Any dental professional can encounter an emergency during the course of their treatment. Every Dental specialist should have the knowledge to identify and manage a potentially life-threatening situation. Prompt recognition and efficient management of an emergency by the specialist results in a satisfactory outcome. Though rare, emergencies do occur in a dental clinic. The ultimate goal in the management of all emergencies is the preservation of life. The prime requisite in managing an emergency is maintenance of proper Position (P), Airway (A), Breathing (B), Circulation (C), and Definitive treatment (D). The purpose of this article is to provide a vision to the commonly occurring medical and dental emergencies and complications in dental practice and their management. Data for the study was collected from PubMed data base search.

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The dental profession holds a special trust in the community, and the best dentist–patient relationship should be based on that trust. The patient has the rights to be fully and appropriately informed as well as to be involved in decisions about treatment. The dentist has the duty to put the patient first and to treat patients taking into account their desires as long as these expectations are within the bounds of accepted treatment. The dentist should provide dental care without discrimination and prejudice. The best doctor–patient relationship is based on honesty, provision of high-quality and timely treatment, keeping the patient safe and healthy. This article presents our point of view of how should be the dentist–patient under the current demands on the part of patients and society, with a focus on the crucial role of ethical issues not only in postgraduate studies but also in consideration of ethical issues throughout the career of dentist in usual practice.

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Background: Oral health is fundamental to general health and well-being. Sources of oral health information for adults have been examined but documentation of children's sources is limited. Aim: The aim of the following study is to investigate the dental health attitudes, knowledge and practice of school children in Chennai using a questionnaire. Materials and Methods: The subjects for this study were randomly selected from five private and five government schools in the age group of 10-16 years. A total of 592 children were screened, of which 219 were males and 373 were females. Results: Overall the level of knowledge score was statistically significant with P = 0.004. There was statistically significant difference with P = 0.008 when comparing the frequency of brushing the teeth twice per day among the two different age groups. Comparing the various other factors such as gender, type of school and age groups to the visit to the dentist, it was observed that statistically significant difference with P < 0.001) was found when comparing the female children (75.3%) and male children (60.3%) and P = 0.002 observed when comparing the younger and older age group who visited the dentist. Conclusion: The overall level of oral health knowledge among the surveyed children was low.

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This paper describes the appropriateness of using oral examination as an assessment method in medical or dental education. It highlights the rationale for using oral exam and it also discusses the usefulness of adopting oral exam as an assessment tool. Oral Examination is a form of assessment where a set of stimulus questions are developed that address critical areas of knowledge or sets of abilities related to a competency or set of competencies. Students are expected to respond verbally in their own words, which allow an assessment of the student's depth of comprehension, and capacity to apply knowledge and insights to different situations. Responses to the questions are assessed using a rating scale or scoring system. In practice, oral exams were used not as a substitute, but as a complement to written exams. They are a way to ask what is not feasible through the written format. The paper reviews literature to explore the strengths and weaknesses of using an oral exam as an assessment tool. The paper concludes by offering a set of alternatives and recommendations to improve the utility of the oral exam methodology. Substantial work, however, is needed to develop the traditional oral examination into a 'best practice oral' format appropriate for medical or dental education.

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Objective: Dentists should build their reputation on their professional ability and integrity and should abide by the regulations put forth by the Dental Council of India (DCI). The aim of the study is to find out whether the code of ethics is followed in clinical practice by the dental practitioners in Chennai. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 1128 dental clinics in Chennai and data with respect to the name boards and advertisement were collected by means of a personalized survey. Results: The size of the sign board exceeded in 69% of the dental clinics. The sign board contained attractive symbols, pictures, and wordings in 68% of the dental clinics visited. 9% of the dental practitioners used abbreviations other than academic qualifications recognized by DCI in their clinic board. There were signboards in places other than the clinic in 22% of the clinics surveyed. 26% of the clinics used visual or printed media for advertisements. Conclusion: This study concludes that ethics are not strictly followed by the dental practitioners in their clinical practice. A proper ethical committee should be formed by the state dental councils to monitor the practitioners and dental clinics. Also, regulatory bodies like state dental councils and DCI should think about the revision/modification of certain codes of ethics, particularly with respect to the name boards, as these were framed almost three decades ago.

