Dentistry Commons^™

Perceptions Of Dental Undergraduates Towards Online Education During Covid-19: Assessment From India, Nepal And Sri Lanka, Pragati Kaurani, Kavita Batra, Himangini Rathore Hooja, Rajlakshmi Banerjee, Rasika Manori Jayasinghe, Dhanushka Leuke Bandara, Navin Agrawal, Vimmi Singh

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Purpose: The social distancing mandates instituted during COVID-19 pandemic mark the sudden transition in the mode of dental education’s delivery to the virtual instruction. It is vital to assess students’ perceptions towards virtual learning environments, particularly among those gaining education in resource-strained countries. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the perceptions of dental undergraduates towards online education, environment and transferable skills and patient care during COVID-19 in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods: Dental preclinical and clinical undergraduate students from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka were recruited from November 2020 to March 2021 through a 47-item web-based survey …

Oral Microbiome And Gingival Gene Expression Of Inflammatory Biomolecules With Aging And Periodontitis, Jeffrey L. Ebersole, Radhakrishnan Nagarajan, Sreenatha Kirakodu, Octavio A. Gonzalez

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Although data describe the presence and increase of inflammatory mediators in the local environment in periodontitis vs. health in humans, details regarding how these responses evolve in the transition from health to disease, changes during disease progression, and features of a resolved lesion remain unknown. This study used a nonhuman primate model of ligature-induced periodontitis in young, adolescent, adult, and aged animals to document features of inflammatory response affected by age. Rhesus monkeys had ligatures tied and provided gingival tissue biopsy specimens at baseline, 0.5, 1, and 3 months of disease and at 5 months of the study, which was …

Education Regarding And Adherence To Recommended Nutrition Guidelines Among Dental Students, Camille Frayna, Christoffer Devantier, Braden Harris, Karl Kingsley, Joshua M. Polanski

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were developed to reduce or prevent many types of chronic illness, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Healthcare provider recommendations may be influenced by understanding of and adherence to the DGA, which may be incorporated into provider training, medical and dental clinical curricula—although few studies have evaluated adherence to the DGA among dental students. This approved retrospective study of voluntary student responses from a first-year dental school nutrition course included a short dietary and exercise survey administered as part of the DGA learning module. A total of N = 299 students completed the voluntary …

A Novel Behavioral Model In Initiation And Sustenance Of Toothbrushing Behavior Among Dental And Medical Students In India: An Exploratory Analysis, Dhiraj Panjwani, Mithun Pai, Shweta Yellapurkar, Aayush Poddar, Gururaghavendran Rajesh, Manoj Sharma

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Purpose: Toothbrushing holds key importance in practical, competent, and efficacious design to limit the formation of dental plaque on the dental tissues, in turn, leading to a decrease in dental diseases. The recent addition to this growing knowledge in health behavior research is the multi-Theory model (MTM) which addresses two crucial modules of health behavior: initiation and sustenance. In spite of reinforcing the habit of brushing twice daily, a lack of sustenance is found among young adults; hence, the objectives were to explore the substratal structure of MTM and to test the fit of MTM questionnaire in dental and medical …

Molecular Screening And Analysis Reveal Novel Oral Site-Specific Locations For The Cariogenic Pathogen Scardovia Wiggsiae, Steven Mcdaniel, Jaydene Mcdaniel, Katherine M. Howard, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: Scardovia wiggsiae (SW) is a newly identified cariogenic pathogen associated with severe early childhood caries and oral disease. New studies have confirmed the presence of this organism among clinical samples from both pediatric and adult patients. However, the recent discovery of this organism has left researchers with only limited information available regarding the prevalence of this organism—and virtually no information regarding oral site-specific locations. Based upon this lack of information, the overall objective of this study was to perform an oral site-specific analysis of SW prevalence from clinical samples. Methods: Using an approved human subjects protocol, samples (n = …

Assessment Of Microrna (Mir)-365 Effects On Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cell Line Phenotypes, Jeffery Coon, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

miR-365 is a microRNA that regulates transcription and has been demonstrated to promote oncogenesis and metastasis in some cancers while suppressing these effects in others. Virtually no information is known about the presence or function of miR-365 in oral cancers. Based upon this information, the primary goal of this project was to evaluate the expression of miR-365 in existing oral cancer cell lines. Five commercially available oral cancer cell lines (SCC4, SCC9, SCC15, SCC25, and CAL27) were obtained and cultured. RNA was then screened by PCR using primers specific for miR-365, as well as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) and a downstream …

