بهزاد هوشمند

Oral health is an integral part of general health and one of the necessities of a good life. Having a healthy mouth and teeth requires individual care, the development and implementation of community-based intervention programs, and professional care. The purpose of this study was to design a model for the management of dental services in Iran.

This was an applied research in terms of purpose, descriptive in terms of implementation method, and a survey research in terms of descriptive typology. The statistical population included dental experts. To conduct the study among policy makers, planners, managers, university professors and the staff of the dental services, dental experts were chosen using purposive non-probability sampling for in-depth interviews based on grounded theory method to collect indicators of dental services management for providing a suitable selection model. To reach theoretical saturation, the text of the interviews was analyzed, phrase by phrase and sentence by sentence, through constant comparative analysis. For analysis, the grounded theory method was used, and the collected data were coded in 3 steps. In order to assess the validity of the research regarding interviews, the participants' feedback and the opinions of colleagues were used. To ensure the reliability of the interviews, 2 methods of test-retest and double coding were used. In this study, Delphi method was used in designing the model.

According to the obtained model, 29 factors were effective in managing dental services. The obtained indicators were included in the Delphi survey. During the Delphi stages, consensus was reached on 29 indicators  which were classified into 5 dimensions (components) including planning, organizing, mobilizing of resources and facilities, guiding, monitoring and controlling.

The results of the study showed that a 5-component model is suitable for the management of dental services in Iran, and health planners and policy makers can use it to improve the delivery of dental services.

One method for the assessment of dentistry curricula is to evaluate dentistry graduateschr('39') satisfaction with their acquired clinical skills. Given the lack of data on this subject at the national level, this study aimed to evaluate the satisfaction with clinical skills training in general dentistry graduates in Iran.

This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 614 general dentistry graduates participating in the dentistry residency exam in 2019 in Iran. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of three sections. The validity and reliability of the designed questionnaire were approved using statistical tests. The questionnaires were distributed among the participants before the residency exam. After collecting the completed questionnaires, their data were extracted and analyzed in SPSS-26 using Mann-Whitney’s U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the distribution of satisfaction according to entrance year and university type.

The response rate was 100%, which must be because the questionnaires were distributed during the residency exam session. According to the participants, the highest level of satisfaction with the practical skills acquired pertained to pediatric dentistry (76.5%), operative dentistry (71.4%) and radiology (64.7%), and the lowest pertained to endodontics (38.1%), orthodontics (41.9%) and oral maxillofacial pathology (45.3%).

Overall, the general dentistry graduateschr('39') satisfaction with the acquired skills was above average (more than 50%) in most of the skills. Nevertheless, entrance year, practical skills and faculties had a significant impact on the level of satisfaction.

The advent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (so-called SARS-CoV-2) causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (so-called COVID-19) occurred in Dec. 2019 in Wuhan, China. Having an inconceivable worldwide contagion, the outbreak was labeled a pandemic by the WHO. Dental services and related professions (including dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists and the personnel of cleansing, remedial, triage, dental laboratories, radiographic laboratories and other related paraclinicals), facing galore aerosol and droplets, are in the topmost risk groups exposed to the queer virus. This study was fulfilled to round up evidence-based data to break a link at any part of the virus transmission chain in dental services and related professions.

Relevant online databases, as PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar and TripDatabase were searched meticulously and evaluated for relevant published original research papers. Subsequently, to fulfill the investigation, ADA, CDC and WHO websites were reviewed to gain relevant guidelines and protocols. Consequently, 476 resources were included considering the canonical inclusion criteria. For the sake of quality assessment of the resources, an authentic checklist was exploited to score the resources from 1 to 15, wherein the admissible score was 10. After deliberation of resources, 366 of them were excluded and finally, 110 resources were selected and overhauled to attain a comprehensive perception on the subject of the investigation.

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 includes direct transmission (via droplet and aerosol inhalation) and indirect transmission (via surface and instrument contamination), which can amply occur in dental services and related professions. Therefore, an all-inclusive evidence-based miscellany was rallied on several exigent topics, containing genuine esteem in reputable scientific authorities, to present a consummate report for the dental clinicians and related practitioners, working in the course of the running pandemic.

Contemplating the ongoing crisis, undertaking a set of miscellany elected guidelines and protocols, is indispensable in this vital interval of history to bridle the current pandemic, which has been abridged via this systematic perusal.

The use of bone scaffolds is one of the new and efficient techniques for repairing bone defects that provide a suitable platform for cell proliferation and growth to repair the target tissue. One of the most important causes of failure of transplants and surgical procedures is the invasion of bacteria at the site of the complication and the development of severe infection. The purpose of this study, which was carried out at the Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran at 2017-2019, Antibacterial Properties of Porous Scaffolds Made of Gelatin, Calcium Phosphate Zeolite with Loading of Clindamycin.

In this study, freeze-drying was made from a combination of gelatin, calcium phosphate, and natural zeolite of bone tissue scaffolds and then the drug was loaded with different amounts of clindamycin. The surface of the scaffold was examined by scanning electron microscopy and antibacterial test and drug release test were performed on the scaffold.

The results showed that the aforementioned composite scaffold did not induce growth inhibition in the antibacterial test, However, after loading the drug on the scaffold with a concentration of 0.01 drug, the growth zone was 2 and 4 mm in diameter for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively.

Addition of the antibacterial agent clindamycin to the bone scaffold made a suitable substrate for drug delivery to bone tissue at the site of removal has been removed to prevent the growth of infection at the scaffold implant during the first period of repair.

Due to the composite structure of the jaw bone, gelatin and beta-calcium phosphate (b-TCP) biomaterials have been used repeatedly in bone tissue engineering. Despite the desirable properties of scaffolds made, their application has been limited due to their poor mechanical properties and high degradability. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of clinoptilolite biomaterial with unique mechanical properties such as remarkable mechanical properties, low degradation rate and highly favorable biocompatibility properties in gelatin and b-TCP scaffolds.

Preparation of porous scaffold as a template was made leading to freeze drying method using weight percent of 50 for gelatin, 25 b-TCP and 25 Clinoptilolite. SEM analysis and image j software was used in order to evaluation of scaffold surface and finding of porosity frequency. Finally, compressive strength of scaffold was evaluated. 

In clinoptilolite / b-TCP / Gelatin scaffolds, porosity up to 250 nanometers was recorded which was the best for angiogenesis. In addition to gelatin, clinoptilolite also had a positive effect on porosity. Using compressive strength analysis, increasing of Youngchr('39')s modulus was also observed from 100 to 166 mega Pascal by that Clinoptilolite is the most effective agent in modifying this modulus.

Considering the results, clinoptilolite that in addition to improving and enhancing the mechanical properties of composite scaffolds, had a significant effect on the increase in the size and porosity of jaw bone tissue engineering scaffolds. According to the obtained characteristics it can be said that the sample presented is in accordance with the properties of extracellular scaffold (ECM) of jaw bone tissue and would be a suitable choice in tissue engineering of this type of bone.