Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected health care systems around the world. Dentistry is one of the most closely related to the production of aerosols or droplets. Minimal visits to a dental clinic or hospital are highly recommended except in emergency cases. The government's recommendation is the use of teledentistry to conduct diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of diseases. The oral medicine field is fully in charge of this activity and until now it has never been studied how the characteristics of oral medicine patients who use teledentistry services including their level of satisfaction. Method: To describe the characteristic including the level of satisfaction of Oral Medicine patients using teledentistry in Dental Hospital Usakti during pandemic COVID-19. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Oral Medicine Clinic in 31 patients who used teledentistry services at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic under informed consent. Validated modified questionnaire and sociodemographic data were collected and satisfaction scores were categorized. Results: The validity of the questionnaire showed Cronbach-alpha 0.83 with a reliability of 0.95 and a separation of 4.49. Most of the subject used teledentistry was female (54.83%), 31-60 years old (51.61%), no history of contact with COVID-19 patient, and prior history of teledentistry (100%, 77.41%, respectively). 93.6% of subjects showed a high satisfaction level in using teledentistry services. Conclusion: The characteristic of oral medicine patients using teledentistry described a high satisfaction level, thus the teledentistry method could be a solution in/after the pandemic era.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has claimed thousands of lives worldwide. To enhance knowledge and awareness of COVID-19, considerable online resources have been made available, including aspects related to the dental profession. The study aim was to examine the knowledge, perception, and attitude of dental professionals in Indonesia toward COVID-19. We conducted a survey via a questionnaire created using Google docs and distributed to 632 members of the Indonesian Dental Association in the context of a webinar hosted by the Indonesian Oral Biology Association on first June, 2020. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire consisted of 17 items pertaining to demographic data, knowledge and virus identification, awareness regarding drugs commonly used in dentistry during pandemic and research opportunities. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire after the webinar by choosing one answer to each question. For the analysis, participants were divided into three groups according to their professional background i.e., employment at national hospital, private hospital, or academic faculty. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and expressed as frequencies and percentages. The chi-square test was used to investigate the association between professional activity and the level of knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes about COVID-19. Results: Sixty percent of the participants correctly identified the pathogenesis of the disease. This knowledge was not associated with their professional affiliation ( p = 0.95). Sixty-seven percentage had comprehensive knowledge about virus detection methods. This knowledge was not associated with their affiliation either ( p = 0.54). Questions regarding drugs of choice, prevention, and the spread of COVID-19 were correctly answered by 89, 96, and 82% of the participants, respectively. Knowledge of these aspects were significantly associated with the professional affiliation ( p < 0.05). All respondents were optimistic regarding research opportunities ( p < 0.01). Respondents from academics were more interested in joining COVID-19-related research projects with governmental institutions ( p < 0.01). Conclusion: Knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 among Indonesian dentists are reasonably good. However, further improvement would be beneficial to manage patients during this pandemic. As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Indonesia, it is important that dentists keep abreast of the updated knowledge on this moving field. Dentist knowledge on infection control should be strengthened through continuous educational programs.
Valproic acid (VPA) plays a role in histone modifications that eventually inhibit the activity of histone deacetylase (HDAC), and will affect the expressions of genes Pdx1, Nkx6.1, and Ngn3 during pancreatic organogenesis. This experiment was designed to study the effect of VPA exposure in pregnant rats on the activity of HDAC that controls the expression of genes regulating the development of beta cells in the pancreas to synthesize and secrete insulin. This study used 30 pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats, divided into 4 groups, as follows: (1) a control group of pregnant rats without VPA administration, (2) pregnant rats administered with 250 mg VPA on day 10 of pregnancy, (3) pregnant rats administered with 250 mg VPA on day 13 of pregnancy, and (4) pregnant rats administered with 250 mg VPA on day 16 of pregnancy. Eighty-four newborn rats born to control rats and rats administered with VPA on days 10, 13, and 16 of pregnancy were used to measure serum glucose, insulin, DNA, RNA, and ratio of RNA/DNA concentrations in the pancreas and to observe the microscopical condition of the pancreas at the ages of 4 to 32 weeks postpartum with 4-week intervals. The results showed that at the age of 32 weeks, the offspring of pregnant rats administered with 250 mg VPA on days 10, 13, and 16 of pregnancy had higher serum glucose concentrations and lower serum insulin concentrations, followed by decreased concentrations of RNA, and the ratio of RNA/DNA in the pancreas. Microscopical observations showed that the pancreas of the rats born to pregnant rats administered with VPA during pregnancy had low immunoreaction to insulin. The exposure of pregnant rats to VPA during pregnancy disturbs organogenesis of the pancreas of the embryos that eventually disturb the insulin production in the beta cells indicated by the decreased insulin secretion during postnatal life.
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