BACKGROUND: Dental Unit Water Line (DUWL) deliver water to different handpieces in a dental unit. The water in DUWL circulates in a closed system, where it is taken from a container. The quality of dental water is of considerable importance since patients and dental staff are regularly exposed to water and aerosols generated from dental equipment. Output water from DUWLs may be a potential source of infection for both dental health care personnel and patients.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the microbial contamination in the DUWL among dental clinics in Chennai.
METHODS: An in vitro study was conducted on 60 water samples from 20 dental clinics in Chennai in December 2019. Water samples were collected from three different sources of the Dental unit according to ADA guidelines. The collected samples were assessed for the presence of Aspergillus, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Legionella by agar plate method. The data were analysed using SPSS software version 20.
RESULTS: Legionella was the most prevalent microorganism with 70% prevalence in a three-way syringe and 50% in scaler and airotor, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter with 10% prevalence in scaler and airotor and Aspergillus with a prevalence of 10% in the three-way syringe.
CONCLUSIONS: Most of the dental units were contaminated with Aspergillus, Legionella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter which pose a serious threat to the patients as well as the dentists.

CareQuest Institute for Oral Health\'s mission is to improve the oral health of all. One way to achieve this is through programmatic initiatives, which train dental clinics to provide equitable, integrated and accessible care for their communities. The Community Oral Health Transformation (COrHT) Initiative, allowed CareQuest Institute to collaborate with the North Carolina Oral Health Collaboration (NCOHC) and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of North Carolina Foundation to implement and support the initiative in North Carolina. This mixed methods study was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data while 11 dental clinics and a control clinic participated in the program through the end of the program. Quantitative data included patient demographics, claims data, and financial and data measures. Descriptive statistics of participating clinics and the control clinic were analyzed, and aggregated clinic data showed improvements in patient care delivery measures. Qualitative interviews were also conducted at midpoint and conclusion, and an outcome evaluation was completed. This short report will provide readers with results from the COrHT Initiative, with an emphasis on medical-dental integration (MDI) as an integral component of comprehensive, person-centered care. The evaluation of programmatic strengths and weaknesses has been included to identify the potential for future implementation, sustainability, and policy making.

Patient satisfaction and quality of life are integral to assessing oral health care quality. For many Americans still using conventional complete dentures (CDs) or implant-retained mandibular overdentures (IODs), it remains essential to consider improving their oral health outcomes and quality of life. Due to inexperienced student dentists providing dental care to dental school patients, patient grievances are generally considered a problem. Patient feedback and satisfaction have proven valuable resources for monitoring and improving patient safety. While CDs and IODs are the 2 leading treatment options for edentulism, more comparative studies in the literature need to compare their outcomes in a school setting. The research question that guided this comparative analysis was, \"Is patient satisfaction and quality of life affected by the type of prostheses and provider?\" A validated questionnaire was mailed to 520 individuals selected from records of patients who had received treatment for edentulous mandible at a student prosthodontic clinic at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry from 2014 to 2016 with at least 1 year of follow-up time. A validated questionnaire for edentulous patients based on the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-19) was used. In addition, information on patients\' oral health-related quality of life, including questions related to the edentulous patients\' satisfaction with their dentures, was collected. The response rate was 33% (N = 171). The study\'s findings confirm previous findings, suggesting that IODs may significantly impact oral health-related quality of life. Data show that 76% of the IOD group reported improvement in experience when using the implants to retain the mandibular denture. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the OHIP scores between overall CD and IOD patient groups. Males with IODs had lower physical pain, limitations, and disability scores than males with CD. However, females with IODs reported more significant concerns associated with a social disability and handicap domains. Comparing users who had experiences with both treatment options, this study discerned essential characteristics that contribute to increased patient satisfaction with IODs and identified significance in outcomes by gender. These findings guide prosthodontic practitioners\' patient care practices and identify a continuing need to discuss CD and IOD treatment protocols within dental school curricula.