Microbial Screening Reveals Oral Site-Specific Locations Of The Periodontal Pathogen Selenomonas Noxia, Jaydene Mcdaniel, Steven Mcdaniel, Beanca Jhanine Samiano, Matthew Marrujo, Karl Kingsley, Katherine M. Howard

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: Selenomonas noxia (SN) is an important periodontal pathogen, associated with gingivitis and periodontitis. Many studies have found associations between SN and indicators of poor health outcomes, such as smoking, low socioeconomic status and obesity. However, less is known about the prevalence of this organism and more specifically about other oral site-specific locations that may harbor this organism. Methods: Using an existing patient repository (n = 47) of DNA isolated from saliva and other oral sites (n = 235), including the dorsum of the tongue, lower lingual incisor, upper buccal molar and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), molecular screening for SN …

Longitudinal Curricular Assessment Of Knowledge And Awareness Of Intimate Partner Violence Among First-Year Dental Students, Charles Buchanan, Karl Kingsley, Rhonda J. Everett

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has previously been recognized as a major public health issue. Oral healthcare providers, such as dentists, are crucial to the screening and identifying of individuals experiencing IPV, since most injuries occur in the head and neck region. A lack of knowledge and awareness regarding teaching and learning about IPV in dental school curricula has been identified. Based upon the overall lack of knowledge, the objective of this study was to conduct a longitudinal assessment of knowledge, awareness, and beliefs regarding IPV among dental students in their first year of education. Methods: All students (n = …

Knowledge, Protective Behaviors And Risk Perception Of Covid-19 Among Dental Students In India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Kavita Batra, Yashashri Urankar, Ravi Batra, Aaron F. Gomez, Meru S., Pragati Kaurani

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Objective: This study’s objective was to examine the knowledge, performance in practicing protective behaviors, and risk perception of Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) among dental students of India. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from 10–30 August 2020, involving 381 dental students that were enrolled at the Uttaranchal Dental and Medical Research Institute in India. A web-based structured questionnaire assessed the COVID-19 related knowledge, protective behaviors, and risk perception performance. The independent-samples-t and analysis of variance tests were used to analyze the differences in knowledge, protective behaviors, and perception across the groups. Results: Of the dental students surveyed, 83% had adequate …

Mapping Nevada's Dental Workforce, Kelvin Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Access to care is a concern at the forefront of public health. Due to socioeconomic and geopolitical pressures, the distribution of healthcare providers across a population often does not coincide with the demand for healthcare in a specific geographic area. Rural areas typically do not have enough providers and urban areas typically have too many. This stark reality underscores an inherent inefficiency in the allocation of healthcare resources and is a discrepancy that must be addressed by state-sponsored institutions and programs. From a public health perspective, the problem of insufficient or lack of access to care is the greater of …

Understanding The Role Of Ano1 In Oral Cancer, Mallary Forrest

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 2008, the gene ANO1 was discovered to encode a calcium activated chloride channel. This gene is located on the 11q13 locus, a locus that is commonly amplified in many cancers including cancer of the head and neck. ANO1 is situated in close proximity to genes associated with growth and apoptosis. As rapid proliferation and lack of apoptosis are hallmark characteristics of cancer, growth factors and apoptosis mediators are expected to be altered in cancer. But what does a calcium activated chloride channel have to contribute to cancer’s pathogenesis? Is it an active gene in cancer progression or is it …

Scardovia Wiggsiae And Streptococcus Sobrinus Prevalence Among Orthodontic And Non-Orthodontic Patients, Melissa Trumbo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Dental cavities or caries have been identified as among the most prevalent of preventable oral conditions. However, studies are discovering new information regarding the incidence and prevalence of several cariogenic organisms, including Streptococcus mutans (SM), the recently discovered Scardovia wiggsiae (SW), as well as Streptococcus sobrinus (SS). These studies have revealed varying prevalence among different populations, such as those undergoing orthodontic treatment. Based upon this information, the main goal of the current study was to assess the prevalence of specific cariogenic organisms (SS and SW) within saliva samples originally obtained from a dental school-based clinic.

Methods: The protocol for …

Assessment Of The Infrazygomatic Crest And Distal Infrazygomatic Crest For Bone Depth And Miniscrew Insertion, Kyle C. Tuttle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the bone depth at various postulated miniscrew insertion angles in both the Infrazygomatic Crest (IZC) and Distal Infrazygomatic Crest (DIZC) regions. Furthermore, root morphologies of the maxillary 1st and 2nd molars and their effect on bone depth and the various miniscrew insertion angles were analyzed.

