Maintaining oral health (OH) is a serious issue in children with cerebral palsy (CP) for their inability to perform effective OH care as well as for lack of accessibility to dental services. This study explored the experience of the caregivers on accessibility towards OH facilities for their children with CP in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. A purposive sampling technique was utilised. In-depth interviews using guided questions captured with audio-recorder were conducted on caregivers of children with CP. Verbatim transcription of the interviews were reviewed with field notes, and themes were developed using NVivo software. Ten caregivers of children with CP aged 32-64 years old participated, which were mostly from low socio-economic status and low level of education. The age of children with CP in this study were between nine to 18 years old. From the ten verbatim transcripts, five themes emerged which were dental experience, family support, mobility, ability to pay and social value. The caregivers experienced both demanding and unique challenges in acquiring OH care services for their children with CP according to their experiences in obtaining OH services in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Therefore, attentions are needed to address these problems that are hindering the access to OH facilities for children with CP.

Introduction: Oral cancer is a life-threatening disease. Lack of public awareness is a potent barrier for the early detection of oral cancer, especially for high-risk populations.Objective: This study aimed to determine the awareness and knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer among a Siamese ethnic group in Tumpat, Kelantan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, using a guided questionnaire on sociodemography, habits, awareness and knowledge of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer. Individuals under 18 years old and who had been diagnosed with oral cancer were excluded from this study.Results: A total of 195 respondents participated, 61.5% were female and the mean age was 46 (1.64). About 41% of the respondents had received secondary education and 35.4% were illiterate. Most respondents were self-employed (21.5%), followed by farmers (19.5%) and housewives (20%). The majority of them had a monthly income that fell below the poverty level of RM 830 (76.9%). Among the respondents, 22.6% had the habit of smoking, 25.6% consumed alcohol, 8.2% were betel quid chewers and 2.6% chewed tobacco. Out of 195 respondents, only 6.7% were aware of oral cancer. About 16.9% of the respondents correctly answered all of the questions regarding the signs and symptoms of oral cancer and only 4.1% knew the risk factors of oral cancer.Conclusion: The awareness and knowledge of oral cancer in this targeted population were unsatisfactory. Future effective health promotion programs and education should be emphasised.

BackgroundStroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Malaysia. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is one of the new non-invasive modality to enhance the motor recovery in stroke patients.ObjectivesThis pilot study compared the motor evoked potential (MEP) changes using different settings of rTMS in the post-ischemic stroke patient. The goal of the study is to identify effect sizes for a further trial and evaluate safety aspects.MethodsEight post-stroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis for at least six months duration were studied in a tertiary hospital in Northeast Malaysia. Quasi experimental design was applied and the participants were randomised into two groups using software generated random numbers. One of the two settings: i) inhibitory setting, or ii) facilitatory setting have been applied randomly during the first meeting. The motor evoked potential (MEP) were recorded before and after application of the rTMS setting. A week later, a similar procedure will be repeated but using different setting than the first intervention. Each patient will serve as their own control. Repeated measures ANOVA test was applied to determine the effect sizes for both intervention through the options of partial eta-squared (η2p).ResultThe study observed large effect sizes (η2p > 0.14) for both rTMS settings in the lesion and non-lesion sides. For safety aspects, no minor or major side effects associated with the rTMS was reported by the participants.ConclusionsThe partial eta square of MEP value for both rTMS settings (fascilitatory and inhibitory) in both lesion and non-lesion sides represents large effect sizes. We recommend further trial to increase number of sample in order to study the effectiveness of both settings in ischemic stroke patient. Our preliminary data showed both settings may improve the MEP of the upper extremity in the ischemic stroke patient. No significant improvement noted when comparing both settings.

