Introduction and Objective: Tobacco use is a significant risk factor for oral diseases. Periodontal disease has been known to be associated with tobacco use for over twenty years. Despite that, dentists and particularly periodontist does not include tobacco use cessation as part of their initial treatment in treating periodontal disease or placing implants in patients who use tobacco. The increase in prevalence and severity of periodontitis among smokers cannot be explained by differences in the amount of plaque between smokers and nonsmokers. A possible explanation is that smoking may alter the quality of the flora. Dental professionals also have a crucial role to play in tobacco cessation counseling, particularly for patients with chronic periodontitis. More patients will be affected by periodontitis than will ever be affected by oral cancer. Methods and Results: Reviews of literatures were done on a clearly formulated question on the need of smoking cessation intervention to increase positive outcome of treatment on periodontal disease. Conclusion: Various epidemiological studies strongly suggest that tobacco use cessation is beneficial to patients following periodontal treatments for a better outcome.

Despite the fines and action taken by authorities against illegal dental practise, it could not be eliminated and remain a threat to the public’s oral health. The aim of this study was to gather holistic evidence on unlicensed dental practice by collating news coverage, scientific research publications, and information on social media activities of illegal dental practitioners. Information on news coverage was collated via Google, Yahoo and Bing while information on research publications was obtained through three databases, Scopus, Pubmed and Google Scholar. Public data from Facebook and Instagram were extracted to gain information on illegal dental services actively provided. Out of 195 news reported regarding unlicensed dental practitioner, only 110 news reported on legal actions received with 81 news reports were on financial punishments, and the rest was on jail terms or probation. For scientific publications, only 13 related publications were found, and the majority were case reports. Despite having a law that stated an unlicensed dentist would be punished, there were more than 170 Facebook, and Instagram users with thousands of followers found actively offering illegal dental services to the public. In conclusion, not much attention was paid by the scientific community on illegal dental practice despite it being a significant public health issue and covered quite thoroughly in the news, and services are still actively offered through social media. This descriptive report helps give a holistic perspective on the illegal dental service providers issue, especially in Malaysia.

Background: Tooth erosion is a growing dental problem; however, the role of diet in the aetiology of tooth erosion is unclear. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the association between tooth erosion occurrence and the consumption of acidic foods and drinks among undergraduate university students. Methods: A total of 150 undergraduate students (33 males and 117 females) aged 19 to 24 years at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia participated in this study. The Basic Erosive Wear Examination was used to assess the occurrence of tooth erosion. Information regarding dental hygiene practices, usual dietary habits, and consumption of acidic foods and drinks was obtained through a structured questionnaire. Results: In all, 68% of subjects had tooth erosion. Subjects who reported having received information about healthy eating were less likely to have tooth erosion (χ2 [1, N = 150] = 7.328, P = 0.007). The frequencies of milk (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.13–0.67) and tea/coffee (adjusted OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.19–0.95) consumption were negatively associated with tooth erosion. Dental hygiene practice, the frequency and amount of acidic food and drink intake, and body mass index classification were not significantly associated with the risk of tooth erosion (P > 0.05). Conclusion: A high prevalence of tooth erosion was observed among this group of students. Preventive measures, such as dietary advice and increased consumption of milk at a younger age, may reduce the occurrence of tooth erosion among this age group.

INTRODUCTION: Hospital-based resuscitation interventions, such as therapeutic temperature management (TTM), emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can improve outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We investigated post-resuscitation interventions and hospital characteristics on OHCA outcomes across public hospitals in Singapore over a 9-year period. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of all OHCA cases that presented to 6 hospitals in Singapore from 2010 to 2018. Data were extracted from the Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study Clinical Research Network (PAROS CRN) registry. We excluded patients younger than 18 years or were dead on arrival at the emergency department. The outcomes were 30-day survival post-arrest, survival to admission, and neurological outcome. RESULTS: The study analysed 17,735 cases. There was an increasing rate of provision of TTM, emergency PCI and ECMO (P<0.001) in hospitals, and a positive trend of survival outcomes (P<0.001). Relative to hospital F, hospitals B and C had lower provision rates of TTM (≤5.2%). ECMO rate was consistently <1% in all hospitals except hospital F. Hospitals A, B, C, E had <6.5% rates of provision of emergency PCI. Relative to hospital F, OHCA cases from hospitals A, B and C had lower odds of 30-day survival (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]<1; P<0.05 for hospitals A-C) and lower odds of good neurological outcomes (aOR<1; P<0.05 for hospitals A-C). OHCA cases from academic hospitals had higher odds ratio (OR) of 30-day survival (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.5) than cases from hospitals without an academic status. CONCLUSION Post-resuscitation interventions for OHCA increased across all hospitals in Singapore from 2010 to 2018, correlating with survival rates. The academic status of hospitals was associated with improved survival.
Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/therapy* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Prospective Studies ; Singapore/epidemiology*

