Stress, professional burnout and dentistry

Dentistry is a profession which is subject to a wide range of stressors which can lead to professional burnout. The dentist should be aware of these stressors and attempt to manage them in order to avoid becoming occupationally dissatisfied. Economic factors including the cost of a dental education and the start up costs of a practice can seem overwhelming if they are not considered as an investment in the professional future of the practitioner. Debt reduction and income goals should be set and periodically re-evaluated to keep the costs of entering and conducting business in perspective. The professional image or status of dentistry as a health care profession can cause stress to some practitioners. This is particularly true of dentists who feel compelled to practice in a less than desirable environment and those who feel professionally isolated. Active membership in local, state and national organizations can lessen the feelings of professional isolation and can provide contacts who can help starting practitioners improve their practice environments. Patient interactions can induce a great deal of stress in any health care provider. This is an individual response and must be countered in an individualized manner. Frequent breaks and relaxation exercises can reduce this type of stress.     

Women in dentistry

By analyzing the present-day tuberculosis epidemiological situation in the country and sociomedical characteristics of new cases, the authors present methods for detecting and treating patients, which are of paramount importance for today. Of the most significance is the need to promptly identify patients with strains on their referral to the general somatic hospitals for complaints by using 3-multiple sputum bacterioscopy for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by the Ziehl-Neelsen method. The vital problem is also to change chemotherapeutical regimens as more severe progressive types of the disease require more active treatment in the first months after detection especially in the cohort of socially disadapted persons.     

Lasers in dentistry

Since the development of the ruby laser by Maiman in 1960, there has been great interest among dental practitioners, scientists, and patients to use this tool to make dental treatment more pleasant. Oral soft tissue uses are becoming more common in dental offices. The possible multiple uses of lasers in dentistry, beyond soft tissue surgery and dental composite curing, unfortunately, have not yet been realized clinically. These include replacement of the dental drill with a laser, laser dental decay prevention, and laser decay detection. The essential question is whether a laser can provide equal or improved treatment over conventional care. Safe use of lasers also must be the underlying goal of proposed or future laser therapy. With the availability and future development of different laser wavelengths and methods of pulsing, much interest is developing in this growing field. This article reviews the role of lasers in dentistry since the early 1960s, summarizes some research reports from the last few years, and proposes what the authors feel the future may hold for lasers in dentistry.     

Ultraconservative dentistry

Ultraconservative techniques are providing dentists with new opportunities for the rehabilitation of the debilitated dentition. These techniques involve the use of bonded, reinforced ceramics that restore function and esthetics. The new parameters of ultraconservative treatment include the routine use of supragingival margins, color gradients, and the alteration of the occlusal vertical dimension. The minimally invasive nature of these new techniques makes them more readily acceptable to, and more easily maintainable by, patients.     

Glass-ionomer cements in restorative dentistry

This article reviews the current status and future prospects for glass-ionomer materials. These materials are of two chemical types: the older, self-hardening cements, which set by an acid-base neutralization reaction to give relatively brittle materials; and the newer, resin-modified cements, which set partly by polymerization and partly by neutralization. Compared with the self-hardening cements, the latter materials have improved esthetics, improved resistance to moisture, and greater toughness. Both types of glass-ionomer cement bond well to enamel and dentin and release a clinically useful amount of fluoride. They have been used in a variety of applications: as liners or bases, for luting of stainless steel crowns, for Class V restorations in permanent teeth, and for Class II and Class III restorations in primary teeth. The resin-modified glass-ionomers are particularly promising for these latter uses, although it is too early to be sure whether their long-term durability is sufficient. Self-hardening glass-ionomer materials are likely to retain specific niches of clinical application, including in their metal-reinforced and cermet-containing forms.     

The dawn of dentistry: dentistry among the Etruscans

The Etruscans were a group of agricultural people who evolved into an urban population of craftsmen, traders, and navigators who lived in a network of cities and dominated the area of the Mediterranean around Italy in the 8th and 9th centuries BC. What has come to be known, and is of importance in our study of the history of dentistry are a significant number of very interesting works of art which include gold dental prostheses. The Etruscan prostheses are remarkable because they used gold bands which were soldered into rings instead of the gold wires which are seen in other cultures (Egyptians, Phoenicians) of the same time.     

Challenges of dentistry in Africa

The real nutrition of population groups in four large regions of Russia over the past ten years was studied. Scientific forecast of food and energy consumption till 2002 was made. Priorities of diet rationalization of different population groups were forwarded.