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Background: Pregnant women have poor knowledge of oral hygiene during pregnancy. One problem with the follow-up of dental caries in this group is zero accumulation in the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, for which some models must be used to achieve valid results. The studied population may be heterogeneous in longitudinal studies, leading to biased estimates. We aimed to assess the impact of oral health education on dental caries in pregnant women using a suitable model in a longitudinal experimental study with heterogeneous random effects. Materials and Methods: This longitudinal, experimental research was carried out on pregnant women who visited medical centers in Tehran. The educational group (236 cases) received education for three sessions. The control group (200 cases) received only standard training. The DMFT index assessed oral and dental health at baseline, 6 months, and 24 months after delivery. The Chi-square test was used for comparing nominal variables and the Mann–Whitney U test for ordinal variables. The zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model was applied under heterogeneous and homogeneous random effects using R 4.2.1, SPSS 26, and SAS 9.4. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Data from 436 women aged 15 years and older were analyzed. Zero accumulation in the DMFT was mainly related to the filled teeth (51%). The heterogeneous ZIP model fitted better to the data. On average, the intervention group exhibited a higher rate of change in filled teeth over time than the control group (P = 0.021). Conclusion: The proposed ZIP model is a suitable model for predicting filled teeth in pregnant women. An educational intervention during pregnancy can improve oral health in the long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pregnant women have poor knowledge of oral hygiene during pregnancy. One problem with the follow-up of dental caries in this group is zero accumulation in the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, for which some models must be used to achieve valid results. The studied population may be heterogeneous in longitudinal studies, leading to biased estimates. We aimed to assess the impact of oral health education on dental caries in pregnant women using a suitable model in a longitudinal experimental study with heterogeneous random effects. Materials and Methods: This longitudinal, experimental research was carried out on pregnant women who visited medical centers in Tehran. The educational group (236 cases) received education for three sessions. The control group (200 cases) received only standard training. The DMFT index assessed oral and dental health at baseline, 6 months, and 24 months after delivery. The Chi-square test was used for comparing nominal variables and the Mann-Whitney U test for ordinal variables. The zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model was applied under heterogeneous and homogeneous random effects using R 4.2.1, SPSS 26, and SAS 9.4. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Data from 436 women aged 15 years and older were analyzed. Zero accumulation in the DMFT was mainly related to the filled teeth (51%). The heterogeneous ZIP model fitted better to the data. On average, the intervention group exhibited a higher rate of change in filled teeth over time than the control group (P = 0.021). Conclusion: The proposed ZIP model is a suitable model for predicting filled teeth in pregnant women. An educational intervention during pregnancy can improve oral health in the long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important ubiquitous and especially common pathogen in the hospital. Exotoxin A encoded by exoA gene has a role in the pathogenesis of this bacterium. Today, probiotics are widely used in the treatment and prevention of diseases. The present study aimed to study the Saccharomyces cerevisiae S3 effect on the expression of exoA gene. Materials and Methods: Saccharomyces cerevisiae S3 supernatant and lysate were prepared. Subminimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) of extracts were used against P. aeruginosa PAO1. The level of exoA expression was measured with Real-time PCR method. Results: Lysate extract reduced toxin gene expression, but unlike lysate, supernatant had an increasing effect on gene expression. Conclusion: We demonstrated that S. cerevisiae S3 inhibited Exotoxin A virulence factor of P. aeruginosa. We suggest doing more experiments on the effect of S. cerevisiae on other virulence factors of P. aeruginosa and pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statement of the Problem: Due to the mutual relationship between periodontal diseases and diabetes, it seems that adopting oral self-care in a way to prevent and control the progress of periodontal diseases, improves the oral health of diabetic patients as well as their general health. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the oral self-care behaviors and the hemoglobin A1c (Hb A1c) levels in adults with diabetes. Materials and Method: In this cross-sectional study with convenience sampling, 120 adults between 18 to 50 years old, who had at least two healthy functional teeth, were selected from private endocrinology offices in Tehran in August 2019. The exclusion criteria were illiterate individuals and pregnant women. A standard questionnaire was used which included the information about demographic, diabetes, and self-care behaviors. The outcome variable was the latest Hb A1c rate. Results: The mean age of participants was 35.8±10.5 years. The average Hb A1c was 7.4± 1.55%. 35.0% of participants brushed their teeth twice a day or more and 60.8% flossed rarely. The proportion of Hb A1c <7% was higher in three groups including the participants who had information about the effect of periodontal disease on diabetes (p= 0.032), participants who brushed twice a day or more (p= 0 .014), and those who used dental floss once a day or more (p< 0.001). The likelihood of having Hb A1c <7% in participants who had information about the effect of periodontal disease on diabetes was about three times more than those who had no information (OR= 3.05, p= 0.036). Furthermore, it was about six times higher in participants who used dental floss once a day or more than those who used rarely (OR= 5.66, p= 0.001). Conclusion: Results of the present study show that people who had better oral health self-care behaviors had better Hb A1c and diabetes control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the surge capability of Shahid Rajaee Trauma Hospital in Shiraz City, Iran, in response to a mass causality incident. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in Shahid Rajaee Hospital in Shiraz in 2017. The Delphi technique was used in this study. Three checklists were used for the Emergency Department, Operating Room, and Intensive Care Unit. The surge capacity was calculated for each unit based on the formulas derived from different studies. Results: The surge capacities of the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, and Operating Room were obtained 36%, 20%, and 17.5%, respectively. Shahid Rajaee Hospital of Shiraz can quickly increase its capacity by 27% based on the scenario defined in this study. However, if an accident leads to more causalities, it will likely face several limiting factors for increasing the surge capacity. Conclusion: Due to the critical role of hospitals in the crisis, it seems that the studied hospital should look for ways to increase its surge capacity to cope with unexpected accidents as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Healthcare workers including dentists and dental students are at risk of transmission of blood-borne pathogens. Thus, it is imperative to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding the infection control protocols. Methods This cross-sectional study evaluated 164 dental students of Shahid Beheshti University using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic, knowledge (n=15), attitude (n=27) and performance (n=8) questions regarding hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. Data were collected and analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test. Results The mean score of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS was 18.66 (out of 30), 31.59 (out of 54) and 6.29 (out of 8), respectively. The students had low knowledge level about the routes of transmission, the standard infection control protocols, and infection treatment. They also had poor attitude towards treating the infected patients. There was no significant difference in knowledge, attitude and practice between different academic grades of dental students or males and females. Conclusion The findings did not show satisfactory level of knowledge or attitude of Shahid Beheshti dental students regarding hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS infections. Thus, more educational programs emphasizing on bloodborne infections are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Oral health is a major component of overall health improvement and well-being. A large number of children are suffering from Early Childhood Caries (ECC). Parental knowledge and level of education can improve their child's oral health care leading to reduction of ECC incidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of education and knowledge in a group of parents, having three year old children, on ECC occurrence. Methods A total of eight hundred and fifteen, three-year-old children were recalled using pregnancy records available in healthcare centers of Varamin city, Iran. Dental examinations were performed by two calibrated senior dental students using decayed missed filled teeth (dmft) index using WHO standard method available. Parents' knowledge, level of education and their opinion on their child/children's oral health care were recorded using WHO questionnaire. An independent T-test, Chi-square test and zero inflated Poisson regression was applied for statistical analysis. Results The mean dmft was 2.69 (±3.492, range 0-19) while 43.4% were caries free. In total, 85% of parents had high levels of education (above high school diploma) and 15% had low levels of education (bellow high school diploma) including illiterates. Children of parents with higher level of education, experienced less dental caries although this difference was not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion More than half of the three-year-old children living in Varamin city had some degrees of dental caries. Dental caries experience among participating children was rather high, despite most parents were educated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess dental caries and associated factors in children aged three years living in Varamin, Iran. Methods: Eight hundred and fifteen three-year-old children were recalled randomly through the records existing in healthcare centers of Varamin, Iran. Two hundred and three mothers were also examined to assess the relationship between the oral health of mothers and children. Dental examinations were performed by two calibrated senior dental students using decayed missed filled teeth (dmft/DMFT) indices according to the WHO oral health survey basic methods. Demographic and oralhealth care behavior data were collected using a standard questionnaire. Results: The mean dmft was 2.69±3.492 years (range 0-19 years). No significant difference was seen in dental care behavior of males and females; 43.4% of children were caries-free. A positive correlation was detected between mother';s DMFT and child';s dmft (r = 0.27, P<0.0001). Adjusted regression analysis showed that dental caries was observed more frequently in children having mothers with DMFT> 12 compared to mothers with DMFT less than 6 (CR:1.55; 95% CI: 1.02-2.35) after controlling for child';s sex and behaviors. Conclusion: This study showed that more than half of the three-year-old children experience dental caries and there is a positive correlation between the DMFT of mothers and dmft of their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has increased in recent years. With the development of various treatments, the mortality rate has decreased and more people are living with the consequences of the disease and its treatment, which can have a great impact on the quality of life. Some questionnaires measure the impact of the disease on daily activities and patient behavior. In this study, the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) was assessed through the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14 questionnaire between the OSCC patient and control groups. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the OHIP-14 questionnaire was given to 51 OSCC patients who had completed the treatment at least 6 months before participating in this study and 51 healthy individuals, and we used the Chi-square test, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression in three models. P = 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of patients was 55.86 ± 15.04 years and the control group was 54.96 ± 14.08 years. Women made up 51% of patients. The mean OHIP score was 22.84 ± 11.42 in the patient group and 17.92 ± 9.23 in the control group, which indicates a significant (P = 0.005) difference between the two groups according to the independent sample t-test. Conclusion: The OHRQOL of patients has significantly decreased compared to the control group. Surgery had the lowest quality reduction, and combined surgical treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy had the highest reduction in the OHRQOL. It is recommended to have regular follow-up sessions and to have a proper diet during and after treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We were interested to read the article by Choi et al. (2012), who investigated the effects of increased fluoride exposure and delayed neuro behavioral develop ment by reviewing published studies [...]

