44 Annals af Dentistry, University af <strong>Malaya</strong>, Val. 16 2009Smoking Habits among Dental Personnel inPahangDr. Maryana MusaDepartli1fnt of Community DentistrySmoking is a worldwide problem. Being dentalpersonnel do not exclude them from engaging into thishabit. The aim of this study was to investigate thesmoking habits among de~tal personnel in the state ofPahang using a self-administered questionnairefollowed by a Nominal Group Technique discussion.The objectives of this stu'dy were to investigate theprevalence of smoking habits among dental personneland its association with socio-demographic factors, toinvestigate the association between knowledge, attitudeand smoking habits and to evaluate the impact of the"Smoking Cessation Programme".A total of 728 out of 780 dental personnelrespopded to- the questionnaire giving a response rateof 93.3%. The prevalence of current smokers was13.8% (n=100) and was significant,ly associated withethnicity, location (p=O.O 18), gender, occupati'on,education level and income (p
Dissertations/Theses 45DAI be used as a screening tool by dental nurses in theschool dental service as it can act as a safety net andensure that students in need of orthodontic treatmentare not left out. Dental officers can be trained to usethe IOTN as the next level of referral to re-check thestudents using the DHC of the IOTN before referringthem to the' orthqdontists. This would ensure a moreobjective system referral and tho.se in great need fo~treatment are ploi9ritized accordingly and given timelyintervention ..Dental status and combat readinessassessment of Malaysian Armed Forcesinfantry soldiersDr. Amrizan Abdul WahidDepartment of Community DentistryThe aims of this study were to assess the dental status,dental combat readiness and related oral health.behaviours of the infantry soldiers after five years ofactive military service. The objectives were to evaluatethe progression of dental caries using the DMFT andDMFS index, their current oral health practices andbehaviours, and the dental aspect of combat readinessin five infantry battalions of the Malaysian ArmedForces. This study was a combination of cross-sectionaland retrospective studies using a self-administeredquest(onnaire followed by an oral examinationinvolving 173 soldiers who had completed five yearsof activ~ service. The soldiers were taken from fiveinfantry battalions by using the total sampling method.The response rate was 67.3%.The pi"evalence of caries (DMFT 2:. 1) ha'dincreased by 3.8% within 5 years (2008 = 79.8%, 2002/03 = 76.9%). Th~r§ was a decrease in mean DT (4003= 1.7,.2008 =1.3), an increase in mean MT (2003 =0.5,2008 =1.1) and mean.:FT (2003 =1.3; 2008 =1.6).The prevalence of active caries (DT) was slightlyhigher at recruitment (59%) than in 2008 (54.9%)indicating that treatment was done to treat the activecaries. DMFS .had increased by 63.6% sincerecruitment with the biggest changes seen in the MScomponent where it had increased by 129.2%.According toCDENTAP~2008 system, only 40.5%of the total subjects were dentally fit. The prevalenceof dental pain was 34.1 % and toothache was cited asthe main cause (91.5%). The impacts of dental painwere feeling worried (91.5%), sleep disturbance(62.7%), work disturbance (59.3%), chewingdisturbance (66%) and social disturbance (37.3%).However, on the examination day, the majority ofrespondents (91.9%) did not experience any dental.pam.All subjects (100%) reported brushing their teethdaily. The majority (62.4%) used fluoride toothpaste.However, only 1.7% flossed their teeth. About 42% ofthe total sample attended a dental clinic in the past oneyear prior to the study. Out of these, 53.4% wentbecause of dental problems. More than one-half(54.3%) went to military dental clinics on their lastvisit. Smoking prevalence was very high (85%), withmean number of cigarettes/day of 10.0( (SD= 4.8).Only 7% of subjects consumed alcoholic drinks.It was concluded that the current dental status ofthe infantry soldiers was better than during recruitmentin 2002/03 in terms of decreased mean DT. However,the mean number offilled teeth (FT) and missing teeth(MT:)-had also increased. The dental combat readinessaccording to DENTAP 2008 classification was lowwith more than one-half of the subjects who neededdental treatment prior to deployment.It was recommended that MAF make policy. changes to promote the oral health of the infantrysolCliers such as improving the dental attendance,providing a dental kit as part of Full Service MarchingOrder (FSMO) and organizing oral health promotionprogrammes to reduce oral diseases and improve oralhealth related quality of life of the infantry soldiers.Epidemiology of Tt:aumatic Dental Injuriesa~ong AdolescentsDr. Sofiah Mat RipenDe,Partment of Community D,ent;istryThe aim of the study wa's to measure the prevalenceof traumatic dental injuries (TDI) to permanent anteriorteeth in adolescents, to determine the causes of TDI,to identify r~asons for the untreated injured teeth andthe impact of untreated injured teeth on Quality of Lifeamong 13 and 16-year-old schoolchildren in Klangdistrict.A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sampleof4602 schoolchildren. The children were, clinicallyexamined and children with TDI ~ere given a selfadministeredquestionnaire.The prevalence of traumatic dental injury was5.0%. Males (6.8%) had TDI levels approximatelytwice as high as females (3.0%). Indians experienceda higher TDl levels than other ethnicity. Maxillarycentral incisors were the most common teeth with TDI.Most of the affected children (77.2%) had trauma to 1tooth. Enamel fracture (42.4%) was the major type ofTDI. The main cause of injury reported was fall. (62.7%). Most of the TDl occurred at home (52.2%).A total of 288 teeth were traumatis'ed with 84.4% ofthe traumatised teeth not treated. About half of theparticipants "do not care" about the appearance of theiruntreated traumatised teeth. The impact of untreated. traumatise teeth on Quality of:Life among adolescentsin Klang was found to be between low to moderate.In conclusion, the prevalence of TDI amongadolescents in Klang is low and the impact oftraumatised teeth 0!1 the Quality of Life amongadolescents is found to be low to moderate.
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