Root canal treatment (RCT) requires high level of technical skills of the dentist. Its outcome is an important part of evidencebased practice and become the basis of treatment planning and prognostic considerations. Adequate removal of micro-organisms and prevention of recolonization of residual micro-organisms through the placement of root filling with satisfactory coronal seal ensures success. This retrospective record review study aimed to investigate the practices of RCT in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) Dental Clinic, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. It involved 333 randomly selected patient records at the HUSM Record Unit. Data was obtained by careful analyses of daily treatment progress sheets and analyzed using SPSS version 12.0. A total of 2996 RCT cases were seen and 59.8% of patients were females. The age range of patients varied from 14 to 64 years. The maxillary anterior teeth were most commonly treated (52.6%). Most operators (99.1%) used step-back technique and 97.6% used files to prepare root canals. The most commonly used material for obturation and sealing was gutta-percha and epoxy resin-based sealer (AH26). About 82.9% used calcium hydroxide as intra-canal medication. About 25.5% of cases had no periapical pathology, 65.8% with pre-existing periapical radiolucencies healed in 1-3 months whereas 2.1% of cases with periapical pathology eventually healed after a year. About 6.9% cases failed after retreatment. The number of radiographs taken was two to four pieces. RCT is a useful intervention to maintain longevity of teeth. Decision making and current updates of methods and materials are essential among practitioners as well as administrators to ensure success.

Objective: To explore the association between socialsupport and stress levels in preclinical and clinical dentalstudents in Malaysia. Method: A cross sectional surveyof dental undergraduate students was conducted at theFaculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.Stress was measured using the Dental Environment Stress(DES) questionnaire. A DES-32 item was used to measurestress for the clinical students and DES-16 item for thepreclinical students. Four questions were used to measuresocial support. The total stress scores were standardizedfor comparison purposes. Results: A total of 357 (79.7%)preclinical and 417 (71.8%) clinical undergraduate dentalstudents responded to the questionnaires. The clinicalstudents experienced higher stress [mean standardizedDES score = 72.63, SD = 10.64] than preclinical students[mean standardized DES score = 70.19, SD=12.01]. Thetwo most stressful items reported by preclinical studentswere “fear of failing” and “examination and grades”.Among clinical students, the two most stressful items relatedto academic were “completing course requirement” and“fear of failing course” and items related to clinical sessionwere “fear of being barred due to the clinical schedule”and “patients late or absent”. Multiple regression analysesrevealed that low stress levels among preclinical studentswere significantly associated to a lot of contact withstudents of the same course. Conclusion: To some extent,social support does play a role in explaining differences inperceived stress, in particular among preclinical students.

We report two confirmed human bite cases by Lactrodectus geometricus, also known as the brown widow spider. These are the first reported bite envenomation incidents by L. geometricus in Malaysia. The incidents occurred in Tawau, Sabah and Paka, Terengganu. Both men were bitten on their ear while putting on motorcycle helmets. The spiders appeared to have nested in the helmets. The dead specimens were collected and sent to the Invertebrate and Vertebrate Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Universiti Malaya for identification. The species identity was confirmed by DNA barcoding.