fahimeh pakravan

One of the significant lesions in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is oral lesions. Due to the high prevalence of these lesions and the lack of an accurate study on their frequency in Iran, the present study was performed to evaluate the frequency of oral lesions in patients with SLE in Isfahan to guide patients in receiving the necessary treatments.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 106 patients with SLE referred to the Rheumatology Clinics of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, were included. They clinically completed a checklist, and their medical records were evaluated. Sampling was done through convenience sampling, and the data were collected using a checklist. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 25, as well as descriptive statistical methods, including the preparation of frequency distribution tables and the calculation of the mean and standard deviation. Standard deviations, percentages, and correlation coefficients of Fisher's exact test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used.

The most common oral lesion was Erythema (29.63%), and the least common was Candidiasis (3.7%) and the most site of involvement was buccal mucosa.

Due to the high prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in patients with SLE, it is very important to emphasize the cooperation of rheumatologists and oral disease specialists for early diagnosis and accordingly patient’s guidance to commence the treatment faster.

There were 74.53% patients without oral lesions, whereas 25.47% had oral lesions.

One of the factors that causes academic progress is emotional intelligence. The knowledge of the EI status can be effective in success. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of online emotional self-awareness training on academic motivation and emotional intelligence (EI) of dental students in Isfahan, Iran. 

This is a case-control study with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. Participants were 60 students of the School of Dentistry at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2021, who were randomly divided into two groups of 30 including case and control. For the case group, one three-hour session of emotional self-awareness training was provided virtually. Bradberry-Greaves' EI test was used to measure EI and Vallerand’s academic motivation scale was used to measure academic motivation. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 26 using paired t-test, and independent t-test, and analysis of variance.

No significant differences were found immediately and one month after the intervention between the two groups in academic motivation and its domains (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation) or in EI and its domains (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management) (P>0.05).

Online emotional self-awareness training has no effect on academic motivation and EI of dental students.

This study aimed to compare the antifungal efficacy of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) and clotrimazole for treatment of denture stomatitis (DS).

This double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 50 patients with DS types I and II assigned to two groups (N=25). In the first group, G. lucidum extract was administered in the form of 5% gel while 1% clotrimazole gel was prescribed for the second group. Pain intensity according to the visual analog scale (VAS), and the percentage of DS recovery based on the Budtz-Jorgenson index were evaluated and recorded after 7 and 14 days. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, and logistic regression (alpha=0.05).

The percentage of complete recovery on day 7 in the G. lucidum group (28%) was higher than that in the clotrimazole group (16%) but not significantly (P=0.592). Not wearing dentures overnight significantly increased the odds of recovery by 6.56 times, while the odds of recovery decreased by 0.03 times in DS type II, as compared to DS type I (P= 0.009).

No significant difference existed between the antifungal efficacy of G. lucidum and clotrimazole for clinical treatment of DS. Thus, Ganoderma may be regarded as an alternative treatment, especially in patients’ resistant to azoles. Nonetheless, further clinical studies are required to shed more light on this topic.

Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) in Survivors of Acute Ischemic Stroke Treated with Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) is the main objective of this study.

This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the HR-QoL of survivors of acute ischemic stroke who underwent thrombolytic treatment in Al-Zahra Hospital Isfahan in 2017. SS-QoL questionnaire was used to assess HR-QoL. Patients' hospital records were reviewed and demographic information and stroke were extracted. The relationship between the SS-QoL overall score and its sub-scores with contextual variables was analyzed.

A total of 59 patients were included in the study, of which (40.7%) 21 were female. The mean age of onset of stroke was 65.39 ± 11.85 years and the mean age of stroke and tPA was 0.46 ± 0.29 years. Blood pressure (49.2%) was the most common underlying disease. The majority of strokes in the left hemisphere (42.4%) were moderate (69.5%) and thrombotic (49.2%). The overall score of SS-QoL in (80.3%) of 49 patients was more than 147, indicating appropriate HR-QoL. There was no significant relationship between SS-QoL overall score with age, sex, type and, severity of stroke and time interval to tPA.

More than 80% of patients had a good quality of life. The underlying variables had no significant effect on patients' HR-QoL.

Patients undergoing head‑and‑neck radiotherapy are susceptible to Candida colonization and infection. This study aimed to identify oral Candida species type (ST), colony count (CC), and oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) in head‑and‑neck cancer patients, undergoing radiotherapy, before and 2 weeks after radiation.

In this quasi‑experimental study, head‑and‑neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy (up to 6000 cGy) were recruited. Samples were taken before and 2 weeks after radiation therapy (RT). CC was assigned using Sabouraud dextrose agar culture medium and morphological studies were performed to confirm OPC. For identification, polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed. Data were analyzed using Chi‑square‑test and kappa coefficient. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Twenty‑one of 33 patients were Candida positive. The detected fungal species included Candida albicans (60%), Candida tropicalis (22%), Candida glabrata (9%), and other species (9%). Following RT, OPC and CC changed significantly (P = 0.003 and P = 0.001, respectively), whereas ST did not significantly change (P = 0.081). Two new species (Candida krusei and Candida parapsilosis) were detected after the intervention. The OPC, CC, and ST changes after RT were not significantly related to malignancy site or radiation dose (P > 0.05).

The present study showed that OPC, CC, and ST were not related to the malignancy site. Following RT, OPC and CC changed significantly, while ST showed no significant change. The radiation dose and malignancy site had no effects on the OPC, CC, or ST alterations following RT.

