IIUM Journal of Orofacial and Health Sciences

Anterior teeth rehabilitation with direct resin composite veneer using multiple layering technique: A case report

2020-08-26T10:50:54+08:00

Cosmetic veneer has become a popular option for patients seeking to improve aesthetic in their smile. The procedure can be done through a direct or indirect technique which differs in term of material used and laboratory involvement. Despite producing a better aesthetic result than its direct technique counterpart, high-cost treatment, multiple visit requirement and invasive nature of tooth preparation are proven to be a stumbling block to the patient in some cases to choose indirect technique. Therefore, direct composite veneer technique can be offered due to its low costing and conservative concept which advocates more tooth structure preservation. This case report is about direct composite veneer for anterior teeth rehabilitation and its simple and conservative protocol.

Soft tissue lesion of the ear canal – Now you see it, now you don’t

2021-01-25T15:21:52+08:00

Spontaneous herniation of the temporomandibular joint along a bony defect in the external auditory canal is an uncommon condition that may lead to otologic symptoms. A 43-year-old gentleman presented with otalgia and an external auditory canal soft tissue lesion, which flattens upon opening of the jaw. Computed tomography scan of the temporal region confirmed the presence of a soft tissue lesion that herniated through an external auditory canal wall defect. This condition should be included in the differential diagnoses of an external auditory canal mass, despite infrequently encountered. It is important to inspect the external auditory canal during movement of the jaw when a soft tissue lesion is noted, so as not to miss this diagnosis.

Scientific research misconducts : An overview

2021-02-03T16:14:38+08:00

Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results (Anderson, 2013; Breen, 2016; Resnik, 2019). It can occur at many stages of the research process. These include during proposal preparation, data collection, analysis and publication (Amin et al., 2012). The previous studies reported that 2,047 articles were retracted from PubMed in May 2012, with 67% of the articles due to misconduct (Dal-Ré et al., 2020). Besides, the percentage of retracted papers in the year of 2012 were reported to increase by 10-fold compared to the total articles retracted in 1975 (Fang et al., 2012). According to Liu and Chen (2018), the data from Retraction Watch on the 31^st July 2017 revealed that the US, China, Germany, Japan and India were the top six countries that had articles retracted.

Current concept of oral health and its potential implications for policy and practice of dental health coverage and insurance: Post COVID-19 measurement

2020-07-28T09:14:41+08:00

This review paper aims to succinctly discuss the current concept and definition of general and oral-health and its potential implications on policy and practice in regards to the dental health coverage/insurance post COVID-19 pandemic. In general, dental policies and coverage are treatment-oriented, largely focus on curative procedures with some portion for preventive care despite most of dental diseases being largely preventable. There is however still no universal consensus definition of health, leading to mixed-feeling in setting-up priorities and direction for health policy. The FDI-World Dental Federation has then published a new definition of oral-health, highlighting the broader determinants of oral-health and envisioning a discussion on the implications of this definition and, in particular, how to transform the new oral health framework into a policy and practice agenda. In Malaysia, it is predicted there will be increasing demand for public dental coverage post COVID-19, however the government is yet to be ready in fulfilling those needs, leading to worsening oral-health inequalities. The lack of healthcare expenditure with no health social-insurance model reduces the affordability and accessibility of patients to private services. Moreover, such narrow definition of oral-health, as influenced by the previous policies led to a limited coverage for common dental diseases, including oral health-related deformities linked to oral cancer and injuries. These are the major challenges for Malaysia. The government should therefore working in partnership, start subsidising dental fees of private health insurance, focus and integrate disease prevention and health promotion within it, to achieve WHO-goal of universal health coverage.

The use of bioceramic root canal sealers for obturation of the root canal system: A review

2020-10-27T15:49:04+08:00

The use of bioceramic root canal sealers in endodontics is a promising approach because of the advantages such as improved flow properties, biocompatible and could promote the formation of hard tissue. Due to the recent technology and limited scientific evidence, the effectiveness of bioceramic root canal sealers remains unclear. This article focuses on the physicochemical properties, biocompatibility, biomineralisation, retreatability, 3D obturation and current practice of using bioceramic root canal sealers. The relevant articles for this review were searched manually from Google Scholar and PubMed using keywords ‘bioceramic root filling material AND endodontics’, ‘bioceramic root canal sealers AND endodontics’, ‘cytotoxicity AND bioceramic root canal sealers’, ‘bioceramic root canal sealers AND physicochemical properties’, ‘biomineralisation AND bioceramic root canal sealers’ and ‘retreatment efficacy AND bioceramic root filling materials’. Since the clinical data concerning the obturation with bioceramic root canal sealers is lacking, the selection of materials should be made based on the available scientific evidence, individual cases, material availability and operator’s preference.

