To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and confidence of caregivers and administrators towards the oral health of nursing home residents in San Antonio, Texas.

Objective: The primary objective of this research was to use qualitative methods to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and confidence of caregivers in their ability to provide oral hygiene assistance to residents. The secondary objective was to assess the knowledge and attitude of administrators on the provision of oral hygiene assistance for residents, and their confidence in caregivers' ability to provide oral hygiene assistance to nursing home residents in San Antonio, Texas.

Methods: A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct face-to-face interviews with seven caregivers and twelve administrative staff from ten nursing homes in San Antonio, Texas.

Effectiveness of silver diamine fluoride in arresting dental caries in residents living in nursing homes: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The primary objective of this randomized controlled trial was to determine the effectiveness of a single application of 38% silver diamine fluoride (SDF) solution in arresting and controlling active accessible caries compared to no treatment among adults aged 18 years and older residing in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. Many patients cannot receive standard-of-care dental treatment due to their medical conditions and inability to undergo anesthesia. All teeth in the control group will be treated with SDF at the conclusion of the study.

Assessing the Efficacy of Planmeca ProMax® 3D Cone-Beam CT Machine in the Detection of Root Fractures With Varied Metal Artifact Reduction Settings and Three Kilovoltage Peak Levels.

Background: This study aims to examine the accuracy of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) machines in detecting root fracture when using different metal artifact reduction (MAR) settings at different kilovoltage peak (kVp) levels.

Methodology: Sixty-six tooth roots were treated endodontically using a standardized technique. Of these, 33 roots were randomly selected to be fractured; the other 33 roots were intact and used as controls.

Investigating correlations between the PAT and three hand-skill exercises to performance in preclinical laboratory courses.

Objectives: Perceptual ability test (PAT) is a valid determinant for spatial perceptions. However, proven psychomotor skill tests for dentistry do not currently exist. This study aimed to determine whether performance on the PAT, Operation game, mirror tracing, and wax carving exercises correlate to preclinical laboratory performance in Dental Anatomy and Restorative Dentistry courses.

A low-shrinkage, hydrophobic, degradation-resistant, antimicrobial dental composite using a fluorinated acrylate and an oxirane.

Objective: To develop a low shrinkage, hydrophobic, degradation-resistant, antimicrobial dental composite using a fluorinated acrylate, and a difunctional oxirane.

Methods: The effects of a fluorinated acrylate (2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl acrylate; PFOEA), a difunctional oxirane (EPALLOY™ 5001; EP5001), and a three-component initiator system (camphorquinone/ethyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate/4-Isopropyl-4'-methyldiphenyl iodonium Tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) borate; CQ/EDMAB/Borate) on bisphenol A glycidyl dimethacrylate: triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (BisGMA:TEGDMA) composite surface hardness, degree of monomer-to-polymer conversion, hydrophobicity, translucency, mechanical properties, polymerization shrinkage and shrinkage stress, degradation, water imbibition, and antimicrobial properties were determined.

Results: Overall the experimental composites had comparable mechanical properties and lower volumetric polymerization shrinkage and shrinkage stress as compared to BisGMA:TEGDMA controls.

[Corrigendum] Novel polygodial analogs P3 and P27: Efficacious therapeutic agents disrupting mitochondrial function in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

After the publication of the above article, the authors have realized that they failed to properly acknowledge the work performed by their Center for Innovative Drug Discovery High Throughput Screening Core Facility in the paper. The Declarations section of their paper should therefore have also included the following statement: "The UT Health San Antonio Center for Innovative Drug Discovery HTS Facility was funded in part by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT; grant no. RP160844)".

Synthesis and SAR of novel capsazepine analogs with significant anti-cancer effects in multiple cancer types.

We previously demonstrated that capsazepine (CPZ), a synthetic transient receptor potential Vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) antagonist, has significant anti-cancer effects in vivo. The purpose of this study was to develop more potent analogs based upon CPZ pharmacophore and structure-activity relationships (SAR) across analogs. We generated 30 novel compounds and screened for their anti-proliferative effects in cultured HeLa cervical cancer cells.

Novel polygodial analogs P3 and P27: Efficacious therapeutic agents disrupting mitochondrial function in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Polygodial, a drimane sesquiterpenoid dialdehyde isolated as a pungent component of the water pepper Persicaria hydropiper, exhibits antifeedant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Polygodial also activates transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) channels. Previously, we described the synthesis of a C12-Wittig derivative of polygodial, termed P3, with significant antiproliferative effects against multiple cancer types including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Critical Thinking in Dental Students and Experienced Practitioners Assessed by the Health Sciences Reasoning Test.

To date, there has been a lack of published studies examining the validity of the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) to assess critical thinking among dental students. The aim of this study was to examine the construct validity of the HSRT using a novice-expert model consisting of first-year dental students as novices and experienced general dentists as experts. Novice cohort subjects were recruited from all 105 students in the first-year dental school class at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio during a regularly scheduled course in August 2015.