A total of 69 CBCT images were collected from pre-orthodontic adult patients at the UNLV orthodontic residency clinic. Bone depth measurements were made at 8 postulated miniscrew insertion angles starting at 40° up to 75°. All measurements were recorded from the buccal bone at the …

Transcriptomic Phases Of Periodontitis Lesions Using The Nonhuman Primate Model, Jeffrey L. Ebersole, Radhakrishnan Nagarajan, Sreenatha Kirakodu, Octavio A. Gonzalez

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

We used a nonhuman primate model of ligature-induced periodontitis to identify patterns of gingival transcriptomic after changes demarcating phases of periodontitis lesions (initiation, progression, resolution). A total of 18 adult Macaca mulatta (12–22 years) had ligatures placed (premolar, 1st molar teeth) in all 4 quadrants. Gingival tissue samples were obtained (baseline, 2 weeks, 1 and 3 months during periodontitis and at 5 months resolution). Gene expression was analyzed by microarray [Rhesus Gene 1.0 ST Array (Affymetrix)]. Compared to baseline, a large array of genes were significantly altered at initiation (n = 6049), early progression (n = 4893), and late progression …

A Retrospective Evaluation Of The Prevalence Of Cracked Teeth Among An Adult Population In Nevada, Jacob Ozuna, Benjamin Barborka, Neamat Hassan Abubakr

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Objective: To identify the distribution and characteristics of cracked teeth in a Southern Nevada population attending the dental clinics of the School of Dental Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (SDM, UNLV). Methods: A retrospective keyword search of the clinical notes of SDM, UNLV patient charts in AxiUm™ was performed using the search terms “crack” and “fracture” to discern the number of patients that had clinically identifiable teeth with cracks, and which teeth (if any) had documented symptoms consistent with the cracks. The inclusion criteria for the record search were individuals ≥ 18 years old, seen at the dental clinic …

Characterization Of Dental Pulp Stem Cell Responses To Functional Biomaterials Including Mineralized Trioxide Aggregates, Sejin Bae, Bueonguk Kang, Hyungbin Lee, Harrison Luu, Eric Mullins, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: Many studies in stem cell biology have demonstrated that dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) may be highly proliferative and capable of pluripotent differentiation into many different tissue types. Recent advances in stem cell research have outlined methods for directing in vitro or in vivo growth, viability, and proliferation, as well as differentiation of DPSC-although much remains to be discovered. Based upon this information, the primary objective of this study was to understand the functional biomaterials needed to more effectively direct DPSC viability, growth, and proliferation. Methods: Using an approved protocol, previously collected and isolated samples of DPSC from an …

The Motivation And Confidence In Choosing Dentistry As A Career Amongst Dental Students: A Mixed-Methods Study, Mai E. Khalaf, Neamat H. Abubakr, Hanadi Alenezi, Hassan Ziada

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

© 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Dental Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Objectives: An insight into students’ motivation and confidence in the choice of entering and remaining in dental education is essential. The understanding of how choices are made can help universities in the planning of admission policies. This study aimed to evaluate the career choice influences, motivation and confidence in the choices made into dental education. Methods: A mixed-method design was employed, using both quantitative and qualitative data. One hundred seventy-three questionnaires were distributed to all registered dental students, with a response rate of 85%. …

Utilizing Plastinated Head And Neck Dissections For Doctorate Of Dental Medicine (Dmd) Anatomy Laboratories : Observations From The Den 7109 “Guinea Pig” Course, Jessica Immonen

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

This poster documents use of digital dissection tutorials in place of in-person laboratory time for a gross anatomy course in a dental medicine doctorate (DMD) program. Tutorials were developed with a standard digital camera and Camtasia video editing software. Plastinated head and neck specimens prepared by the Von Hagens company in Germany were used in place of standard, embalmed cadaveric donors. Initial student feedback (N=40) indicated that the tutorials were helpful/very helpful (100%), clinically relevant/very clinically relevant (97.5%), were impactful on content retention (100%) and were appropriate/very appropriate with respect to length (3-8 min; 97.5%). After these initial findings were …

Oral Microbiome And Gingival Tissue Apoptosis And Autophagy Transcriptomics, Jeffrey L. Ebersole, Sreenatha S. Kirakodu, Elliot Neumann, Luis Orraca, Janis Gonzalez Martinez, Octavio A. Gonzalez

