Use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), is increasing across the US population and is particularly troubling due to their adoption by adolescents, teens, and young adults. The industry's marketing approach for these instruments of addiction has been to promote them as a safer alternative to tobacco, a behavioral choice supporting smoking cessation, and as the 'cool' appearance of vaping with flavored products (e.g. tutti frutti, bubble gum, and buttered popcorn etc.). Thus, there is a clear need to better document the health outcomes of e-cig use in the oral cavity of the addicted chronic user. There appears to be an array of environmental toxins in the vapors, including reactive aldehydes and carbonyls resulting from the heating elements action on fluid components, as well as from the composition of chemical flavoring agents. The chemistry of these systems shows that the released vapors from the e-cigs frequently contain levels of environmental toxins that considerably exceed federal occupational exposure limits. Additionally, the toxicants in the vapors appear to be retained in the host fluids/tissues at levels often approximating 90% of the levels in the e-cig vapors. These water-soluble reactive toxins can challenge the oral cavity constituents, potentially contributing to alterations in the autochthonous microbiome and host cells critical for maintaining oral homeostasis. This review updates the existing chemistry/environmental aspects of e-cigs, as well as providing an overview of the somewhat limited data on potential oral health effects that could occur across the lifetime of daily e-cig users.

This study confirmed high caries prevalence and severity and identified significant risk factors for inclusion in a theoretical risk screening tool for future validation and translation for use in the early detection of caries risk in Nevada youth.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) may affect one to four million individuals per year in the United States, with women accounting for the majority of both reported and unreported cases. Dental professionals are in a unique position to identify many types of IPV because injuries to the head and neck may be indicators or predictors of IPV abuse. Fewer than half of dental programs surveyed have reported having IPV-speciic curricula, and most dental students surveyed have reported having little experience or training to recognize IPV. Based on this information, this pilot study sought to assess the awareness and beliefs regarding IPV among irst-year dental students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Using a voluntary survey, followed by a one-hour educational seminar facilitated by an experienced IPV/domestic violence advocate, a post-seminar survey was administered to assess changes in student perceptions and beliefs and to determine the magnitude and direction of any changes. The survey had an 81.25 percent response rate (65/80). The results demonstrated that more than two-thirds of the students had no previous IPV-speciic education. In addition, approximately half of these students began the educational session reporting they did not believe IPV was a health care issue, although the overwhelming majority had decided it was when surveyed after the seminar. Moreover, their perceptions and beliefs about the responsibilities of the dental professional, as well as knowledge about resources and available support services, were signiicantly changed. These results suggest that targeted, information-speciic seminars may be suficient to provide dental students with an understanding of the key issues regarding IPV. With this knowledge, they can better provide speciic information about resources and referrals for services to their patients who have experienced IPV. Recommendations based on these indings are being used to develop and reine IPV-speciic curricula at this institution, which may be of signiicant value to other dental schools with plans to develop and integrate this material into their programs.

No abstract

Objective: This study examined the correlation between parenting style and oral health status. Methods: Eighty-seven children aged 2 - 14 years old were examined and their oral health status was measured by the decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT/dmft) index, untreated caries and caries experience. Caries experience was defined as untreated and treated teeth, either restored or filled. The parenting style of parents was measured by the Parenting Style Dimension Questionnaire (PSDQ). Demographic information recorded included race/ethnicity, level of education and child’s type of dental insurance. Results: The majority of the parents identified with the authoritative parenting style. There was no correlation between parenting styles and oral health status. Hispanic children and those whose parents had less education and low socioeconomic status (Medicaid) tended to show poorer oral health status. Conclusion: The expected relationship between parenting style and oral health status was not confirmed. Race/ethnicity, level of parents’ education and socioeconomic status may have a greater impact on oral health than parenting approaches.