Oral health knowledge and behaviour among patient in supportive periodontal care in Sarawak

2020-12-16T17:09:13+08:00

After completing the active phase of periodontal therapy, supportive periodontal care is required to maintain periodontal health. Patient knowledge and awareness are key to periodontal therapy's success, and the study aims to provide baseline data among supportive periodontal care patients in Sarawak. Questionnaires were distributed among patients at two periodontal clinics. Out of 80 responses, 31.3% of respondents believed they had a good-excellent level of periodontal health. 41.3% felt satisfied with their current periodontal condition. 81.3% understood what dental plaque was, 92.5% knew its role in the aetiology of gingival disease, and 93.8% knew it can be controlled with good oral hygiene care. 91.3% of them were aware that; gingival bleeding indicated the presence of periodontal disease, the disease can cause mobile teeth if untreated, and it can be prevented by having regular maintenance. Only 45% were aware that the disease is not 'curable.' Concerning behaviour, 98.8% brushed teeth at least twice daily and used dental floss (43.7%), interdental brush (65%), and mouthwash (52.5%). In the case of gingival bleeding, 70% will continue brushing their teeth, and 36.3% will only use a mouth rinse. 37.5% will attend the appointment if pain arises, and 38.8% believed that a general dentist can sufficiently provide supportive periodontal care. In conclusion, there was inadequate knowledge of periodontitis's curative nature and a lack of understanding of the importance of specialist care's regular follow-up. It is important to reinforce oral health education at SPC.

Comparison between parents’ and patients’ satisfaction level towards cleft management using Cleft Evaluation Profile

2020-12-22T13:22:33+08:00

Cleft lip and palate (CLP) are common birth defects that occur in approximately 1 out of every 611 newborn in Malaysia. Cleft Evaluation Profile (CEP) is a well-established method used to evaluate the patient’s level of satisfaction with the CLP treatment that they received. This study aimed to compare the level of satisfaction of cleft patients and their parents towards cleft management in Kelantan, Malaysia. The results showed that the mean scores of CEP for the parents were between 2.04 and 3.00, whilst the patient’s mean score ranged from 2.01 to 3.04. In general, nose is the most dissatisfied feature for both patients and parents with the mean score of 3.04 for patients and 3.00 for parents. Teeth was the second highest (2.97) mean scores rated by parents but it was the third highest (2.84) mean score from the patients. Lip feature scored the third highest mean score for parents, and it was the second-highest mean score for patients. Hearing was the lowest mean score for both parents and patients. Both parties were aware of the features of their facial and nose appearance. From the weighted Kappa statistic, both the parent and patient pairs demonstrated good to very good agreement for their satisfaction towards the clinical outcome. In conclusion, features related to facial appearance (nose, teeth, lip and facial profiles) require more attention and improvement during the treatment process.

Antibiofilm effect of Theobroma cacao (cacao pod) extract on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans biofilm in vitro

2021-01-04T14:22:32+08:00

Successful of periodontal treatment is to eradicate biofilm of bacteria. Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is a Gram-negative bacterium that have been suggested to be the main causes of periodontal disease. Theobroma cacao (cacao pod) is a medicinal plant that has a broad range of pharmacological effects. The aim of this study was to assess the antibiofilm effect of cacao pod extract against A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilm in vitro. A. actinomycetemcomitans were cultured in Brain Heart Infusion broth. Crystal-violet staining in biofilm assays were used to evaluate the cacao pod extract effect on A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384 biofilms and 0.2% chlorhexidine-gluconate was used as a positive control. After 24 hours of incubation, the optical density of each well in microtiter plates was measured. The results showed that the biofilm density after incubation with the cacao pod extract was significantly decreased in all concentrations and all incubation times (p<0.05). The most effective concentration for inhibiting biofilm A. actinomycetemcomitans was 100% cacao pod extract and 3 hrs of incubation time (p<0.05) with a 98.9% reduction of biofilm compared to negative control. Cacao pod extract is effective in inhibiting the growth of A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilm.