SADRA MEDICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL
Year:2013 | Volume:1 | Issue:4|Papers Count:8

Background: Guided Tissue Regeneration (GTR) is one of the effective and predictable surgical procedures for treatment of periodontal intrabony defects. The present study aimed to clinically evaluate and compare the efficacy of Amnion Membrane (AM) +Bio-Oss and Bio-Gide+Bio-Oss in GTR treatment of intrabony periodontal defects.Methods: In this study, chronic periodontitis patients who need periodontal regenerative surgery received phase I of periodontal treatment. After 1 month follow up, 10 patients with bilateral intrabony defects and radiographic evidence of intrabony component of ³ 4 mm and probing depth ³ 6 mm were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group was treated by placement of AM+Bio-Oss, while the control group was managed by placement of Bio-Gide+Bio-Oss. Clinical parameters, including Periodontal Pocket Depth (PPD), Probing Bone (PB) level, Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), and gingival recession (REC), were recorded at baseline and 6 months after the surgery. Then, the data were analyzed using T-test.Results: A significant difference was observed regarding CAL, PB, and PPD after 6 months compared to before the surgery. In addition, significant changes were observed regarding CAL, PB, PPD, and REC in the control group. However, the mean changes in CAL, PB, and PPD before and after the surgery was not significant between the two groups. Yet, a significant increase was found in REC in the control group compared to the experimental group (P=0.009).Conclusion: Both AM and Bio-Gide in conjunction with Bio-Oss resulted in improvement of the clinical periodontal parameters. According to the results, AM did not induce any significant gingival recession. Thus, AM is recommended as a new barrier membrane in GTR treatment.

Background: Pre-internship exam is very important due to its significant role in enhancing the medical students’ level of knowledge which undeniably determines the society’s health level. Therefore, investigation of different ways the students prepare for this exam is of great importance. Up to now, no research has been conducted on the rate of using these books and why they are so attractive to the students. Thus, the present study aimed to address this issue.Methods: In this study cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study, a researcher-made questionnaire was distributed among 86 participants of the pre-internship exam in September 2012. This questionnaire included questions about sex, type of quota, rate of continuous studying, number of hours of daily studying, aim of studying, source of studying, and reasons of choosing different sources. Then, the data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software.Results: In this study, 57.7% of the participants were female and 42.2% were male. In addition, 61.6% of the students stated that their aim was just passing the exam; while 31.4% expressed that they aimed to improve their medical knowledge. Moreover, 66.7% of the students studied extracurricular books, 11.2% studied the references announced by the ministry, 3.6% studied the professors’ notes, and 1.5% studied websites. Besides, 79.1% of the students used extracurricular books due to the vast advertisements of their publishing institutes and 73.3% said that these books were more easily accessible compared to the references announced by the ministry.Conclusion: This study showed that the majority of the students used extracurricular books to prepare themselves for the pre-internship exam and only a small number of the students studied the resources announced by the ministry. This 6-fold ratio indicates the students’ greater tendency toward the extracurricular books.

Background: Social capital is a new concept that has recently entered the social, economic, and health domains. The role of social capital is more important than that of physical and human capitals because in its absence, other capitals will not be efficient. Social capital includes networks of communication between individuals and social norms such as mutual trust and cooperation in social networks. The present study aimed to determine the variables associated with social capital components among the residents of Tehran using structural equation modeling.Methods: The target population of this cross-sectional study included all the individuals aging 15 years old and above in Tehran. Overall, 22500 households in 22 regions were investigated. The samples were selected through stratified random sampling. Finally, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the Lisrel software.Results: According to the results, the main components of social capital include 1- individual trust, including jobs status and marital status, 2- physical dimension (life quality), age, and solidarity and social support, including educational status, marital status, and job status, and 3- social trust and associative relations, including family size, physical component, age, and home ownership.Conclusions: Improving the level of education, creating more job opportunities, and facilitating marriage especially amongst the youth can elevate the social capital in Tehran. Controlling the family size can also be effective in improving the social capital.

Background: The antigenic or carbohydrate structure of blood groups in body fluids and cell surfaces plays a major role in regulation of oral bacteria. In addition, a large number of carbohydrates act as the microorganisms’ receptors. Thus, secretion of these antigens in body fluids creates a competitive condition between these antigens and epithelial cells of the oral cavity to be the receptors of microorganisms. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the secretor phenotype of blood groups and dental caries.Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 92 dental students. The secretion status of blood group antigens in saliva was detected using aggulutination inhibition test and blood typing was performed through aggulutination test. Besides, dental caries were detected by routine clinical examination using dental mirror, explorer under dental unit light, and Bitewing radiographs. DMFS was also used to evaluate the prevalence of the caries.Results: DMFS score was 4.11 in all blood groups and 6.00 in non-secretors and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Besides, a significant difference was found between secretors and non-secretors in O and A blood groups regarding DMFS index (P=0.024 and P=0.019, respectively). However, no significant difference was observed among the 4 blood groups regarding the DMFS index (P=0.28).Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries was significantly lower in the secretors of blood group antigens in saliva compared to the non-secretors. This study helps to identify the susceptible individuals to decay and, consequently, take more preventive measures, such as periodic dental checkups.

Background: One of the achievements of information and knowledge era is knowledge management according to whose characteristics, today, successful organizations have strongly felt the need to take advantage of it. Thus, evaluation of knowledge management in healthcare organizations, especially hospitals, is of great importance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the elements of knowledge management at Hashemi Nejad Hospital, Tehran, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran Hashemi Nejad hospital in 2010. The statistical society of the study included all the staffs of Hashemi Nejad Hospital 120 of whom were selected through stratified random sampling. The data were gathered using Proust Questionnaire of Knowledge Management and analyzed through the SPSS statistical software (v.16) and descriptive statistics.Results: The study respondents rated knowledge management and its components as moderate to high (63%). However, only knowledge acquisition (2.99±0.97) and knowledge development (2.92±0.81) received lower scores compared to other indices. Overall, the total score of knowledge management was desirable (3.13±0.75) Conclusion: Knowledge management was found to have a relatively desirable status in the study hospital. This feature provides the ground for other changes in the hospital and will be helpful for the managers for systematic prediction of change priorities and development of strategies for successful implementation of management techniques and processes.

Background: Today, due to the important role the university students play in governance of the country, they are considered as one of the most important groups of the society. Thus, their health status should be monitored. Inappropriate status of dormitories can be a source of diseases and endanger the students’ health. This study aimed to determine the health status of Shahid Dastgheib dormitory in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the researcher referred to all the rooms in Shahid Dastgheib Dormitory in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and collected the necessary data for determining the health status of the rooms using the health assessment form. Then, the data were encoded, entered into the SPSS statistical software (v.19), and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Fisher exact test.Results: According to the results, 15.5%, 68.9%, 14.8%, and 0.8% of the rooms accommodated 1, 2, 3, and 4 individuals, respectively. Moreover, most of the dormitory students (36.1%) were from Fars province. In this study, a significant correlation was found between the number of occupants per room and the health status of that room (P<0.05); such a way that as the number of occupants per room increased, the room showed a weaker health condition. Overall, dental students having about 8% of the optimal health status, 21 and 23 year old age groups having approximately 4% of the optimal health status, post-graduate students, and older students had more desirable conditions compared to the students of other schools.Conclusion: Since the research was conducted in one dormitory, similar studies are recommended to be performed in all dormitories. Overall, the present study results indicated that the health conditions of the dormitory was not much desirable and requires more attention on the part of the authorities.

Background: Considering the relationship between oral and systemic diseases and definite role of oral infections in pathological processes elsewhere in the body, this study aimed to investigate the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on serum levels of anti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCLA) that potentially plays a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases in the patients with periodontitis.Methods: The present study was conducted on 20 volunteers (11 females and 9 males) with the mean age of 40.55 years. Generalized chronic periodontitis was diagnosed thorough clinical periodontal examination at baseline visit. This examination included measurement of probing Pocket Depth (PD) and clinical Attachment Loss (AL). The Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) were recorded, as well. After baseline examination, all the subjects received full mouth non–surgical periodontal treatment. The subjects returned for the final visit 6 weeks after the last session of the scaling for reevaluation of the periodontal parameters. At baseline and final visits, two milliliters of venous blood was collected from each patient and a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for analyzing aCLA (IgM and IgG). Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software and analyzed using paired sample t test.Results: A significant difference was found regarding the mean levels of both forms of aCLA before and after the treatment (P=0.003 for IgM and P=0.001 for IgG). In addition, the study results showed significant reductions in the periodontal parameters after non-surgical periodontal therapy (P<0.001).Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that successful periodontal therapy could improve the serum level of one of the inflammatory biomarkers involved in the cardiovascular problems (aCLA).

The Behavioral Approach System (BAS) dysregulation theory, proposed by Richard Depue and colleagues, is an integrated model for understanding the psychosocial and biological aspects of bipolar disorder. Yet, the expanded model of this theory provides even greater specificity in predictions, especially about the nature of BAS dysregulation, environmental factors, and psychological processes (e.g., appraisal processes) featured in a causal chain culminating in bipolar symptoms. The present study provides an overview of the expanded model, and elaborates on the revised factors in the model.