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A large component of philosophy consists of various approaches to the concept and implication of ethics. A philosophical study of moral issues of right and wrong is called ethics, and deals with the moral duties of the professional dental surgeons toward their patients, society or community and their colleagues. Ethical delivery of dental healthcare assumes greater relevance with the rapid advances in dental healthcare technologies and innovations in several areas of investigations and treatment. This article reviews the philosophy of ethics and ethical principles that the dental surgeon should follow.

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Cross contamination and cross infection can occur by direct contact with microorganisms, indirect contact with contaminated objects, droplet transmission, and inhalation of airborne pathogens. In dentistry, operatory surfaces can routinely become contaminated with patient saliva, blood, and other fluids during treatment. This review is aimed to identify cross contamination and spread of infection by various means and the appropriate preventive measures to be implemented. This review will also highlight the various aspects that are neglected in various dental schools/dental practice or any dental set up that potentiate cross contamination ultimately affecting the dentist, dental team, and the patients. A review of the dental literature concerning cross contamination was performed. Material appearing in the literature before 1996 was reviewed as exhaustively as possible and materials after 1996 were reviewed electronically. In Medline, key words like cross contamination, sterilization, asepsis, infection, infection control, prevention are used in various combinations to obtain a potential reference for review. A total of 2245 English Language titles were found, many were repeated due to recurring searches. The headings were shortlisted and reviewed for detailed examination. A comprehensive review to evaluate the methods of preventing cross contamination in dentistry involving various aspects and challenges encountered in a dental set up was constructed which was missing in the references of the review. Awareness and the necessary precautions play a pivotal role in preventing the occurrence of cross contamination. It is the responsibility of the entire dental team to work in unison to prevent the menace of cross contamination and spread of infection.

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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.

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For many people, dentistry is not the first word that springs to mind when one hears the word "eco-friendly." Dentistry has an impact on the environment, and there are moves toward "eco-friendly dentistry." Eco-friendly dentistry uses a sustainable approach to encourage dentists to implement new strategies to try and reduce the energy being consumed and the large amount of wastes being produced by the industry. However, with eco-consciousness becoming a new trend, everyone is looking for ways to create and market "green" products. Green dentistry is a high-tech approach that reduces the environmental impact of dental practices and encompasses a service model for dentistry that supports and maintains wellness. Together, green dental practices, green dental patients, and companies offering green dental products are transforming the dental industry through adoption of the EDA's (Eco-Friendly Dental Association) green dentistry model.

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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.

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Background: "Fashion is one of the world's oldest fountains of youth," as "with every new garment, one discovers a new self". Human behavior is changing due to changing trends and generation needs, new movements collide with older thoughts and influences from different streams of thought are always brought into contact with established belief changing the balance and centre of gravity of opinion. However, clothing affects several kinds of judgments people make. Aim: To know the attitude of dental students towards the current professional dental dress code and identify perceived appropriate dress code for dental students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the dental students of a private dental institution in Andhra Pradesh. Dental students from first year to Interns were included in the study. Prior to the start of the study the four most commonly seen dressing patterns among students of the same region were identified and selected. The data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire containing four pairs of photographs with a uniform background portraying models of male and female students in different attires to elicit the subject's response on dress code. Specifically, male and female students were surveyed separately using male model photographs for male respondents and female model photographs for female respondents. Results: Three hundred and twenty-nine subjects, with mean age 21±4, participated and completed the questionnaires; 75.7% of the respondents felt that dental dress code is important. Professional informal dress code was preferred by 38.7% male and 42.6% female respondent as a dress code that portrayed the qualities of professionalism, 54.1% males and 34.9% females felt the need for change in professional dress code. Among the students favoring need for change in dental dress code from formals to others, 85% of the males preferred cool casuals and 79% females preferred causal. Conclusion: The study revealed variation in preference of students and their negative attitude towards professional dress code.