The present experimental study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of different developed acoustic enclosures on the noise emission of a small generator set fuelled by natural gas. The sound signals of generator without enclosure and covered by developed enclosures were measured in front of the generator exhaust at five electric loading conditions (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% load). The sound signal was measured according to SAE J1074 test procedure. The recorded digital sound signals were converted to frequency domain using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. The results revealed that the simple enclosure (SE) and modified enclosures were effective to attenuate the generator noise at frequencies greater than 800 Hz and 250 Hz, respectively. The acoustic performance in attenuating the generator noise for the semi-covered modified enclosure (SME) and fully covered modified enclosure (FME) was better than for the SE enclosure. The acoustic performance of all enclosures was reduced with increasing the generator load especially at full load condition. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the generator loading condition, the enclosure setup mode and their interaction had a significant effect (P<0.01) on the generator A-weighted overall sound. The results of Duncan's multiple range tests showed that covering the generator with different types of enclosures reduced significantly (P<0.01) the generator sound level (93.2 dB(A)) to 88.4 dB(A) for SE, 87.2 dB(A) for SME and 86.1 dB(A) for FME. They also revealed that the generator sound increased significantly (P<0.01) with increasing the generator electric load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prematurity and poor weight gaining are important causes for neonatal hospitalization. The present study aimed to investigate the role of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil via massage therapy as a supplementary nutritional method on the weight gain of Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)-hospitalized neonates. This randomized clinical trial performed among 121 stable premature neonates hospitalized in the NICU of Qaem Educational Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. They were randomly divided into three groups: oil-massage, massage alone and control groups. These groups were compared on the basis of weight gain during a one-week interval. The three groups were matched for sex, mean gestational age, birth weight, head circumference, delivery, and feeding type (P>0.05). The mean weight gain on the 7th day in the oil massage group was 105±1.3gr and 52±0.1gr in the massage group; whereas 54±1.3gr weight loss was observed in the control group. Significant differences were observed between the oil-massage group and the other two groups, respectively (P=0.002 and P=0.000). The findings of this study suggest that transcutaneous feeding with MCT oil massage therapy in premature neonates can result in accelerated weight gain in this age group with no risk of NEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar I disorder (BID) and its treatments have shown to be associated with deep impacts on patients' subjective feelings and quality of life (QOL). There are also some comments about impact of these feelings on course and outcome of patients with BID. This study was aimed to evaluate quality of life in patients with BID and to assess its relationship with course of disorder. Fifty patients with BID were recruited based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) from May 2008 and followed for 12 months. Quality of life and mood disorder recurrence were assessed through World Health Organization Quality of Life and SCID-I tools respectively at baseline and after 6 and 12 months. Repeated measures analysis and logistic regression were used to analyze the independent effect of QOL and demographic factors on BID recurrence. Fifty patients (66% male; 48% never married; 48% in primary school level) with mean ± SE age and age of BID onset 33.8±1.5 and 26.6±1.1 years were studied. They had 3.4±0.6 episodes already. Twenty eight percent suffered from recurrences during the follow-up. The QOL scores at baseline, after 6 and 12 months were 70±1.8, 69.6±1.1 and 73±1.3 respectively. There were no significant change in QOL and its sub-domains during the follow-up (P=0.37). QOL showed no independent relationship with BID recurrences (P>0.1). No change in the QOL during the follow-up could denote lack of effectiveness of routine interventions on this factor. Also, short-term follow-up might be concerned as the possible reason. Of prime importance is to consider quality of life independently in treating patients with bipolar disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The level of natural radiation in some regions of Ramsar, a northern coastal city of Iran, is known to be among the highest levels of natural radiation in the world. 