The dental profession is associated with occupational health problems. The working environment of a dentist is associated with ergonomic risk factors that can significantly reduce the dentist\'s working ability and even cause the termination of his/her professional activity. Numerous studies have been conducted in different countries (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Australia, etc.) to assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in dentists, though no studies related to the principles of ergonomics in dentistry have been carried out in Georgia. The study aimed to assess the ergonomics of the working environment of dentists in Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia) clinics and to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among them. An observational descriptive study was conducted in April-July 2023 in Tbilisi. A special questionnaire of 40 questions was designed based on international experience. The survey was conducted by random sampling in selected dental clinics. Dentists were asked to fill out the questionnaire during their free time between patient appointments. Those who agreed to participate were provided with electronic versions of the questionnaire. Five hundred dentists were invited to participate in the survey, of whom 314 (62.8%) agreed to fill out the questionnaire. A total of 291 fully completed questionnaires were used for the descriptive statistical analysis. Our study shows that in Tbilisi clinics dentists work on average for 5-6 days (48.8% - 6 days, 37.1% - 5 days) or 40-48 hours a week. A majority of respondents said their workplace met the requirements of ergonomics (it had a good lighting, the chair had a back, instruments could be easily reached), yet most of them rarely lean on the backrest, never or rarely use the hand rest method, and never or rarely do light physical exercise during breaks. The survey shows that 53.6% of dentists most frequently suffer from pain in the back, followed by pain in the neck (50.9%), shoulders (47.9%) and lower back (47.1%). Most of them said they had to work less because of the pain. Introduction of the principles of ergonomics in dental profession is vital for preventing occupational musculoskeletal disorders. It is important to provide continuing professional development programs and information booklets for dentists and thematic online webinars for the management of dental clinics in Georgia.

This was the first longitudinal study to analyze dental clinic wastewater to estimate asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection trends in children. We monitored wastewater over a 14-month period, spanning three major COVID-19 waves driven by the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. Each Saturday, wastewater was sampled at the Pediatric Dental Clinic of the only dental hospital in Japan\'s Saitama Prefecture. The relationship between the weekly number of cases in Saitama Prefecture among residents aged < 10 years (exposure) and wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection (outcome) was examined. The number of cases was significantly associated with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity (risk ratio, 5.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.72-16.67; Fisher\'s exact test, p = 0.0005). A sample from Week 8 of 2022 harbored the Omicron variant. Compared to sporadic individual testing, this approach allows continuous population-level surveillance, which is less affected by healthcare seeking and test availability. Since wastewater from pediatric dental clinics originates from the oral cavities of asymptomatic children, such testing can provide important information regarding asymptomatic COVID-19 in children, complementing clinical pediatric data.

