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Purpose: This study aimed to check for the bacterial contamination of earrings worn by female dentists involved in direct patient care. Method: This cross-sectional microbiological study was carried out among female dentists working in clinical departments of a tertiary care dental hospital. A questionnaire concerning awareness regarding the donning of ornaments as possible source of contamination was administered. It also included questions on measures taken to prevent cross contamination through earrings and methods for disinfection of earrings used if any. Two swabs from each participant were taken, one from the earring and other from the underlying skin site using a sterile microbial swab moistened in saline. The samples were then dispensed into 1 ml of sterile water by vortexing for 45s. The vortexed sample was then inoculated onto Blood Agar. The inoculated plates were incubated for 24 hours at 37˚C aerobically. Further examination was done for the count of bacteria, type of bacteria and antibiotic sensitivity. Result: In total 90 swabs, 45 each from earring and underlying skin were cultured for microorganisms. All the (100%) samples were positive for bacterial contamination. The swabs obtained from underlying skin sites were found to have significantly higher microbial load. (p-value = 0.008). Sixty two percent (62%) of the participants were aware of earrings being a possible source of contamination and 55% had the knowledge that ornaments are supposed to be removed while working in patient clinics. Only 5% practiced removing the ornaments which included bangles/bracelets, rings and watches. None reported to have removed earrings while working in clinics. Conclusion: The results of this study show that earrings are potential source of cross contamination in a dental setting. This can act as nidus for colonization of bacteria and possible source for nosocomial infections and pathogenic transmission.

Introduction: Alexithymia is a personality trait that affects the emotional regulation. It has been found associated especially with pain disorders. It is a personality construct which is characterised by inability to experience and describe feelings, making an alexithymia patient suffer from mental clouding. Therefore, it is important to diagnose patients with alexithymia in dental clinics since it may adversely affect the doctor patient relationship and treatment outcome. Aim: To find the prevalence of alexithymia and to find any difference in alexithymia traits between children with Traumatic Dental Injury (TDI) and those without it. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 10-19 years old adolescents reporting to K.M. Shah Dental College and Hospital, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Vadodara, Gujarat, India, from February 2018 to September 2018. A total of 420 participants were enrolled with 210 in each group (with TDI and without TDI). Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used to identify alexithymia. Andreasen’s classification for TDI was used to classify the TDI. Chi-square was used to compare the non parametric data between the groups. Unpaired t-test was performed for the comparison of scores between groups for total TAS-20 score and as well as for the nine dimensions. Results: The prevalence of alexithymia was found to be 86.1% in children with TDI compared to 30.9% in children without TDI. The difference in prevalence of alexithymia between children with TDI and those without was statistically significant (p-value=0.0001). Children with TDI reported with significantly higher total TAS scores. However, difference with respect to gender was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The prevalence of alexithymia was found significantly higher in children with TDI. Also, the TAS-20 score and the individual domain scores were higher in children with TDI. Hence, alexithymia may be associated with TDI.