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Objective: This study focused on documenting characteristics of the gingival transcriptome during various stages of periodontitis targeting genes associated with apoptotic and autophagic pathways and changes that specifically associate with features of the oral microbiome. Methods: Macaca mulatta (n = 18; 12-23 years) were examined at baseline and 0.5, 1, and 3 months of disease progression, as well as 5 months with clinical disease resolution. 16S sequencing and microarray analyses examined changes in the microbiome and gingival transcriptome, respectively, at each time point from every animal. Results: Specific patterns of apoptotic and autophagic genes were identified related to the initiation …

The Impact Of Impression Coping Geometrical Design On Accuracy Of Implant Impressions: An Experimental Study, Motaz Osman Osman, Neamat Hassan Abubakr, Ahmed Suliman, Hassan Ziada

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Aim This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effect of implant impression coping geometrical designs on the accuracy of open and closed impression techniques and in the parallel and nonparallel implant positions. Material and methods Three custom-made acrylic resin models of three tested implant systems (Straumann (R), SIC Invent (R), and Osstem (R)) with diverse coping geometrical designs were evaluated in simulated cases of two parallel and two nonparallel implants. The horizontal and vertical discrepancies were measured and analyzed. Results No statistically significant differences between the two impression techniques in either parallel or nonparallel implants were observed. The high …

Expression Of Mir-720 Is Correlated With Dnmt3 In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas, Andrew Graves, Sukhdeep Sandhu, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Background: Many factors are involved with cellular differentiation and pluripotency, such as long non-coding and microRNAs (miRNA). miR-720 has been demonstrated to affect development, differentiation and pluripotency in dental pulp stem cells but has also been linked to many cancers (renal, prostate, skin, colorectal, breast, cervical and esophageal) through shared pathways including DNA methyltransferase family members (DNMT)3a and DNMT3b, which are highly upregulated in many oral cancers. However, little is known about the expression (or function, if expressed) of miR-720 in oral cancers. Based upon this lack of information, the primary objective of this project was to evaluate the expression …

Prevalence Of Hyperdontia, Hypodontia, And Concomitant Hypo-Hyperdontia, Nareh Eshgian, Tanya Al-Talib, Stanley Nelson, Neamat Hassan Abubakr

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Background/purpose: Anomalies in human dentition are some of the most common occurrences of congenital abnormalities. Present study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypodontia, hyperdontia and concomitant hypo-hyperdontia (CHH) among patients attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Dental Medicine clinics. Materials and methods: Retrospective search was conducted on patients’ clinical notes in AxiUm. Search included using keywords such as “hypodontia”, “hyperdontia”, “supernumerary teeth” and “congenitally missing”. Panoramic radiographs were used to confirm the hyperdontia, hypodontia or CHH for patients attending the UNLV SDM clinics from 2010 to 2018. Collected data were analyzed using the chi-square test. …

Mir-365 (Microrna): Potnetial Biomarker In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Exosomes And Extracellular Vesicles, Jeffery Coon, Karl Kingsley, Katherine M. Howard

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: miR-365 is a non-coding microRNA that regulates transcription and has been demonstrated to promote oncogenesis and metastasis in some cancers, while suppressing these effects in others. Many microRNAs are produced and then exported extracellularly in exosomes, which are small extracellular vesicles ranging from 30 to 100 nm that are found in eukaryotic fluids and facilitate many cellular functions. Exosomes and extracellular vesicles are produced by many cell types, including oral cancer cells—although no study to date has evaluated miR-365 and oral cancer exosomes or extracellular vesicles. Based on this information, our research question was to evaluate whether oral cancers …

The Association Between Mastication And Mild Cognitive Impairment In Korean Adults, Mi-Sun Kim Rdh, Bumjo Oh, Ji Won Yoo, Dong-Hun Han Dds

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Currently, a few of studies revealed that there is an association between mastication and cognitive impairment. There is no study of Korean adult representative samples in relation to mastication and cognitive decline. This study was to investigate the relationship between mastication and mild cognitive impairment in Korean adults. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in which a total of 7029 subjects (2987 men and 4042 women) over 45 years old were surveyed from the Korea Longitudinal Study on Aging (KLoSA), Round 5th survey. Logistic regression analysis was performed for the study data controlling for confounding factors such as age, gender, …

