Probiotics are non-pathogenic living microorganisms used to prevent various medical conditions. They have been added in some food products because of their beneficial effect in health. They play a beneficial role in preventing common oral health problems such as dental caries, periodontal disease, fungal infections (candida) and halitosis.

Piercing is a more prevalent ancient form of body art all over the world, recently popularity attained in Western society. For centuries, piercing was part of many cultures and religious rites. Ancient Egyptians pierced their navels to signify royalty, Roman centurions wore nipple rings as a sign of virility and courage and Mayans pierced their tongues for spiritual purposes, The Eskimos and Aleuts pierced the lips of female infants as part of a purification ritual and the lower lip of the boys as part of passage into puberty. It is that apparent that oral piercings are becoming much more prevalent in today's society. Popular sites for body piercing include the ears, eyebrows, lips, nose, nipples, navel, penis, scrotum, labia, clitoris and tongue. Oral body art, as it is referred to, usually involves piercing of the tongue, cheeks, lips or uvula. The lip is the most commonly pierced site, but tongue piercing is becoming more prevalent. Due to increase in oral piercing, it is important for dental and medical professionals to have knowledge about piercings to educate their patients concerning risk factors, complications and optimal homecare for piercings.

Teledentistry is rapidly gaining momentum in modern day dentistry although, it has its roots long back in the past. In the 1990's, concept of teledentistry was introduced and Cook in 1997 defined this as the practice of using video-conferencing technologies to diagnose and advice about treatment over a distance. Like other health professionals, dentists have seen a lot of change over the years from extractions and dentures to digital technology that is taking dentistry to other level - creating practice possibilities hardly imaginable even 10 years ago. In India, large number of population and school going children are lacking basic oral health education and services and subsequently affecting their health in various forms of disease and addiction toward the ill habits. Implementation of a telehealth system can improve primary health-care services hence widen the reach of specialty care as well as can expand the chances for utilization of medical education and training by health care professionals and community members. Utilization of these services and teledentistiry in India can set up a pivotal role in expanding and improving the oral health and other related ill habits such as smoking and tobacco chewing etc., in large extent.

Dental professionals belong to a group of health-care providers that are governed by a uniform code of ethics. An important component of ethics is the informed consent, which corresponds to the basic principle of patient autonomy and respect. Informed consent signifies that every patient should provide autonomous, voluntary and informed consent for the treatment rendered to him/her. The process of informed consent is also helpful in improving the dentist-patient relationship thereby providing quality treatment. Informed consent in biomedical research is required to obtain the participants voluntary approval for being part of the study after understanding the various aspects of research and their role in it. This article outlines the various aspects of informed consent such as the types, the process of obtaining consent in clinical practice and biomedical research. Information regarding the regulations outlined by the governing bodies in India such as Dental Council of India, Indian Council of Medical Research and Indian penal code for informed consent is also provided in this article.

Aims: The aim of this study is to determine the current knowledge, awareness and levels of vaccination of undergraduate dental students of a Rural Dental College regarding the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Settings and Design: A total of 277 students of Rural Dental College at Gandhinagar district of Gujarat voluntarily participated in this exploratory study. Subjects and Methods: An instrument of thirteen questions was designed to assess knowledge and awareness about hepatitis B infection and transmission. It was the tool of data collection. The knowledge assessment of the HBV disease was done prior to starting the hepatitis B education program (HEP) by noting the scores and it was again repeated 1 year later. In the knowledge assessment, 9/13 correct was deemed adequate. Statistical Analysis: Decision Analyst STATS™ (http://decision-analyst-stats.software.informer.com/2.0/) was used. Average, probability of significant difference and Z test was utilized to draw conclusions. Results: The male female ratio was 30:70; before the program of education HEP 19% of the students showed adequate knowledge about the hepatitis B disease process. After the full program, which involved a vaccination using 0-1-6 regimen, a training session of HEP was held. Post-HEP adequate knowledge was demonstrated by 78% of the BDS students from 1 ^st , 2 ^nd and 3 ^rd year. A total of 98% of the students were vaccinated at the end of 12 months period. 2% refused vaccination. Conclusions: Results indicate that specific education programs regarding occupational hazards and focus on hepatitis B creates a sensitization of the importance of this vaccination for the dental students.

Background: Currently, dental courses are concerned with an academic environment with spaces to coach students to construct an ethical and a humane profile. Dental students' perceptions regarding their courses need to be the baseline to curricula evaluation. This study aims to comprehend the perceptions regarding dental courses and describe how these perceptions are currently studied. Materials and Methods: Quantitative and descriptive approach designed by an Integrative Literature Review. Authors constructed the sample of study by means of the descriptors Education; Perception; Dentistry and Curriculum. Authors crossed these descriptors at worldwide databases as Lilacs, PubMed/Medline/WofS, IBECS, Library Cochrane, and SciELO. Results: 76% of the evidences were developed by means of quantitative studies without application of a validate instrument (68%). The content, of the 25 articles analyzed, were categorized as: Perceptions about educational and social environment to evaluate an undergraduate curriculum (68%); Evaluating student's abilities and their academic interests to analyze his/her academic training (24%); Problem-Based Learning in health undergraduate courses as a possibility for perspective of learning (8%). The evidence levels of sample selection were III (4%); IV (52%); V (28%) and VI (16%). Conclusion: This research considers that new evaluations are necessary in order to validate the information about the students' perception regarding dental course.

Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs toward obesity among clinical and preclinical dental undergraduate students of a private dental school in India. Materials and Methods: The total sample size in the present study accounted to 247. In order to assess knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of study subjects toward obesity, a questionnaire was adapted from a previous survey, which consisted of questions related to the student's perception of responsibilities toward obese patients, their knowledge and attitudes toward obese patients and each question had answers on a Likert scale. Results: More than half (56.3%) of the clinical students strongly agreed and 40.6% of the preclinical students agreed that obesity is a chronic disease. Less than half (45.6%) of the participants differed that they will need to make accommodations in equipment and office furniture. More than half the subjects (60.6%) were interested in learning about obesity in dental school. Significantly greater number of clinical students agreed "they feel uncomfortable when examining an obese patient" and "it is difficult for them to feel empathy for the obese patient"; in addition, they believed that overweight people lack will-power and are lazier. Conclusions: There were no differences between the genders for any of the statements. Many of the students in clinical years had negative attitudes toward obese patients than preclinical students.

Introduction: Myths have a strong influence in seeking treatment during illness. Understanding the myths and misconceptions about the disease is important in providing dental care. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of myths regarding oral health, among out-patients attending a dental institute and suggest possible measures in conveying the facts. Settings and Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in a dental institute. Materials and Methods: A pre-tested questionnaire on most common myths was given to 250 out-patients of which 135 (54%) were males and 115 (46%) were females. About 32% were <30 yrs, 33% were 31-40 yrs, 18% were 41-50 yrs, 12% were 51-60 yrs and 5% were >60 yrs. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of myths regarding dental caries was 65.68%, oral hygiene was 55.92%, oral cancer was 58.24%, and general dental aspects was 43.32%. Conclusion: Thus, it can be concluded that various myths regarding dental treatments are highly prevalent among the general population and requires immediate addressing.