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Background: The HIV epidemic poses significant challenges to the healthcare providers including dentists. The present study is aimed to estimate the knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the attitude of dental students towards HIV/AIDS patients and to know whether knowledge has any influence on the attitude and willingness to treat HIV/AIDS patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 219 dental students studying at the Subharti Dental College and Hospital, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. The students completed a predesigned self-administered questionnaire assessing the knowledge, attitude and willingness to treat HIV/AIDS patients. The data were analyzed using ANOVA test (all the results are calculated at 1% level of significance) and Pearson correlation test. Results: The total mean knowledge score was 76.5% (excellent knowledge). There was a significant difference in knowledge among the third-year, final-year students and internees, which was found to be statistically significant (P>0.001%). The study showed that the overall mean attitude score was 62.9% (negative attitude). There was no significant difference in the attitude of the students among the three groups (P>0.001%). Karl Pearson correlation test showed no significant correlation between the knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the attitude of students towards HIV/AIDS patients (P>0.01%). Conclusions: The findings suggest that although the students had adequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, their attitude towards this group of people was negative. From the study, fear of HIV contagion was observed as a major reason for the negative attitude of students towards HIV/AIDS patients.

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Aim: To assess the awareness of oral hygiene, periodontal disease and availability of treatment techniques among medical professionals. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty medical professionals were interviewed through a questionnaire. Those interviewed included an equal number of medical interns, postgraduates, and consultants. Results and Conclusion: A positive attitude towards dental and periodontal check and the treatment needs was observed among those questioned. The difference was statistically significant among the groups. However, inputs from this survey can be used to organize periodontal health programs and for planning of joint ventures.

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Background: The practice of dentistry exposes dentists to a variety of micro-organisms that are transmittable via blood, oral or respiratory secretions. Recent outbreak of swine flu virus has posed a greater risk of occupational transmission to dentists as it can spread through the aerosols. In our study, we assessed the knowledge and attitude of dentists regarding swine flu (2009) in Nellore, India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted during November and December 2009 in the south Indian district of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. Self-administered, anonymous, multiple-choice type study questionnaire elicited information from 220 Dentists across the district. Results: The Mean (±Standard Deviation, S.D) scores of knowledge and attitude were 37.92 (±5.63) and 11.34 (±2.51) from the maximum scores of 52 and 20 respectively. After adjusting for other variables, multivariable linear regression analysis showed gender, location and qualification of the participant contributing significantly to the knowledge score indicating a male participant, who is from urban area with higher qualification, had better knowledge. Attitude scores were not associated with any of the variables at significant level. Conclusion: Although the knowledge level seems to be moderately high, there were some note-worthy yet disturbing gaps in knowledge. This study showed that the dentists' attitude towards swine flu was satisfactory. Emphasis during undergraduate teaching and continuous dental educational campaigns regarding infectious diseases are recommended for the dentists, as preparedness for future disease outbreaks.

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Background: Dental students in their clinical years are part of the dental workforce. The ability of the graduate to identify patient's aesthetic requirements and determine the degree to which those requirements or desires can be met is one of the new dentist's competencies. The perception of dental students toward some esthetic factors of smile was investigated and compared to that of pharmacy students in the same university. Materials and Methods: The authors developed a booklet of smile comprised of an ideal smile and seven altered smiles involving change in shade, shape, width and length of teeth in addition to midline shift and change in the gingival display. Students rated ideal smile and altered smiles using a 100-point visual analog scale (VAS). Results: The study involved 198 students; 108 dental students and 89 pharmacy students and 131 females and 66 males. Mean values for the VAS for the ideal smile were 72, 66 for dental and pharmacy students, respectively. While the mean values for the altered smiles varied between 23 and 65. Ideal smile was rated significantly higher by dental students (P = 0.015) Dental students rated midline shift change in gingival display, alteration in size and shape significantly lower than pharmacy students. While no significant difference was detected between the pharmacy students' ratings of the ideal smile and alterations in shape, size, clinical crown and gingival display. Conclusion: Dental students are more receptive to smile alterations. Dental students appreciated the ideal smile more than pharmacy students. Darker tooth shades, spacing and midline shift were least accepted by both dental and pharmacy students. Dental students were more sensitive to changes in gingival display, crown length, lateral incisors width and shape while pharmacy students were more tolerant to these changes.

