma arising from the walls of the odontogenic cyst. The patient then underwent right mandibular
resection and reconstruction as well as right supra-omohyoid neck dissection. Long standing odontogenic
cysts have the potential to undergo malignant transformation though this may not always be the case.
Relying only on radiographic findings for the management of cyst-like lesions without obtaining
histopathological diagnosis is extremely ill-advised.