Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: Due to high mortality rate and cost of smoking, WHO has emphasized on the role of dentists in smoking cessation among patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the dental students, knowledge toward health consequences of smoking, their attitude towards smoking cessation activities, and their education programs in this field.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the target group was senior dental students at Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences, and Azad and Shahed Universities. A questionnaire was used to collect data in addition to background information, on the knowledge, attitudes, and education towards tobacco cessation counseling in dental practice was administered to the students. The sampling method was census. Data were analyzed using oneway Anova followed by Turkey HSD post-hoc test for pairwise comparison.
Results: Overall 138 students participated in this program (The response rate was 100%). Of the maximum achievable knowledge score (28), the average knowledge score in Tehran University was 22.8, in Shahid Beheshti University 20.31, in Azad University 22.31, and in Shahed University 22.16 (P=0.027) with significant statistical differences. However, But the average of attitude and education score of the students did not vary significantly (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Most of the students had sufficient knowledge about the risks of tobacco use and positive attitude toward tobacco cessation counseling. It was concluded that the students would only pay attention to the principals of smoking cessation counselling when they actually believe in them. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of students, training should be given on tobacco cessation techniques at the dental schools, thus, that students could play an effective role in tobacco cessation counseling for patients.

Background and Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of ergonomics during dental treatment among students of Urmia university of medical sciences in 2020.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, self-administered questionnaires were given to 78 dental students of Urmia University in 2020 and the knowledge, attitude, and practice of every participant were evaluated. Demographic data including sex, age, and University grade were recorded as well. Data were analyzed by SPSS software24 with One Way ANOVA and t-test and the significance level of P<0.05.
Results: 78 students (44 males and 34 female) by Mean Age 23.9±2.12 were included in the study. The difference between the attitudes of different age groups was significant (P=0.006). The age group of 20 to 24 years had a more positive attitude than other age groups. However, the results of this study did not show a significant r elationship between the participants' knowledge and practice with their age (P>0.05).
Conclusion: According to this study, the knowledge, attitude and practice of Urmia dental students were in the desired range. 20-24 year students had significantly higher attitude in comparison to others. Therefore, more endeavors should be taken to improve these parameters in ergonomics.

Background and Aims: By using the image processing capability in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), obtained information can be improved. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of sharpen image processing filter in determining the external resorption of the root apical region in single-rooted teeth due to the proximity of the impacted tooth using CBCT.
Materials and Methods: In this laboratory study, the lateral surfaces of the apical region of the root of 40 healthy extracted teeth were artificially cut by bur and the teeth were randomly divided into four groups: control, low, moderate, and high resorption. After preparing CBCT of the teeth, the samples were then processed with and without an image sharpening processing filter and examined by two observers. The results of this study were analyzed by SPSS22 and Medcalc Statistical Software version 14. The significance level was considered P≤0.05 for all the statistical tests.
Results: Specificity (100%) and sensitivity (66%>) were either complete or very high for both modes without and with the sharpen filter. The overall accuracy (0.83>) was high in both cases and no significant difference was observed between the two overall accuracies (P>0.05). Statistical analysis of both image observations by two observers showed that the overall sensitivity and accuracy in the medium and high resorption groups was much higher than the low resorption group, but the specificity in all groups was 100%.
Conclusion: The results showed that the images with a sharpening filter did not increase the detection power compared to the unfiltered images. However, as no loss of accuracy was observed with this filter, it could be used as a processing filter.

Background and Aims: Activity-based costing enumerate every input consumed in treatment. The Covid-19 pandemic changed the dental treatment protocols and the ordinary circumstances of patients. The aim of this study was to calculate and compare the costs of three common dental services in Iran from the viewpoint of the providers and recipients of the services before the Covid-19 pandemic (2019) and during the pandemic (2021).
Materials and Methods: Direct medical and non-medical costs were considered from the service provider's perspective. Direct medical costs, indirect costs, direct non-medical costs, and intangible costs were considered from the recipient's perspective. To calculate the equivalent costs, the base year was considered 2021, and the costs of 2019 were calculated with a discount rate of 16%.
Results: From the service provider's perspective before the pandemic, the cost of dental amalgam restoration was 2,851,235 Rials, root canal treatment was 6,351,580 Rials, and tooth extraction was 1,887,295 Rials. The cost of these services in 2021 was 5,562,150 Rials, 8,070,591 Rials, and 4,865,563 Rials, respectively. From the recipient's perspective, before the pandemic, the cost of tooth restoration was 715,466 Rials, root canal treatment was 2,883,001 Rials, and tooth extraction was 3,267,359 Rials. The cost of the mentioned services in the year 2021 was 1,212,528 Rials, 3,971,640, and 3,680,880 Rials, respectively.
Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic has had an effect on increasing the cost of dental services from both the service provider and recipient perspective, but economic volatility has a vital role in increasing the estimated costs in the country. Probably, a part of the increase in costs was due to the role of brokers in providing dental materials and equipment.