In order to examine the attitudes of third-year dental students towards oriental medicine before and after lecture courses, and compare their attitudes with those of medical students, self-administered questionnaires were given to Aichi-Gakuin University School of Dentistry students (DS), and Kinki University School of Medicine students (MS). Pre-course,105 DS and 68 MS provided valid answers, while 104 DS provided valid answers post-course. Pre-course, 80.9% of DS thought oriental medicine would be important in the future, and 72.4% wanted to learn it. Also pre-course, 7.6% of DS had knowledge of oriental medicine, 55.2% were interested in oriental medicine, and 54.3% wanted to introduce oriental medicine into their clinical practice in the future. These last percentages increased after the lecture courses to 50.0%, 76.9% and 77.9%, respectively. With pre-course MS, on the other hand : 64.7% were interested in oriental medicine ; 58.8% thought it would be important in the future ; 51.5% wanted to introduce it in their clinical practice ; and 70.6% wanted to learn it.These results show that both dental and medical students had similar attitudes toward oriental medicine, and that dental students need an oriental medicine education equivalent to that of medical students.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although multiple treatment options exist for the management of sigmoid colon volvulus, no study has examined the factors associated with successful endoscopic detorsion. This study aimed to examine the clinical course of patients with sigmoid colon volvulus and to identify factors related to successful endoscopic detorsion. METHODS: This study included 30 cases (21 patients) of sigmoid volvulus from among 545 cases of intestinal obstruction at a single center. We retrospectively examined the clinical course and the factors associated with the possibility of endoscopic detorsion of sigmoid colon volvulus. RESULTS: The rate of laxative use among the study participants was 76.2%; the rate of comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders was 61.9%; and 57.1% of patients had a history of open abdominal surgery. All patients were initially treated with endoscopic detorsion, and this procedure had a 61.9% success rate. The recurrence rate after detorsion was as high as 46.2%, but detorsion during revision endoscopy was possible in all cases. Statistical analysis revealed that the absence of abdominal tenderness (P=0.027), the use of laxatives (P=0.027), and a history of open abdominal surgery (P=0.032) were factors predictive of successful endoscopic detorsion. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study are consistent with previous reports with respect to the success rate of endoscopic detorsion, the subsequent recurrence rate, and the proportion of patients requiring surgical treatment. In addition, we identified the absence of abdominal tenderness, the use of laxatives, and history of open abdominal surgery as factors predicting successful endoscopic detorsion of sigmoid colon volvulus.
Colon, Sigmoid* ; Colonoscopy ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Intestinal Volvulus* ; Laxatives ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sigmoidoscopy

OBJECTIVESThis study investigated the incidence of caries in infants and explored the risk factors related to noteworthy variations between urban and rural areas.

METHODSSubjects were 232 infants (111 males and 121 females) aged 1.6 and 3 years born in "N" town between the fiscal years of 1997 and 2001. Infants aged 1.6 and 3 years had 99.6 and 100% participation in health checkups, respectively. Of the total, 148 and 84 infants were living in the urban and rural areas, respectively, of "N" town.

RESULTSCaries incidence and the average number of carious teeth (decayed/missing/filled teeth, dmft) for infants aged 1.6 years were significantly higher in the rural area than in the urban area, indicating that environmental factors that predispose infants to develop dental caries exist in the rural area. In addition, logistic regression analysis for infants in each of the two areas revealed that risk factors of the child-care environment, for example living with grandparents and brushing by parents, stood in marked contrast with each other. Moreover, the odds ratio of the risk factor dozing off while drinking showed a marked difference between the areas, although this risk factor was common in both areas.

CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study indicated that several factors of the child-care environment, for example the daytime caring person, are related with caries development. Scientific elucidation of the risk factors that give rise to high prevalence of caries in specific regions and access to the whole picture of the disease mechanism may have great potential to lead to the development of effective countermeasures and to contribute to the reduction of dental caries in preschool children.