Objective: To evaluate feasibility of hand gloves as a rubber dam isolation alternative, in respect of physical properties. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled trial study design was used. Three types of gloves were tested with two types of a rubber dam used as the control group. Cut-out pattern of dumb-bell shapes were made from 35 samples for each type of groups and tensile strength were tested using Universal Testing Machine and the Trapezium X software. All tests for physical requirements were performed in accord-ance with American Society for Testing and Materials D412, Standard Test Methods for Vulcanized Rubber and Thermoplastic Rubbers and Thermoplastic Elastomers-Tension. Findings were analyzed by analysis of vari-ance (ANOVA) and differences were compared using a Tukey-Kramer interval calculated at the 0.05 signifi-cance level. Results: Heavy gauge rubber dam has the highest Mean (calculated at the 0.05 significance level) except for maximum stress calculated at entire area. Medium-gauge rubber dam has significantly higher tensile strength (44.5075 N/mm2) when compared to heavy-gauge rubber dam (35.7787 N/mm2) although it was 0.09mm thinner. Discovery 2020 Powder Free Latex Examination Gloves with tensile strength value of 28.5922 N/mm2 (±3.27366) is more than the minimum requirement specified by American Federal Specification ZZ-R90B Rubber Dam (Dental, 1985) (4000 pounds per square inch or 27.6 N/mm2). For all variable tested, all groups are significantly different from each other. The mean square between the groups was quite large. Conclusion: This study shows that there are significant differences between the physical strength of latex gloves when com-pared to rubber dam. However, the comparison between thickness and tensile strength among various rubber dam, did not correspond proportionately. Only one type of rubber gloves met the minimum requirement but that is just one aspect. In view of these mixed results, more research is needed before we can conclude that it is feasable that we use hand gloves to replace rubber dam.
Objectives: To assess the prevalence of handedness and its impact on the perceived difficulty in clinical training amongst undergraduate dental students in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted in 5 dental schools around the Klang Valley. Samples consisted of year 4 and year 5 clinical undergraduate dental students. Information on the socio-demographic data, the determination of handedness and assesment of perceived difficulty in carrying out certain clinical procedures were collected. Results: A total sample of 347 participants of which 76.9% were females was obtained. The distribution of year 4 and year 5 students in the sample were equal. Eighty five percent of the samples were right-handed, 9.5% were ambidextrous and 5.5% were left-handed. Statistically significant difference was found between handedness groups for the combined clinical procedures variable: F (2.100), P
Objectives: To assess and compare the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of orthodontic patients who had and had not undergone micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) during orthodontic space closure. Methods: 27 orthodontic patients with fixed appliance who are undergoing orthodontic space closure with Niti coil springs were given the validated short version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (Malaysia) Questionnaire (S-OHIP) which was available in both Bahasa Melayu and English, containing 14 items. 17 patients underwent MOPs (MOP group) while 10 patients did not (control). Additive scores (ADD) were calculated by summing the response codes for the 14 items and simple count scores (SC) were calculated by a count of the number of items reported as occurring ‘quite often’ and ‘very often’. Results: A total of 24 patients responded to the questionnaire, with a response rate of 88.9%, and they comprised of 79.2% females and 20.8% males. There is no significant difference in the mean ADD (p = 0.347) and mean SC (p = 0.446) across both groups. Conclusions: The reported oral health-related quality of life is similar for orthodontic patients who did and did not undergo MOPs.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the clinical instructor communication on dental students’ clinical training in Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Materials and Methods: A sample of 174 undergraduate clinical dental students were recruited to complete the Clinical Education Instructional Quality Questionnaire (ClinEd IQ) which consists of forty-five questions, forty-three multiple choice questions and two open-ended. The multiple-choice questions consist of 3 subscales which were measured on a six-point Likert Scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. The open-ended responses were analysed using thematic analysis. This paper discusses the Subscale of interaction with clinical instructors and the open-ended responses. Results: The responses of 150 students were evaluated. The students rated their interaction with instructors with a mean score of 4.64 on a six -point scale. There was a significant difference between mean scores for each academic level with year five students’ score being highest. There were four areas of concern identified through the open-ended responses. Conclusion: While the quality of supervision in terms of interaction with clinical instructors is considered satisfactory and the students generally reported positive experiences, there is room for improvements especially regarding areas of concern.