Dentists, pills and pregnancies

Unplanned pregnancies may occur if antibiotics are prescribed to women using the combined oral contraceptive pill. To investigate awareness of the potential for this interaction among general dental practitioners, the authors designed a cross-sectional questionnaire based study and sent it out to a random sample of GDPs in Scotland.     

Parental attitudes toward mouthguards

An 11-item, one-page questionnaire was mailed to 1800 parents chosen at random in the Henrico County, VA public school system. Parents were asked questions such as "who should be responsible for mouthguard wear?" "what sports should require mouthguards?" and "has [their] child ever sustained an oral or facial injury?" The parental responses indicate that mouthguard enforcement is the responsibility of both parents and coaches. Of the total injuries reported, 19% were sustained in basketball, 17% in baseball, and 11% in soccer. Despite these high injury rates, however, there was a lack of perceived need for mouthguard use in these sports. When asked which sports should require a mouthguard rule, the sports that generated the most responses were, in decreasing order, football, boxing, ice hockey, wrestling, field hockey, and karate. Parents were more likely to require mouthguards for their sons than daughters, and more likely to require them for their children who participated in a mandatory mouthguard sport, a contact sport, or who had been previously injured. The authors conclude that because parents view themselves as equally responsible as coaches for maintaining mouthguard use, both groups should be targeted and approached as a possible source for the recommendation of mandatory mouthguard rules in basketball, baseball, and soccer.     

Comparing comfort and wearability: custom-made vs. self-adapted mouthguards

Several studies have shown that mouthguards can reduce orofacial injuries among athletes. Comfort and wearability factors were compared among 40 high-school athletes for custom-made and self-adapted mouthguards. Both offered adequate protection, but overall the participants preferred the custom-made mouthguard.     

Needs, demands and manpower balance. Dentists/populations. FDI Commission, 1996

BACKGROUND:The cause of extrahepatic portal vein obstruction in childhood is unknown. We investigated the anatomical features of extra hepatic portal vein obstruction to clarify its cause. STUDY DESIGN: We studied portal venous anatomy in 10 patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction without hepatic disturbances ranging in age from 1 to 7 years (mean age, 4.2 years) using ultrasonography, portal venography, cholangio-computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: The extrahepatic portal vein was not obliterated, but it crossed over the common bile duct from the left to the right side at the cranial level of the pancreas and ran in a cranial direction along the right side of the common bile duct or coiled itself around the bile duct. Thus, the extrahepatic portal vein formed a tortuous eta-shape. CONCLUSIONS: The portal vein was not obstructed in patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction but formed a characteristic eta-shape by coiling itself around the common bile duct, suggesting that extrahepatic portal vein obstruction has an embryological cause.     

Psychology, law, and the expert witness.

Stresses for the psychologist called on for expert testimony stem from (1) the general nature of court procedure and (2) the "special stresses which inhere in the present position of psychologists as experts and their uncertain status relative to physicians… . The general responsibility of psychologists to society entails efforts to bring legal practice into line with facts derived from the scientific investigation of behavior—normal, criminal, and insane. These efforts should be direct and continuous." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dentists put pedal to the metal on information superhighway

To study immunological phenotype of tumor cells in the blood and tumor tissue of 68 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, the authors have used flow cytometry of lymphocytes and enzyme immunoassay in cryostat sections of lymph nodes with application of monoclonal antibodies to differentiating antigens of human lymphocytes. Histological types of lymphoma are shown to differ immunophenotypically. Differential antigens of prognostic and diagnostic value have been determined.     

The radiologist, the patient and Canadian law

A knowledge of basic medico-legal principles is necessary to the practice of medicine. The professional relationships with radiologists undertake with patients, employees, colleagues and hospitals are all founded on mutual consent and governed by a multitude of laws and regulations. The principal forms of legal proceedings which involve radiologists are criminal, civil and disciplinary actions. The discussion in this article is focused on the law relating to consent. The consent of the patient, which may be expressed or implied, is necessary in all phases of the doctor-patient reltionship. The amount of information which must be provided to allow a patient to give informed consent varies from case to case. It is affected by the risk and potential benefit of the procedure, the demand of the patient for information and many other factors. Obtaining informed consent not only helps protect the radiologist from legal action but also allows for a better doctor-patient relationship.     

Making law therapeutic for lawyers: Therapeutic jurisprudence, preventive law, and the psychology of lawyers.

The integration of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) with preventive law (PL) offers a uniquely satisfying and humanistic way of practicing law. The author uses the psychological data on the personality characteristics of lawyers to argue that TJ/PL is particularly well suited for lawyers with certain personality traits atypical of lawyers generally. These traits reflect altruistic, humanistic, or interpersonally oriented values; 2 of these atypical traits have been empirically linked to career dissatisfaction among lawyers. Because of the pervasiveness of the problem of lawyer job dissatisfaction, solutions are needed. TJ/PL is more than simply an alternative way of practicing law; it may actually hold the key to solving some of the problems currently besieging the legal profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)