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Introduction: Study skills are important for better academic performance. Our study provides the view of the various skills of studying adopted by the dental students and its association with their performance in the Oral Biology subject in university examination. Material and Methods: A total of 137 students from Faculty of Dentistry, MMMC, Manipal, India participated in the study. A questionnaire consisting of 23 items assessing the study skills and distractions. The responses from the students were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale and the data were analyzed using the chi-square test. Results: The response rate was 100%. A significant association (P < 0.05) between the students' performance in the subject of Oral Biology in university examination (average of >75% versus <75% marks) and study skills was seen in 6 of 23 questionnaires. The students with high exam scores often showed higher percentage of use of various study skills compared to the students with lower exam scores. Conclusion: The study techniques used by students are beneficial but not all are effective. Hence the students should be informed of the more effective method of studying.

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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.

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Objective: To assess dental students' knowledge of dental radiation protection and practice as well as correlating their knowledge to practice on dental radiography. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study on radiation protection among dental students. Correct responses to the questions were allocated 1 mark while wrong response received no mark. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 17 (Chicago, IL.). Pearson's coefficient correlation analysis was performed to establish relationship between various variables with the significant level set at 5%. Results: The study was conducted among 78 final year dental students, of which 32 were females and 46 were males. The mean score of the students on knowledge of radiobiology was 1.85 ± 1.19. Knowledge of radiation protection was abysmally poor with mean score of 0.92 ± 0.80 while the mean score of radiation protection practice was 2.69 ± 1.42. There was no significant correlation between the number of radiographs taken and knowledge of radiation protection or practice. A greater proportion of students with ''good'' radiation protection knowledge in comparison to those with ''poor'' knowledge kept a distance of over 3 metres from the patients/X-ray tube, wore lead apron, used the lowest possible settings on the X-ray machine and used collimators. Most (75.6%) of the students thought they did not have adequate knowledge on radiation protection. Conclusion: There is need to expand the curriculum to provide better exposure to radiation protection and its practice, so that these students on graduation will be well grounded with the principle governing dental radiography.

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A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Indian government website were conducted. In addition, reference lists of selected papers were hand searched for further relevant articles. The search was limited to articles and books in English. Different combinations of relevant keywords were used to identify articles. Child abuse is a condition that is often less identified. Abused child is deprived of its right, hence protecting children from maltreatment and neglect is part of the obligation of all health professionals. Dental professionals are in an exceptional position to identify and respond to these conditions. Therefore to create a child friendly community, it is prerequisite to transform not only the culture in which children are residing but also approaches and behavior toward them.

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Great advances have been made in the curriculum of dentistry since the start of the first dental college in West Bengal in the early 1900s. Yet the pattern of learning till today has been predominantly lecture oriented. Problem based learning (PBL) is a relatively new pedagogy with a potential to be adopted in the dental curriculum. In PBL, instead of the traditional pattern of teaching, learning is achieved proactively by involving the students. The students learn the many aspects of dentistry by solving problems. The teacher is more of a spectator than an active participant. PBL is very suited to professional education programmes such as dentistry where contextualized learning represents a more accurate reflection of the real-life situation that is presented to practitioners on a daily basis.

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The dental education forms the foundation of the professional lives of the dentists. In the context of the student, faculty and the curriculum constitute the main aspects of the dental education. The important perspectives of these three arena are analyzed with plausible suggestions for improvising them. The present technology-savvy "Y generation" has evolving educational needs and has to be provided with more diverse and interactive methodologies for learning and also involving information technology applications. The faculties both in terms of quality and number have profound impact on the outcomes of the dental education. The present dental curriculum needs to be reformed by correcting some inherent concerns and flaws such as inadequate clinical relevance of basic science concepts, lack of comprehensive patient care model for clinical education, and overcrowding of the curriculum. The dental education in India, despite its tremendous growth since the beginning, has some significant issues regarding the quality of dental education mostly in some private dental colleges. The Dental Council of India and the Union Government should be more stringent with reinforcing rules and regulations to assure adequate infrastructure and quality education in all the private dental colleges. More number of job postings for dentists should be created in the government hospitals, and the present inappropriately limited number of postgraduate seats should also be increased to assure the viability of the dental profession in future.

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