Knowledge and attitudes of dentists regarding ageing and the elderly Objective: This study was aimed to identify the knowledge and attitudes of dentists regarding ageing and the elderly. Background: As the population ages, there is a greater demand for differentiated care from health professionals. However, the treatment needs of the elderly population are not sufficiently addressed, particularly in developing countries. Materials and methods: An official list of all dentists registered in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was obtained from the Regional Dentistry Council. A questionnaire was delivered to 276 randomly selected dentists; the survey contained questions designed to characterise the sample and identify dentists' conduct towards elderly patients. A Likert scale was used to identify knowledge regarding care for the elderly and attitudes towards ageing. Results: Women demonstrated more positive attitudes towards the elderly. Graduates who worked in the public sector demonstrated a greater knowledge of geriatric dentistry (p < 0.05). Attending specific continuing education courses had no influence over the dentists' willingness to treat the elderly population. Significant associations were not found between attitudes and knowledge regarding the elderly. Conclusion: Dentists who worked in the public sector demonstrated a greater knowledge regarding the elderly. This knowledge did not influence attitudes towards ageing. Women demonstrated a more positive attitude regarding ageing and dental care.

Resumo Introdução Considerando a importância da prevenção e do diagnóstico precoce do câncer bucal, a atenção primária à saúde é uma ambiência apropriada para o desenvolvimento dessas ações, e a atenção odontológica exerce papel estratégico nesse enfrentamento. Portanto, objetivou-se identificar os comportamentos e os conhecimentos dos cirurgiões-dentistas inseridos na atenção primária à saúde quanto ao câncer bucal. Métodos: Tratou-se de um estudo transversal conduzido a partir de entrevistas com cirurgiões-dentistas da Estratégia de Saúde da Família. O teste de Mann-Whitney comparou as variáveis independentes às dependentes. Resultados: Dos 70 cirurgiões-dentistas avaliados, a maioria foi identificada com conhecimento satisfatório (82,6%), porém diferindo em relação à capacidade de fornecer informações preventivas (p<0,001), de realizar citologia esfoliativa (p=0,011) e na classificação do nível de ensino que obteve na graduação sobre câncer bucal (p<0,001). Quanto aos comportamentos, a maioria foi identificada com comportamento insatisfatório (52,2%), diferindo em relação à importância dada ao exame dos tecidos moles nas consultas iniciais (p=0,005), investigação de fatores de risco (p=0,002), fornecimento de informações sobre autoexame da boca (p<0,001) e realização de atividades preventivas (p=0,029). Conclusão: A maior parte dos cirurgiões-dentistas avaliados possui conhecimentos satisfatórios relacionados ao câncer bucal. Entretanto, o conhecimento demonstrado não tem sido colocado em prática em suas atividades laborais.

This cross-sectional study evaluated the quality of life and associated factors of climacteric women in Brazil using a random and representative sample of women assisted by primary care professionals. We investigated the variables using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire, MENQOL, whose mean scores were compared using Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests according to the sample characteristics. The variables associated with the outcomes in univariate analyses with a p≤0.2 were jointly evaluated using multiple linear regression. In this study, 849 women ranging in age from 40 to 65 years were evaluated. The predictors of poor quality of life in the vasomotor domain were women with severe climacteric symptoms (p<0.001), increased Body Mass Index (BMI) (p = 0.006), sleep (p = 0.022), and postmenopausal (p<0.001) alterations. For the psychosocial domain, the associated variables were severe climacteric symptoms (p<0.001) and sleep alterations (p<0.001); for the physical domain, the associated variables were severe climacteric symptoms (p<0.001), increased BMI (p<0.001), sleep (p<0.001), and postmenopausal (p<0.001) alterations. Severe climacteric symptoms, low sleep quality, increased BMI, and postmenopausal status were factors that were more associated with impairments in quality of life. With the increase in life expectancy, we suggest that greater attention should be paid to women’s quality of life associated with climacteric symptoms.

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Objective: To discuss the risk of cancer among relatives of individuals with cleft lip and palate (CL/P), as well as the risk of CL/P among relatives of individuals with cancer, since studies published currently have suggested  an increased risk of cancer among relatives of cleft individuals. Design: A systematic literature review was carried out in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration Group protocol, including literature search strategy, selection of papers through the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and quality assessment. PubMed, Scopus and ISI - Web of Science databases were systematically searched using the fallowing search strings: “cleft lip and palate” AND “cancer”, “oral clefts” AND “cancer” and “orofacial clefts” AND “cancer”. Results: From 653 studies accessed, 8 comprised the final sample: 6 investigating CL/P index cases and their family history of cancer and 2 investigating individuals with cancer and their family history for CL/P. The sample sizes were not homogeneous. Oral clefts, the type of cancer and the degree of kinship family were not categorized in all studies. Leukemia, breast cancer and colon cancer were the most cited types, even as first-and-second degree relatives. Conclusions: An increased risk of cancer among relatives of cleft individuals could not be entirely confirmed. However, studies with this specific purpose suggest that first-and-second degrees relatives of cleft individuals have some types of cancer more often than unexposed families, highlighting that future studies should expand their samples to investigate possible common molecular mechanisms that allow relating oral clefts and cancer.

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The use of phosphoric acid etching prior to specific self-etching adhesive can adversely affect the marginal adaptation of silorane-based restorations.

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