Introduction: The interpretations of printed panoramic radiographs film frequently depend on personal judgements analysis by observers. The findings correlations between more than two observers must consider statistical tool which can determine that sometimes the observers will agree or disagree merely by chance. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) generally measures the degree of similarity among individuals within a cluster. Kappa statistic is the most frequently applied statistical analysis for this reason. This study aims to determine the validity of utilising printed panoramic radiographs for assessing dental anomalies and inter-examiner reliability in detecting dental anomalies observed within the panoramic radiographs. Methods: Twenty samples of printed versions of orthopantomogram (OPG) were arbitrarily selected from the AMDI Dental Clinic. Radiographic analyses were conducted twice, Trial 1 and Trial 2, with two-week intervals in between. Ten (10) printed OPG films were used in each session. During both assessments, incidence of dental anomalies was determined. All twenty OPGs were examined and analysed by the principal investigator and two independent examiners according to the inclusion and exclusion criterias. The data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23. Results: The results of ICC for Trials 1 and 2 were 0.961 and 0.984, respectively. Conclusion: The outcomes demonstrated that the printed OPG films can be used to detect dental anomalies and inter-examiner dependability was in very good assertion for both trials, hence printed OPG films that satisfy the inclusion and exclusion criterias can be utilised for assessing dental anomalies as shown by the reliable ICC values in this study.

Introduction: Human teeth tend to stain from intrinsic and extrinsic factors with time. The study was aimed to assess colour change of stained enamel after the use of bleaching agents. Methods: 63 extracted human teeth were selected and soaked in the coffee solution for 7 days to stain the teeth. Then they were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 21). The groups were divided as the control group (distilled water), group using 6% carbamide peroxide (CP6) and group using 9% carbamide peroxide (CP9). The groups of CP6 and CP9 were bleached with 0.2 ml of bleaching agent for 5 minutes daily until 14 days. Colour changes were visually recorded by using VITA Toothguide 3D-MASTER and Ocean Optics Spectrometer instrument. Results: CP6 started to show shade reduction on Day 3 (score 5), followed by a steady reduction until Day 10. Day 12 to 14 showed another steady reduction of CP6. CP9 had a larger shade reduction (scores of 2-5) from Day 1 to Day 4, followed by a steady reduction until Day 14. Spectrometer analysis shows that CP9 samples had lower absorbance unit compared to CP6 samples for both second-day and sixth-day groups. However, most changes can be observed on the CP9 samples from control to the second-day and sixth-day. Conclusion: Bleaching agent with low concentration can approach the efficacy of high concentration of bleaching agent with an extended treatment time.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are evolving as the leading cause of death worldwide, including in Malaysia. Changes in a socio-economic status have increased at-risk populations with NCDs. The objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of self-reported NCDs and its contributing factors in a selected low socio-economic status community in Kedah, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a self-administered questionnaire was done among convenience samples of 139 adults (age more than 18 years old) living in a selected low socio-economic status community in Kedah. Results: Among 139 respondents with a mean (SD) age 48.5 (13.1), there were 40.3% of respondents reported to have chronic illnesses with a prevalence of hypertension (25.9%), diabetes mellitus (21.6%), hypercholesterolemia (7.2%), chronic respiratory diseases (5.0%), heart disease (2.9%) and stroke (1.4%). The significant contributing factors of NCDs by multiple logistic regression were age, marital and working status. A person with an increase in 1 year of age has 1.05 times the odds to have NCDs (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.09, p-value=0.007). A divorcee has 3.55 times the odds compared to a married person to have NCDs (95% CI: 1.28 to 9.80, p-value=0.015). The non-working individual has 2.27 times the odds compared to working individuals to have NCDs (95% CI: 1.03 to 5.01, p-value=0.042). Conclusion: The prevalence of NCDs is high in this selected low socio-economic status community. The contributing factors are age, marital and working status.