Background and aim: Geographic tongue is a recurrent disorder with several associated etiologies. It is believed to be a common occurrence in the patients suffering from recurrent, acute inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of geographic tongue between asthmatic patients and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 80 asthmatic patients and 80 healthy controls. The asthmatics were selected from among the patients presenting to Masih Daneshvari hospital with a confirmed diagnosis of asthma, while the healthy controls were selected from among patients' companions. The case and control subjects were matched according to age, sex and cigarette smoking status. The presence of geographic tongue was evaluated in the subjects by clinical examination and also by using a questionnaire. The data were entered into SPSS software version 22 and were evaluated using Chi-Square test. Results: The prevalence of geographic tongue was 21.2% (n=17) in the asthmatic patients and 5% (n=4) in the healthy controls. A significant association was found between asthma and occurrence of geographic tongue (P<0.002). The incidence of geographic tongue in the asthmatics was 4.2 times greater than that in the healthy individuals with a relative risk (RR) equal to 4.2 and an attributable risk (AR) of 16%. In both groups, the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the tongue were more commonly affected than the ventral surface. No significant association was found between the involvement of a specific tongue surface and asthma (P=0.748). Conclusion: According to the results, the asthmatic patients showed a significant higher prevalence of geographic tongue compared with the healthy controls.
ARTICLE INFOBackground and aim: Oral candidiasis is the most common fungal disease, and it is often considered as a local opportunistic infection. Oral candidiasis is usually treated with local use of antifungal medications. Since probiotic bacteria have the ability to inhibit the growth of pathogens and modulate human immune responses, they could provide new possibilities in antifungal therapy. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of probiotic yoghurt on the frequency of salivary candida. Materials and methods: This randomized double-blind crossover clinical trial involved 34 healthy adults divided to two groups: 17 subjects in case group (probiotic yoghurt) and 17 subjects in control group (regular yoghurt). At the beginning of the experiment and after 3 weeks of intervention (consumption of regular or probiotic yoghurt), saliva samples were collected from both groups and candida colonies were counted. After a two-week wash out period, the groups were interchanged (crossover study design), and the sampling process was repeated. The data were analyzed using Mann-U-Whitney and Chi-square tests. The level of significance was set at p<0/05. Results: Variations of salivary candida equaled 1.8±9.3 cfu/ml in regular yoghurt group and -3.8±7.9 cfu/ml in probiotic yoghurt group (p=0.01). The amount of salivary candida decreased in 47% of the cases in probiotic yoghurt group and in 29.4% of the cases in regular yoghurt group (p=0.07). Conclusion:The results of the present study showed that short-term consumption of probiotic yoghurt decreases the frequency of salivary candida colonies after 3 weeks.The results of the present study showed that short-term consumption of probiotic yoghurt decreases the number of salivary candida colonies
Background and Aim: : Saliva is an essential fluid for protecting the mouth, and any change in its quality or quantity affects the health of the oral cavity. Asthma and the medications used to treat it may decrease salivary flow and change salivary components, including changes in the pH of the dental plaque. The purpose of this study was to determine the salivary flow and pH in asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients referring to the Asthma Clinic of Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, Iran, in 2019. Materials and Methods: : This cross-sectional study was performed on 70 patients aged 18-60 years (35 asthmatic patients and 35 healthy controls). After completing the datasheets, saliva was collected by the spitting method for 5 minutes. Its flow rate was recorded in ml/minute, and its pH was measured by a pH meter. The results were analyzed via SPSS 20 software according to the t-test and Mann-U-Whitney statistical test. Result: The mean salivary flow rate was 4.22 ml/minute in the asthmatic group and 5.44 ml/minute in the healthy group (P<0.005). The mean salivary pH in the asthmatic patients and the control group was 6.9 and 7.1 (P<0.005), respectively, indicating that salivary flow rate and pH were significantly lower compared to the healthy group. Statistical analyses also showed that the higher the frequency of drug use, the greater the decrease in the salivary flow (P<0.005). Conclusion:It seems that asthma and the drugs used for its treatment reduce salivary flow and pH.
ARTICLE INFOBackground and aim: Lack of proper assessment of students' knowledge regarding theoretical contents leads to disappointment and negligence by weak students. This study assessed multiple-choice questions (MCQs) of oral and maxillofacial medicine courses in the first semester of the academic year 2014-2015. Materials and methods:In this cross-sectional study, questions of theoretical oral medicine courses 1, 2, and 3 were assessed according to twelve items in Millman's checklist, including clearness of stem, negative option for stem, specific option, contrastive option, positive words in stem and options, writing structure of stem, duplicated option, the spelling of stem and options, vertically of options, positivity of stem and options, and use of "all of the above" and "none of the above" phrases in options. Difficulty and discrimination coefficients of each question and the rate of compliance with Millman's principles were evaluated using Excel 2007 and SPSS 16. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Regression analysis. Results: The responses of 219 students to 113 MCQs were evaluated. In theoretical course 1 with 40 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.36±0.2, difficulty coefficient was 73.2±15.02, and correlation coefficient was 0.58. In theoretical course 2 with 35 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.2±0.04, difficulty coefficient was 70.91±25.13, and correlation coefficient was 0.47. In theoretical course 3 with 38 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.3±0.19, difficulty coefficient was 68.73±26.89, and correlation coefficient was 0.5. The percentage of compliance with Millman's principles was 81.88%, 83.58%, and 84.42% in courses 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Conclusion: The weakest discrimination coefficient was noted in theoretical oral medicine 2. The high percentage of simple difficulty coefficient in the three theoretical courses indicates the necessity of training faculty members in designing questions.
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