This review paper aims to present the evolution in methods of delivering oral hygiene information to orthodontic patients. Orthodontic fixed appliance treatment confers numerous benefits to patients in terms of occlusion, function and aesthetics, but it is associated with unwanted consequences due to challenges in maintaining oral hygiene. The ways of delivering oral hygiene information to patients have progressed over the years. Recent years have seen an increase in the popularity of incorporating technology in delivering oral hygiene information and monitoring of oral hygiene practices. The use of video-based instructions to web-based platforms such as Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok have all become a mode of oral hygiene information conveyance. Mobile apps are now a popular means to keep track of oral care practices such as toothbrushing frequency. The active ingredients of oral care products have improved providing a greater anticariogenic and antiplaque effect to the user as have the design of toothbrushes and even dental floss. In the future, more advanced technology may be used, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to create intelligent machines that can help educate patients on oral health maintenance and improvement.

Introduction: Delivering oral hygiene instruction is one of the integral parts of orthodontic treatment. However, there is scarce information regarding the impact of audiovisual method on knowledge retention among orthodontic patients. This study aimed to assess knowledge retention of the patient after instruction delivered in audiovisual (AV) method and compare it to the standard written and verbal (WV) method. Methods: This prospective clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients aged 13 to 40 years. They were randomized into the audiovisual group (n=30) and written & verbal group (n=30). Patients’ knowledge retention was measured using a self-administered questionnaire in Google form, immediately after instruction given as short-term retention and long-term retention for three timepoint, i.e., 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month. Results: There was a significant improvement in knowledge for both AV and WV methods at immediate and 1-month assessment and the knowledge retained until 6-month follow up. The AV method demonstrated a significantly higher increase in knowledge retention at immediate and 1-month than the WV method. Conclusion: The AV method was significantly more effective in improving patient's knowledge retention compared to the written & verbal methods. Repetition of instruction also influence the retention of knowledge.

Objective: Malaysia’s first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was reported in January 2020, with the first case in the state of Negeri Sembilan diagnosed on 17 February 2020. The National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme commenced in early March 2021 in Negeri Sembilan. This study describes the COVID-19 cases and vaccination coverage in Seremban District, Negeri Sembilan, during 2021. Methods: The demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 cases and the district’s vaccination coverage were described. Vaccination coverage was plotted against COVID-19 cases on the epidemic curve. The chi-square test was used to examine the differences between the vaccination status of COVID-19 cases and severity category, hospitalization status and mortality. Results: In Seremban District, there were 65 879 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 2021. The data revealed that the 21–30-year age group had the highest proportion of cases (16 365; 24.8%), the majority of cases were male (58.3%), and most cases were from the sub-district of Ampangan (23.1%). The majority of cases were Malaysian. Over half (53.5%) were symptomatic, with fever (29.8%) and cough (22.8%) being the most frequently reported symptoms. COVID-19 vaccination status was significantly associated with severity category, hospitalization and mortality (P < 0.001 for all categories). Discussion: This is the first study to describe two-dose vaccination coverage and the trend in COVID-19 cases in Seremban District. It was observed that COVID-19 cases had been reduced following more than 60.0% vaccination coverage.

Objective: Foodborne disease is a significant global public health concern, with Bacillus cereus being a frequent cause of outbreaks. However, due to the relatively mild symptoms caused by infection with B. cereus, the shorter duration of illness and the challenges of testing for it in both stool and food samples, outbreaks are often underreported. This report describes the epidemiology of cases of foodborne illness, the causative agent and risk factors associated with an outbreak in a boarding school in Seremban district, Negeri Sembilan state, Malaysia, that occurred in November 2021. Methods: Epidemiological, environmental and laboratory investigations were performed. A case was defined as any person with abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhoea that occurred after consuming food served by the canteen at the school. The data were analysed using Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: A total of 152 cases were identified among the 597 students, giving an attack rate of 25.5%. All cases were females aged 13–17 years. They presented with abdominal pain (100%), nausea (97.4%, 148), vomiting (78.3%, 119) or diarrhoea (61.8%, 94), or a combination of these. The mode of transmission of the outbreak was a continual common source. The foods associated with becoming a case were beef rendang (a dry curry) (odds ratio [OR]: 20.54, 95% CI: 4.89–86.30), rice (OR: 19.62, 95% CI: 2.62–147.01), rice cubes (OR: 18.17, 95% CI: 4.31–76.55) and vermicelli (OR: 17.02, 95% CI: 4.03–71.86). Cross-contamination and inadequate thawing and storage temperatures contributed to the outbreak. Discussion: This outbreak of foodborne illness at a boarding school was likely caused by B. cereus. The findings highlight the importance of proper food preparation, temperature monitoring, hygiene practices among food handlers and compliance with food safety guidelines.