Most common oral lesions during pregnancy are subjected to oral hygiene and gaining knowledge about them can improve oral health during this period. Thus, this study aimed to assess the knowledge of pregnant women in Isfahan about common oral lesions.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study included 210 pregnant women aged 18-45 years who were non-dentists referring to private offices in three areas in Isfahan. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection which determined the average knowledge and performance scores of the subjects as well as the relationship between knowledge and age, education, pregnancy, occupation, and their living area. Also, a one-way analysis of variance as well as Pearson correlation coefficient and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used for data analysis.

The knowledge and performance levels of most women were average. The knowledge level of pregnant women were directly related to their performance. That is, the more knowledge level, the higher performance score. The knowledge score was not related to age, employment in the non-healthcare section and being a housewife, place of residence and birth, but was directly related to employment in the healthcare section and education. The performance score was related to age, employment in the healthcare section, place of residence and education, but was notrelated to birth rank.

The knowledge of pregnant women in Isfahan was moderate and needed to be increased. This knowledge was not much different in various groups of society, thus it should be increased in different ways.

Increasing the knowledge of pregnant women about the types of lesions and their prevention methods can reduce their prevalence which also will lead to a decrease in worries during this period.

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases. Previous studies have reported an association between stress and salivary alpha‑amylase. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of salivary alpha‑amylase in patients with RA (by elimination of stress factor).

In this case–control study, we enrolled 50 patients with RA and 48 healthy patients as the control group. The perceived stress scale questionnaire was used to evaluate scores of stress in both case and control groups, and then the participants with high scores of stress were excluded from the study. Moreover, the alpha‑amylase activity kit was used for the assessment of the levels of salivary alpha‑amylase. In all analyses, the significance level was considered to be < 0.05. Finally, the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS22.

Our results indicated a high score of stress in the case group (19.42 ± 5.83 units) compared with the control group (18.02 ± 6.07 units) which was not statistically significant (P < 0.248). Moreover, we demonstrated a high salivary alpha‑amylase concentration in the case group (340.65 ± 38.04 units) compared to the control group (302.62 ± 58.72 units), which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of this method, at >312 alpha‑amylase concentrations, were 80% and 46%, respectively.

In general, we indicated that the alpha‑amylase concentration in patients with RA is higher than the healthy controls, and can be used as a codiagnostic factor.

 One of the problems and challenges posed in the dentistry field is to file a lawsuit against dentist that causes discontent ، wasting time and cost and energy for both of them.   This study can be useful for students and dentists because it will enable them to identify cases that lead to the lawsuits and treatment and contact with patients adhere to the principles of professional ethics. purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between adhere to the principles of professional ethics with lawsuits in Isfahan city between 2010 to 2020.

 In this Cross-Sectional study, 706 files of lawsuits in Isfahan medical records archives and deputy of treatment during 2010-2020 were evaluated and the required information was extracted. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics test.

A rising trend was observed in the rate of lawsuits. The most cause of lawsuits was related to not having the knowledge, skill and experience, consultation and referral, overbilling, disruptive behavior in the workplace. Frequency of male dentists and general dentists were higher.

 Dental complaints had a rising trend, and the most commonly reported cases related to not having the knowledge, skill and experience, consultation and referral.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) mucoadhesive films versus placebo as a preventive and therapeutic intervention of oral mucositis (OM) induced by radiotherapy for head‑and‑neck cancer (HNC) patients. In this double‑blind, randomized case‑controlled clinical trial, 60 HNC patients were randomized to receive TA mucoadhesive films (n = 30) or placebo mucoadhesive films (n = 30) taken four times daily. Mucositis severity was assessed during the course of radiation therapy using the World Health Organization scales, and pain scores were assessed using visual analog scale. Repeated measures ANOVA was used for data analysis. Mean ± standard deviation age of the TA group was 58.53 ± 8.89 years and 60% were male, whereas in the placebo group, it was 56.46 ± 9.36 years and 56.7% were male (P > 0.05). The mean value of pain score was significantly reduced in the TA group (5.36 ± 1.29 vs. 2.20 ± 2.02) compared with the placebo group (5.34 ± 0.78 vs. 4.69 ± 0.77) during 4 weeks (P < 0.001); repeated measures ANOVA analysis showed that the mean value of grade mucositis was significantly reduced in the TA group (2.40 ± 0.49 vs. 0.96 ± 0.81) compared with the placebo group (2.36 ± 0.80 vs. 1.86 ± 0.93) during 4 weeks (P < 0.001). TA film could be considered as an effective approach for reducing the mucositis grading and pain score in the patients with OM.

Celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder affecting both children and adults، resulting in small intestine mucosal disruption via an autoimmune mechanism in patients with genetic predilection. Classic signs of the disease are chronic abdominal signs (diarrhea، flatus)، amnesia، weight loss، malnutrition and anemia. However، many of the patients have atypical signs without gastrointestinal signs. Delay in diagnosis and treatment could lead to complications. This review article summarizes the common oral manifestation of celiac disease. In addition، it evaluates oral signs of atypical cases which are the only approach for dentists to diagnose the disease. Review report: A search was run for the key word “celiac”، combined with “oral manifestation” in Iran medical databases (medlib. ir) and in library sources، including reference books، PubMed، Scopus and Google search engine from 1982 to 2012. Articles were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and evaluated. Since many people with celiac disease do not present with the classic malabsorptive syndrome and delays in the diagnosis are common، oral manifestation such as dental enamel defects and recurrent aphthous ulcers may be the only manifestations of this disorder. Dentists can play an important role in identifying people who may have unrecognized celiac disease. Appropriate referral and a timely diagnosis can help prevent serious complications of this disorder.