Thymol inhibits oral squamous cell carcinoma growth via mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

Background: Thymol is a transient receptor potential ankyrin subtype 1 channel, (TRPA1) agonist found in thyme and oregano. Thymol has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties; thus, thymol is added to many commercially available products including Listerine mouthwash. Thymol is also cytotoxic to HL-60 (acute promyelocytic leukemia) cells in vitro.

Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: How Could Dentistry Participate?

There is a remarkable phenomenon occurring among health professionals: the development of ongoing, routine collaboration, both in educating the next generation of providers and in delivering care. These new approaches, commonly referred to as interprofessional education and interprofessional collaborative practice, have been introduced into academic health settings and delivery systems throughout the U.S.

Should Dental Schools Invest in Training Predoctoral Students for Academic Careers? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Dental Schools Should Add Academic Careers Training to Their Predoctoral Curricula to Enhance Faculty Recruitment and Viewpoint 2: Addition of Academic Careers Training for All Predoctoral Students Would Be Inefficient and Ineffective.

This Point/Counterpoint considers whether providing dental students with academic career training and teaching experiences during their predoctoral education would be valuable to recruit dental academicians. While training the next generation of dentists continues to be the primary focus for dental schools, the cultivation and recruitment of dental faculty members from the pool of dental students remain challenges. Viewpoint 1 supports the position that providing dental students with exposure to academic career opportunities has positive value in recruiting new dental faculty.

Should Attendance Be Required in Lecture Classrooms in Dental Education? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Attendance in the Lecture Classroom Should Be Required and Viewpoint 2: Attendance Should Not Be Required in the Lecture Classroom.

This Point/Counterpoint discusses the long-argued debate over whether lecture attendance in dental school at the predoctoral level should be required. Current educational practice relies heavily on the delivery of content in a traditional lecture style. Viewpoint 1 asserts that attendance should be required for many reasons, including the positive impact that direct contact of students with faculty members and with each other has on learning outcomes.

SCDA task force on a special care dentistry residency.

The Special Care Dentistry Association (SCDA) has acted on a proposal regarding the status of training in the care of patients with special needs. Two phases of action were undertaken. Phase 1: (a) examination of the literature on existing training and curricula in the care of patients with special needs and (b) a survey of existing postdoctoral programs in special needs.

Evidence Supports No Relationship between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Premolar Extraction: An Electronic Health Records Review.

Objective: A controversy exists concerning the relationship, if any, between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the anatomical position of the anterior teeth. Specifically, there has been speculation that extraction orthodontics and retraction of the anterior teeth contributes to OSA by crowding the tongue and decreasing airway space. This retrospective study utilized electronic medical and dental health records to examine the association between missing premolars and OSA.

Will Large DSO-Managed Group Practices Be the Predominant Setting for Oral Health Care by 2025? Two Viewpoints: Viewpoint 1: Large DSO-Managed Group Practices Will Be the Setting in Which the Majority of Oral Health Care Is Delivered by 2025 and Viewpoint 2: Increases in DSO-Managed Group Practices Will Be Offset by Models Allowing Dentists to Retain the Independence and Freedom of a Traditional Practice.

This Point/Counterpoint article discusses the transformation of dental practice from the traditional solo/small-group (partnership) model of the 1900s to large Dental Support Organizations (DSO) that support affiliated dental practices by providing nonclinical functions such as, but not limited to, accounting, human resources, marketing, and legal and practice management. Many feel that DSO-managed group practices (DMGPs) with employed providers will become the setting in which the majority of oral health care will be delivered in the future. Viewpoint 1 asserts that the traditional dental practice patterns of the past are shifting as many younger dentists gravitate toward employed positions in large group practices or the public sector.

Calculus detection calibration among dental hygiene faculty members utilizing dental endoscopy: a pilot study.

Dental and dental hygiene faculty members often do not provide consistent instruction in the clinical environment, especially in tasks requiring clinical judgment. From previous efforts to calibrate faculty members in calculus detection using typodonts, researchers have suggested using human subjects and emerging technology to improve consistency in clinical instruction. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if a dental endoscopy-assisted training program would improve intra- and interrater reliability of dental hygiene faculty members in calculus detection.

Immune defence mechanisms and immunoenhancement strategies in oropharyngeal candidiasis.

The prevalence of oropharyngeal candidiasis continues to be high, mainly because of an increasing population of immunocompromised patients. Traditional treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis has relied on the use of antimicrobial drugs. However, unsatisfactory results with drug monotherapy and the emergence of resistant strains have prompted investigations into the potential use of adjunctive immunoenhancing therapies for the treatment of these infections.

Peripheral mechanisms of odontogenic pain.

In this article, we review the key basic mechanisms associated with this phenomena and more recently identified mechanisms that are current areas of interest. Although many of these pain mechanisms apply throughout the body, we attempt to describe these mechanisms in the context of trigeminal pain.