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to create an intentional Interprofessional Education Experience (IEE) that satisfied the requirements set forth by the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE 2013), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standard 11, and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Competencies. These frameworks elevate the importance of interprofessional education in pharmacy. They not only guide educational standards but also emphasize the crucial role of collaborative healthcare practices in ensuring comprehensive patient care and improving health outcomes. Our evaluation of PharmD students\' attainment of Interprofessional Education (IPE) learning outcomes employed both quantitative and qualitative assessment methods to provide a comprehensive understanding of their achievements.
UNASSIGNED: Fourteen PharmD students participated in an intentional IEE experience in a community dental clinic, collaborating with the dental clinic team and patients. Assessment methods combined quantitative data from SPICE-R2 with qualitative insights from daily reflections and an IPE Field Encounter based on IPEC Competencies. This approach ensured a thorough evaluation across individual experiences.
CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative analysis revealed a statistically increase in mean scores for four out of ten questions on the SPICE-R2 instrument. Qualitative data analysis utilized grounded theory to analyze emerging themes.
CONCLUSIONS: Employing both quantitative and qualitative assessment methods in this intentional IEE environment has proved beneficial in assessing IPE learning outcomes. The PharmD students were able to deliver patient-centered care as valuable members of an interprofessional healthcare team.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) among children who for 1 year attended a Norwegian public after-hours emergency public dental (EPD) clinic.
METHODS: The study included 7-18-year-olds (n = 312) who presented at the EPD clinic, underwent a clinical dental examination, and consented to the disclosure of clinical information. Recording of TDIs was restricted to anterior permanent teeth. Potential TDI predictors were also analysed.
RESULTS: Almost half (n = 148) of the children were assessed with TDIs in permanent teeth, showing a mean age of 11.0 (standard deviation [SD]: 3.5) years. Males constituted 54.7%. The children experienced TDIs often outside school hours (43.9%), and the majority (58.1%) were caused by falls/accidents. Sixty of them experienced only one TDI. The most common location was the maxillary central incisors. Assessment of TDIs according to severity, could only be done in 131 individuals, involving 253 TDIs. Of these, 81.8% were mild. The odds of visiting the emergency clinic for a TDI were higher (odds ratio [OR] = 2.64, confidence interval [CI]: 1.61-4.31) among children with previous TDIs and lower (OR = 0.28, CI: 0.12-0.68) among those with poor dental attendance.
CONCLUSIONS: Traumatic dental injuries were a common reason for seeking emergency care. Milder injuries dominated and involved mostly one maxillary central incisor. Previous episodes of TDIs and attendance patterns seemed to be associated with seeking care for TDIs.

Purpose: To evaluate the noise levels recorded in a hospital-based pediatric dental clinic and evaluate the occupational exposure personnel have to potentially hazardous levels of noise. Methods: A SoundAdvisor™ Sound Level Meter Model 831C was used to gather 19 days of background sound data (equivalent continuous sound levels, measured as LAeq) in the open bay, quiet room, sedation suite, and operating room settings. A Spartan™ Wireless Noise Dosimeter Model 730 (Larson Davis) was utilized to capture data about personal noise exposure of pediatric dental residents over 81 clinic sessions. Personal noise exposure was compared to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stand- ard. Results: Background A-weighted sound pressure level was significantly less for the open bay than in the operating room, quiet room, and oral sedation setting (P<0.05), while the operating room was significantly less than the oral sedation setting (P=0.038). Personal LAeq was significantly less for the open bay than the quiet room (P=0.007) and oral sedation settings (P=0.007). There was a significantly larger percentage of time above 80 dBA captured in the oral sedation suite compared to the open bay (P=0.010) or operating room (P=0.023). Conclusions: Daily occupational noise exposure did not exceed the thresholds set forth by OSHA. Sedation and quiet room treatment settings were noted to be the loudest pediatric dental clinical environments.

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OBJECTIVE: The dentist-patient relationship (DPR) is considered to be a key element in dental clinical settings. This scoping review aimed to examine the extent of previous research on DPR, focussing on its determinants for the reification of the construct.
METHODS: This research was directed by the guidance for systematic scoping reviews from the Joanna Briggs Institute. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were based on participants of general adults and dentists, the concept of determinants of DPR, and the context of dental health care encounters. A literature search was performed in 6 major electronic databases in July 2023. Key information from included articles was extracted to chart the results, mainly to identify the determinants of DPR. Each determinant of DPR was classified according to the conceptual model of DPR.
RESULTS: A total of 1727 records were initially identified, and 16 articles were included in the review. Nine studies used a quantitative method and 7 were nonempirical articles. All but 2 articles were from the perspective of patients. Factors were grouped into 6 main domains: dentist, patient, society/environment, clinical structure, clinical process, and outcome. Amongst the 6 domains of DPR, most determining factors were related to the clinical process. \"Communication\" was most frequently counted, at 8 times, followed by \"trust\" (frequency, 6). At the patient level, \"dental fear/anxiety\" was frequently used to measure DPR.
CONCLUSIONS: Previous literature about DPR indicated a few common and dentistry-specific determinants from the patient perspective. Further studies are encouraged to develop a more comprehensive framework and evaluation scale of DPR.