THE EXPERIENCES AND CHALLENGES IN REFERRING AND MANAGING PATIENTS IN SPECIALIST PREVENTIVE DENTAL CLINIC IN ALOR SETAR, KEDAH, MALAYSIA The establishment of a preventive dental clinic in Alor Setar, Kedah, managed by dental public health (DPH) specialists, by the Oral Health Programme, was due to positive findings in the National Oral Health Survey for Adults 2010. The clinic focuses on improving oral health status in Malaysia by targeting high-risk individuals. Since its inception, no assessments have been conducted. This study explored the perception of dental personnel with experience managing the preventive clinic in Alor Setar, Kedah. It also explored the perception of dental personnel with and without experience in referring cases to the clinic. Twenty-three dental personnel working in government dental clinics in Alor Setar, Kedah, and 11 dental personnel managing the clinic were interviewed face-to-face or via phone based on their preferences. The in-depth interviews were conducted using validated semi-structured questionnaires with domain patient management, resources, training, and suggestions. The sessions were digitally recorded before transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using NVivo software. Eight dental personnel interviewed had experienced referring cases, while 15 admitted not referring due to their poor understanding of the referral criteria and patients' refusal. Identified cases referred include quit smoking and poor oral hygiene cases. Patient's willingness to change and unmanageable cases emerged as factors influencing referral. Clinicians referring cases admit that the preventive clinic improves patient management. The managers, consisting of dentists, DPH specialists, and dental surgery assistants, identified low attendance, lack of referrals, and unfollowed cases as the clinic's challenges. Improvement in oral hygiene and motivation was observed in some patients. Despite the difficulties and barriers encountered in managing and referring patients, there were beneficial improvements observed in patients' oral health habits.

E-PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS GOVERNANCE IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MALAYSIAN DENTAL PRACTITIONERS: A DOCUMENT REVIEW Background: A subset of professionalism called "e-professionalism" is defined as the application of traditional professionalism ideas to online activities. The concept of e-professionalism is nested in the ethics of healthcare. Dentists, as professionals, must adhere to the principle of ethics while using social media. Objectives: To explore the Acts, regulations, Code of Conduct, or guidelines available pertaining to social media usage among dentists in Malaysia. Methods: A review of relevant legislation, regulations, Codes of conduct, and guidelines for the use of social media in dentistry was conducted using the READ (Ready, Extract, Analyse, Distill) approach. Results: There were twenty-five (25) documents directly or indirectly related to the Dental Act 2018 under the Oral Health Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia website. Only eight (8) documents were found directly or indirectly pertaining to social media usage among dental practitioners in Malaysia. Currently, there are no specific document guidelines on social media usage for both private and public dental practitioners in Malaysia. All related documents on guidelines were general and not directly related to social media use and needed to be read in conjunction with other directives and guidelines by the Ministry of Health. A comprehensive guideline on social media usage was available but only for the MOH staff, including public dental practitioners. Conclusion: In order to advance toward good ethical behaviour in dentistry, it is necessary to offer the dental profession conducive guidelines in social media usage.

THE ORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICES IN PAHANG, MALAYSIA Oral healthcare workforce planning is commonly limited to the calculation of dentist-to-population ratios. However, this approach overlooks several crucial variables, such as the burden of oral health needs. Workload analysis is implemented to gain a comprehensive understanding of the true oral health requirements. This study aims to enhance our comprehension of the workforce imbalance and its effect on the distribution of personnel serving School Dental Services (SDS) in Pahang. To achieve standardised workforce sizing for every school, the operator-to-student ratio, that is, the ratio of a single operator to the entire student body, is utilised. The collected data is then merged and computed into the ArcGIS Pro software for geospatial analysis. Statistical analysis is conducted through the utilisation of SPSS software. In Pahang, 10% (n=72) of schools have a low operator-to-student ratio, with 47 located in Kuantan. There is a significant difference in DMFT mean between rural (0.74; SD=0.60) and urban (0.86; SD=0.58) schools (p=0.02). Kuantan's urban schools have a significant operator burden, with a shortage of operators compared to other districts, amplifying the workforce distribution imbalance. Compared to urban areas, there is a greater ratio of one operator to the total student population in rural areas. However, schools with a higher number of students need more children to be treated per operator. The necessity for a fair workload-based distribution of SDS staff is evident.

The double burden of malnutrition refers to the coexistence of undernutrition which is typically characterised by stunting and wasting, alongside overnutrition at all levels of the population. The objective of this article is to review the current issues in addressing the double burden of malnutrition using the life course approach. Studies addressing life course approach in DBM were identified through PubMed & EMBASE databases. Relevant studies were critically appraised. The challenges, opportunities and way forward in addressing DBM through the life course concept were discussed. The review showed that the DBM dilemma could be addressed via a holistic perspective through a life course concept as nutrition plays an important role in influencing health from pre-conception to old age. The life course concept proposes that environmental exposures, including biological, physical, social, and behavioral factors, including life experiences, throughout life, influence health outcomes in current generations and their offspring.