Introduction:Dental injuries could happen anywhere, including in the school compound. Correct management by the teachers in dental emergencies could prevent further damage to the traumatized tooth and improve the success rate of the treatment. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude towards dental trauma management among the primary school teachers in Kubang Kerian area. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in three national primary schools in Kubang Kerian and multi-stages sampling was performed to select the subjects. One hundred and twenty teachers (n = 120) were randomly selected and responded to a set of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics, knowledge, and attitude towards dental trauma. Results: A total of 120 primary school teachers, predominantly female teachers (74.2%) participated in this study. More than half of the teachers (62.5%) have more than 15 years of teaching experience. Onethird of the teachers (34.2%) have completed first aid training; however, dental trauma management subject was lacking (1.7%). About 31.7% of the respondent had experienced dental trauma case. Eightyfive percent of the teachers did not opt for tooth replantation in the case of avulsion and almost all the teachers (97.5%) did not choose fresh milk as the medium storage of the avulsed tooth. Conclusion: The level of knowledge and attitude on dental trauma management among school teachers is unsatisfactory. As a recommendation, first aid training given to the teachers should include basic knowledge of dental trauma management. The awareness can be improved by organizing talk or campaign on dental trauma management at the school level.

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Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is sleep-disordered breathing that can cause morbidity and mortality.Dental students’ knowledge of sleep apnea will help them identify patients with the condition in the future. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the knowledge and attitude of OSA among undergraduate dental students in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Methodology: A total of 97 undergraduate dental students participated in this study. This cross-sectional study used a self-administered and validated Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitude (OSAKA) questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 18 questions of knowledge and five questions of attitude towards OSA. Results: The mean total score of knowledge is 7.5 (SD 3.77). Meanwhile, the mean total score of attitude is 12.0 (SD 2.22). Most of the students (74.2%) knew that majority of patients with OSA snored. However, only 14.4% knew uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is the curative treatment for OSA. Regarding attitudes, 88.7% of the students agreed that OSA as an important clinical disease. Only 7.2% were confident in identifying OSA patients, while 15.5% were confident in managing OSA. Conclusion: The level of OSA knowledge and awareness among dental students in USM was relatively low. Early education and training on OSA in dental schools are crucial to improve this state of affairs. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 21 No. 02 April’22 Page : 384-390

Introduction: Dental unit waterline system (DUWLS) decontamination is an important infection control in dental practice. This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitude towards DUWLS decontamination and its associated factors among undergraduate and postgraduate dental students in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated questionnaire administered online using Google Forms to assess the knowledge and attitude of dental students towards DUWLS decontamination. Descriptive and inferential statistics using independent t-test, Pearson, and Spearman correlation were carried out using SPSS version 24.0. Results: A total of 169 dental students participated in the study, and the majority were female (71.6%) and Malay (59.2%). The mean (SD) age was 23.2 (0.93) and 34.4 (2.65), for the undergraduates and postgraduates, respectively. The mean (SD) knowledge scores for the undergraduates and postgraduates were 11.6 (4.23) and 18.0 (2.82), respectively, whereas the mean attitude scores were 51.3 (7.86) and 54.6 (4.74), respectively. The postgraduates had significantly higher mean knowledge and attitude scores than the undergraduates (p<0.001). The significant factors associated with the undergraduates’ knowledge were received information and guidance and their personal experience in managing DUWLS (p<0.05). However, only received information on DUWLS was significantly associated with the postgraduate’s knowledge score (p=0.011). Age factor had a significant association with the attitude score among the postgraduates (p=0.014). Conclusion: The knowledge regarding DUWLS decontamination was relatively moderate in both groups. However, both groups showed a favourable attitude towards DUWLS decontamination. Significantly higher knowledge and attitude scores were presented among the postgraduates than the undergraduates.

Nowadays, tobacco companies target to recruit new smokers among adolescents due to this age group was easy to be influenced by smoking behaviours. This narrative review aimed to explore the possible impact of smoking among adolescents. Knowing the negative impacts of smoking might result in avoiding continuing the habit or preventing from initiation of the habit. The literature search on PubMed, SCOPUS, and Epistemonikos database with related search terms of “adolescents”, “smoking” and “impact”. Only papers published within the year 2017 to 2021 and in the English language were included. However, articles without full text were excluded from this review. Fourteen articles were selected and divided impacts into three categories which are effect on oral health, effect on general health and other impacts. Possible impacts of smoking among adolescents were identified, and it could be beneficial in the development of customized smoking prevention or smoking cessation intervention for adolescents.