Comparison Of Dna Extracted From Pediatric Saliva, Gingival Crevicular Fluid And Site-Specific Biofilm Samples, Jason Emett, Roxanne David, Jaydene Mcdaniel, Steven Mcdaniel, Karl Kingsley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

(1) Introduction: Due to the non-invasive nature of saliva, many methods have been used to isolate and collect DNA from saliva samples for microbial screening. Many oral microbes also inhabit the oral biofilm, which may represent significantly different microbial constituents that may contribute to oral health and disease, including caries and periodontal disorders. Moreover, the biofilm may vary within the same patient at different sites. Few studies have evaluated the comparison between DNA isolated from saliva and DNA from site-specific biofilm, with virtually no studies addressing this analysis among pediatric patients. (2) Methods: An existing repository of paper point derived …

Assessing Oral Health Status, Practice, And Access To Care Among War-Affected Refugees In San Antonio, Texas, David Cappelli, Rami Saadeh, Annaliese Cothron, Magda De La Torre

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Objectives: Refugees encounter several health disparities including oral health problems. This study evaluated the self-reported oral health status, practices, and access to care of adult refugees living in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Materials and Methods: Adult refugees ( n = 207) who accessed services from two centers in San Antonio, completed this survey. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the relationship of the refugees’ demographics with oral health status, practices, and access to care. Results: Oral pain in the previous 12 months was common among refugees having been reported by almost 58.9% of the survey participants; 43% reported …

Efficacy Of An Anhydrous Stannous Fluoride Toothpaste For Relief Of Dentine Hypersensitivity: A Randomized Clinical Study, Danying Tao, Martin R. Ling, Xi-Ping Feng, John Gallob, Audrey Souverain, Wenjie Yang, Anousheh Alavi

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

Aim To compare efficacy of an anhydrous 0.454% w/w stannous fluoride/sodium fluoride toothpaste (Test) versus a sodium monofluorophosphate toothpaste (Negative control) and a stannous chloride/sodium fluoride toothpaste (Positive control) for dentine hypersensitivity relief after 8 weeks’ twice-daily use. Materials and Methods In this randomized, examiner-blind, stratified, parallel study, primary and secondary efficacy variables were mean changes in Schiff score (evaporative [air] sensitivity) and tactile threshold (Yeaple probe), respectively, from baseline to Week 8 between Test (n = 62) and Negative control (n = 62). Test and Positive control (n = 61) comparisons were exploratory objectives. Results All groups significantly improved …

Analysis Of Palatal And Upper Airway Dimensions In Patients With Excessive Daytime Sleepiness: A Retrospective Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Study, Daniel Jarrett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) is the measure of ones propensity to fall asleep during normal daily activities. It has been reported in 20%-50% of adults in the United States and is the most frequent symptom of patients presenting to sleep clinics. EDS is the result of both primary hypersomnias such as narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia and, more commonly, secondary hypersomnias such as sleep deprivation, psychiatric conditions, medications, illegal substances, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The etiology of OSA is multifactorial. Collapsibility of the upper airway is influenced by both neuromuscular tone and craniofacial anatomy. Common predisposing factors for small airways …

3d Upper Airway Analysis Of Skeletal Class I, Ii, And Iii Adults With High Or Low Risk For Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Alexander Dao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective: To investigate the differences in ethnicity, BMI, sex, total airway volume, minimum cross-sectional area, airway shape, and hyoid bone position in high risk for excessive daytime sleepiness vs low risk for excessive daytime sleepiness in skeletal class I, II, and III patients

Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is an underdiagnosed medical condition with many negative consequences on a patient’s overall health (Dempsey, J.A., Veasey, S.C., Morgan, B.J., & O’Donnell, 2010). OSA is defined as the occurrence of at least 5 instances per hour of sleep during which breathing temporarily stops (Motamedi, McClary, & Amedee, 2009). Undiagnosed OSA could lead …

A Comparison Of Orthodontic Intraoral Scan Results Between Staff And Volunteers, Andrew Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective: This pilot study is the first to assess and compare a trained staff’s intraoral scan to a clinical examination by comparing the overbite, overjet, Angle canine and molar classification, and gingival health. The second part of this study is to determine if the self-scan scan from a patient is as reliable to the staff’s scan. Introduction: Orthodontic treatment is usually provided over a sequence of appointments. During each appointment, the doctor clinically evaluates the patient, analyzes the progress and provides adjustments to continue with the treatment. The most common clinical criteria evaluated are overbite, overjet, upper and lower midlines, …