The presence of macroglossia, a tendency towards poor cooperation and the inability to adapt to compl~te dental prostheses due to motor and mental deficiencies makes the oral rehabilitation of Down Syndrome patients difficult. This article reports on the use of mini implant supported overdenture to rehabilitate a Down Syndrome patient who had difficulty adapting to his new mandibular complete denture. The patient's ability to cooperate during treatment as well as the maintenance of an optimal oral hygiene practice enabled mini-implants to be inserted and maintained 20 months post insertion as evidenced by clinical and radiological findings. To the author's knowledge, this is the first reporting of a successful mini implant supported overdenture in a Down Syndrome patient.
This cross-sectional study was carried out to identify A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia in the subgingival plaque of three ethnic groups (Malays, Chinese and Indians) in a selected group of adult Malaysians with advanced Chronic Periodontitis and to correlate these findings with their periodontal status. Thirty periodontally diseased adults were age, gender and ethnically matched with 30 healthy individuals. Clinical parameters were assessed for all. Subgingival plaque samples were collected for identification of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia using polymerase chain reaction. Prevalence for P. intermedia (83.3%) was high and A. actinomycetemcomitans
(6.7%) low in the total subject population. P. intermedia and A. actinomycetemcomitans were more
prevalent in diseased (86.7%, 10% respectively) than in healthy (80%, 3.33% respectively) subjects. A. actinomycetemcomitans was detected in 15% Indians, 5% Malays but none of the Chinese subjects whereas P. intermedia was detected in 90% Malays, 85% Indians and 75% Chinese subjects. No significant association between presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans
and P. intermedia with race and periodontal disease status was found. Only A. actinomycetemcomitans had a significant association with clinical attachment level (CAL) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, in this small subject group, none of the pathogens were associated with race and periodontal disease status and only A. actinomycetemcomitans had a significant association with CAL.
Aim: Self-assessment based on benchmarked professional standards is an excellent tool to assist in improving the dental curriculum. Areas of strength and weaknesses can be identified. It can also act as a baseline standard when significant changes are introduced to the dental curriculum. The aims of this prospective cross-sectional study was to investigate self-assessed confidence of final year dental undergraduates in paediatric dentistry enrolled at University of Malaya in 2013. Methods: 65 undergraduates completed anonymised questionnaires which were formulated based on expected professional competencies in three domains namely clinical skills, patient management, and professional development and clinical governance. Visual analogue score (VAS) represented by a 10cm line with score ‘0’ no confidence at all and ‘10’ complete confidence was used to measure the level of confidence. Results: The overall analysis of self-assessed confidence was very positive with median VAS ≥ 5cm in; clinical skills, 7.66±1.31cm (range=2.41–9.97cm: n=62; 95.4%), patient management 7.73±1.27cm (range=5.09–9.95cm: n=64; 100.0%), and professional development and clinical governance, 8.13±1.21cm (range=5.22–10.00cm: n=64; 100.0%). High confidence was reported for routine dental care (fillings and preventive care) while lower confidence reported for basic life support (median VAS=5.65cm) and pulp therapy for immature permanent teeth (median VAS=5.95cm). Conclusions: The final year dental undergraduate students of the University of Malaya appear to have good overall self-assessed confidence in core areas in paediatric dentistry.