226Ra existing in high concentrations in the soil of this region is washed by underground water and transferred to the surface. In this way, 226Ra enters the food chain of residents and substitutes within the hard body tissues of humans. 226Ra is one of the so-called bone seekers as its metabolic processes in the human body are similar to calcium and remains in hard tissues of body because of its long half-life, and being an α emitter causes dangerous effects on human health. The purpose of this study is to determine the concentration of 226Ra in the teeth of residents of these high-level natural radiation areas, compared with a control group. Thirteen teeth in five groups were studied as the case group and thirteen teeth in five corresponding control groups were inspected. The mean values of the activity of 226Ra in the case group and in the control group were 0.32 and 0.18mBqg−1, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of zirconia surface treatment with CO 2 and Nd:YAG laser on shear bond strength (SBS) between the zirconia framework and porcelain veneering., Materials and Methods: In this in vitro study, zirconia blocks were converted to 50 cubes and were divided randomly into 5 groups. After sintering (S), porcelain was applied in the control group. The surface treatment of the second to fifth groups included CO 2 laser + (S), (S + CO 2 ), Nd:YAG laser + (S), and (S + Nd), respectively. The SBS test was done, and data were analyzed by SPSS16 software. One sample was randomly chosen from each group and the type of failure was examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM). To compare the pairs of means, the least significant difference test was used and the determined significance level was 5% ( p < 0.05)., Results: The SBS of S + Nd group was significantly higher than the other ones, except for S + CO 2 group. The least amount of SBS belonged to CO 2 + S and the highest to S + Nd group. There were no significant differences between the other groups., Conclusion: The bond strength of veneering porcelain to zirconia can be altered by surface treatments. It can also be affected by the type and sequence of laser and sintering application. The effect of Nd:YAG laser on the surface of zirconia, in order to create roughness to increase SBS, is better than that of CO 2 laser., Clinical Significance: Surface treatment of zirconia by certain types of lasers reduces the chipping of the ceramic veneer and increases the success rate of all-ceramic restorations.

The primary healthcare (PHC) services in the Islamic Republic of Iran have succeeded in addressing high levels of communicable diseases; however, they seem less able to deal with maternal and paediatric oral diseases. The aim of this study was to examine problems in integrating oral health services into PHC. This was a qualitative research study comprising focus group discussions and interviews. Five focus-group discussions were held with midwives, family healthcare practitioners, rural PHC workers, duty-service dentists, and public health dentists. Also, individual interviews were organized with experts of faculty members in related fields, informant managers and policy makers, and in-depth interviews were done with pregnant women in four PHC centres. Audiotapes were transcribed following each session, and then a qualitative thematic analysis was carried out on gathered data. Data analysis resulted in 4 main themes relating to the challenges: environmental, educational, organizational and school-based programme factors. This study provides a clearer understanding of the challenges of integrating oral health services into PHC.

Purpose: To investigate the medical profiles of patients referred to Iran Lens Clinic with myopic/myope-astigmatic refractive errors., Methods: Medical records of 182 patients (364 eyes) with myopic/myope-astigmatic refractive errors that underwent orthokeratology contact lens wear and fulfilled a 6-month period of follow-up were recruited. Efficacy and safety of these contact lenses in improving the visual acuity and correction of the refractive errors were investigated. Time needed to achieve final targeted visual acuity and association of various factors in this time course and level of acuity were investigated. Complications related to these lenses that were recorded in the medical profiles were studied., Results: In manifest refraction, the amount of spherical equivalent and myopia decreased significantly after orthokeratology contact lens wear (P < 0.001). A significant negative association was found between amount of mean baseline spherical equivalent and final achieved mean uncorrected visual acuity (P < 0.001). None of the parameters of age, gender, and keratometric findings influenced the outcomes significantly (P > 0.1)., Conclusion: Patients with myopic refractive error lower than -5.0 Diopters achieved higher final visual acuities rather than patients with higher amounts of myopic refractive errors.