Teledentistry can be defined as the remote provision of dental care, advice, or treatment through the medium of information technology, rather than through direct personal contact with any patient(s) involved. Within dental practice, teledentistry is used extensively in disciplines like preventive dentistry, orthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, periodontal conditions, detection of early dental caries, patient education, oral medicine, and diagnosis. Some of the key modes and methods used in teledentistry are electronic health records, electronic referral systems, digitizing images, teleconsultations, and telediagnosis. All the applications used in teledentistry aim to bring about efficiency, provide access to underserved population, improve quality of care, and reduce oral disease burden.

Objectives: To examine the validity and reliability of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Care Provider Student version (JSE-HPS) in a sample of dental students in Malaysia, with the secondary aim of assessing empathy levels in first to final year dental students in public and private universities in Malaysia. Methods: The JSE-HPS was administered to 582 first to fifth (final) year dental students; 441 were enrolled at two public universities and 141 at a private university in Malaysia. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS® version 18. Results:The JSE-HPS demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.70). A three-factor solution emerged and included 'perspective taking', 'compassionate care' and 'standing in patient's shoes' factors, accounting for 27.7%, 13.9%, and 6.3% of the variance, respectively. The total mean empathy score was 84.11±9.80, where the actual scores ranged from a low of 22.05 to a high of 133.35. Overall, male students (84.97±11.12) were more empathic than female students (83.78±9.24). Fourth-year students were more empathic than students in other undergraduate years, and public university students had significantly higher mean empathy score compared to those enrolled at a private university (84.74 versus 82.13, p=0.001). Conclusions: This study confirms the construct validity and internal consistency of the JSE-HPS for measuring empathy in dental students. Empathy scores among students vary depending on type of university and year of study. Future studies, preferably longitudinal in design should explore changes in empathy among dental students during progression through undergraduate courses.

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EgyptThis study was specifically aimed to evaluate the sexual and reproductive health in a group of men with generalized epilepsy. In total, 44 men with generalized epilepsy were included in this study, their ages between 18 and 48 years (29.279.9) and duration of illness between 2 and 35 years (11.277.4); 34 patients were treated with conventional antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Sexological and psychological interviews together with serum total testosterone, E 2 , FSH, LH and prolactin were determined. Hyposexuality was diagnosed in 61.4%. Erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation represented 70.4 and 66.7%, respectively. Variables such as hyposexuality, seizure duration and its poor control on AEDs were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Compared to the normal control group, all patients reported elevated E 2 levels (Po0.001), 10 had FSH (n ¼ 4) and LH (n ¼ 6) levels exceeding that of the normal range for controls and two had hyperprolactinemia. Although the patients' mean value of total testosterone remained within the normal range, but it was significantly lower in hyposexual men compared to nonhyposexual (Po0.002), only two epileptic patients had markedly reduced level of total testosterone beyond normal control levels. This study strongly supports that: (1) The risk of hyposexuality and reproductive disturbances is high in epileptic patients with GTC convulsions despite the AEDs utilized. The risk for SD is further increased by poor seizure control and the frequently accompanied depressive manifestations. (2) It is possible that elevated E2 could increase the risk of SD by reducing active testosterone through negative feedback and the reduction of active testosterone could increase seizure intractability to antiepileptic medications.

Student‐generated videos provide an authentic learning experience for students, enhance motivation and engagement, improve communication skills, and improve collaborative learning skills. This article describes the development and implementation of a student‐generated video activity as part of a knowledge, observation, simulation, and experience (KOSE) program at the School of Dentistry, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It also reports the students’ perceptions of an activity that introduced first‐year dental students (n=44) to clinical scenarios involving patients and dental team aiming to improve professional behavior and communication skills. The learning activity was divided into three phases: preparatory phase, video production phase, and video‐watching. Students were organized into five groups and were instructed to generate videos addressing given clinical scenarios. Following the activity, students’ perceptions were assessed with a questionnaire. The results showed that 86 percent and 88 percent, respectively, of the students agreed that preparation of the activity enhanced their understanding of the role of dentists in provision of health care and the role of enhanced teamwork. In addition, 86 percent and 75 percent, respectively, agreed that the activity improved their communication and project management skills. Overall, the dental students perceived that the student‐generated video activity was a positive experience and enabled them to play the major role in driving their learning process.