Introduction and Objective: Tobacco use is a significant risk factor for oral diseases. Periodontal disease has been known to be associated with tobacco use for over twenty years. Despite that, dentists and particularly periodontist does not include tobacco use cessation as part of their initial treatment in treating periodontal disease or placing implants in patients who use tobacco. The increase in prevalence and severity of periodontitis among smokers
cannot be explained by differences in the amount of plaque between smokers and nonsmokers. A possible explanation is that smoking may alter the quality of the flora. Dental professionals also have a crucial role to play in tobacco cessation counseling, particularly for patients with chronic periodontitis. More patients will be affected by periodontitis than will ever be affected by oral cancer. Methods and Results: Reviews of literatures were
done on a clearly formulated question on the need of smoking cessation intervention to increase positive outcome of treatment on periodontal disease. Conclusion: Various epidemiological studies strongly suggest that tobacco use cessation is beneficial to patients following periodontal treatments for a better outcome.
Fixed orthodontic treatment requires the use of orthodontic brackets and archwires in order to correct malocclusions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the pattern of orthodontic material usages i.e. bracket and archwire among Malaysian orthodontists. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to members of the Malaysian Association of Orthodontist. Data entry and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 15.0. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Means and standard deviations were calculated for continuous variables, frequency and percentages for categorical variables. Thirty-four orthodontists responded to the survey, with 76% (n=26) were female and the mean age was 43.31 years (SD 8.76). Most respondents used conventional metal brackets (60%, n=60) and most bracket prescription used was MBT (56%, n=19). At levelling stage, most respondents used nickel titanium archwire (84.5%, n=47). Stainless steel archwire was the most favourable choice for retraction/space closure stage (73.9%, n=34). At finishing, most respondents (60.4%, n=29) preferred to use stainless steel wire in their cases. As a conclusion, specific types of orthodontic materials were preferred and used by Malaysian orthodontists in delivering orthodontic treatment.
The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the 5A’s smoking cessation intervention (5A’s) to that of brief advice (BA) conducted by dentists. A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was designed to compare the effectiveness of the interventions. Six Dental Public Health specialists were recruited, randomized and trained to participate in this trial. Two hundred and fifty patients were required on both arms. The main outcome measures were biochemically validated self-reported abstinence and behaviour change at 6-months follow-up. The odd of quitters in 5A’s intervention was 3.81 (95% CI: 1.87-7.76; p= 0.00) times higher compared to BA. After controlling other factors, the odds ratio for the 5A’s was 1.90 (95% CI: 0.652-5.547; p=0.24) higher compared to BA. The 5A’s was found to be more effective in initiating positive behaviour change compared to BA. However, after controlling other factors, there was no difference in the effectiveness although the odds ratio was slightly higher in 5A’s.
This research aimed to evaluate the oral hygiene status in fixed orthodontic appliance patients when using two different slim bristles toothbrushes and to assess patients’ toothbrush perception.Twenty six fixed orthodontic appliance patients participated in the six weeks prospective, crossover clinical trial. All patients used two different slim bristles toothbrushes (Toothbrush A and Toothbrush B) for two weeks each with a washout period in between. Gingival health and plaque value were assessed based on Löe & Silness Gingival Index and Silness & Löe Plaque Index at baseline, week 2, week 4 (washout) and week 6. At the end of the trial, patients’ toothbrush perception was assessed through questionnaire. All data were analysed using SPSS version 22.The mean age of the patients was 21.5 ± 4.3 years, with female predominant (n = 17, 65.4%). More than half were Malay (n = 15, 57.7%) and had tertiary education (n = 14, 53.8%). Patients could achieve good oral hygiene when using Toothbrush A (65.4%) and Toothbrush B (69.2%). However, the occurrence of gingivitis was significantly higher when using Toothbrush A (OR = 1.889, 95% CI = 1.207-2.957, p value < 0.05). Toothbrush B was felt to clean better (n = 14, 53.8%) while Toothbrush A was perceived to be easier to use (n = 14, 53.8%). Both toothbrushes maintained patients’ oral hygiene status. However, when using Toothbrush B, oral health status was better as it significantly reduced gingivitis occurrence compared to Toothbrush A. As for the toothbrush perception, most patients preferred Toothbrush A to be taken home.
Introduction: Delivering oral hygiene instruction is one of the integral parts of orthodontic treatment. However, there is scarce information regarding the impact of audiovisual method on knowledge retention among orthodontic patients. This study aimed to assess knowledge retention of the patient after instruction delivered in audiovisual (AV) method and compare it to the standard written and verbal (WV) method. Methods: This prospective clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients aged 13 to 40 years. They were randomized into the audiovisual group (n=30) and written & verbal group (n=30). Patients’ knowledge retention was measured using a self-administered questionnaire in Google form, immediately after instruction given as short-term retention and long-term retention for three time- point, i.e., 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month. Results: There was a significant improvement in knowledge for both AV and WV methods at immediate and 1-month assessment and the knowledge retained until 6-month follow up. The AV method demonstrated a significantly higher increase in knowledge retention at immediate and 1-month than the WV method. Conclusion: The AV method was significantly more effective in improving patient's knowledge reten- tion compared to the written & verbal methods. Repetition of instruction also influence the retention of knowledge.
Early treatment of orthodontic problems is important to ensure the best outcome and to avoid social stigmatization. Treatment is often prioritized based on scales such as the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Unfortunately, the conventional aesthetic component of IOTN measurement is slanted towards Caucasian malocclusions. Thus, Asian children find it particularly difficult to rate their appearance on this scale and therefore treatment may be wrongly prioritized. This study aimed to assess the use of a newly modified aesthetic scale in assessing orthodontic treatment need in adolescent. A total of 522 16-year old children were recruited. The subjects as well as the examiner rated the subject’s own dentition according to the conventional scale of aesthetic component of IOTN and the newly modified aesthetic scale. Questionnaire was given to assess the practicality of the two scales. When conventional scale was used, subjects and examiner tends to rate more to the no/slight treatment need category. However, when the newly modified scale was applied, the rating has skewed to the moderate/great need treatment category in both subjects and examiner. Moderate inter-agreement between examiner and subjects were detected when using the modified scale while poor agreement was found when using the conventional scale. Moreover, subjects found the modified scale to be easier and faster to use and more relevant to their own dentition. In conclusion, the newly modified aesthetic scale can be suggested as a better tool in assessing level of orthodontic treatment need in adolescent.