Journal of

Introduction: Occupational exposure in dentistry is defined as exposing the skin or mucosa to blood, saliva, or infectious discharge of the patient. Dentists are in contact with sharp and high-speed rotary devices that increase the chance of occupational exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the occupational exposure to blood and saliva of patients in dental students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciencesin 2016-2017.
Methods: A descriptive analytical study was conducted on 70 senior dental students at the School of Dentistry of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd, Iran. A standard questionnaire was used for collecting the data. After collecting the data, they were coded and entered into the SPSS 20 software and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Fisher exact test.
Results: Based on the results, 49 (70%) of 70 students have been suffered from sharp devices. The skin or mucosa of the 62 students (88.6%) infected with saliva or other body fluids of the patients. Only 15.7% of the injuries were reported with sharp objects and 14.3% of mucosal-skin contamination with blood or saliva.
Conclusion: Occupational exposure in dentistry environment is a common problem and many cases, which are related to these subjects were not reported. In order to reduce the risks of this, infection control issues should be taught to dental students. Therefore, occupational exposure management, follow-up centers and guidelines should be established for dental schools.

Introduction: Considering the changes, which implemented in the dental education program in recent years and also the importance of reviewing their feedback in educational affairs, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the periodontics and dental public health departments of Dental School based on the CIPP evaluation model in 2018.
Methods: The present study was performed in a descriptive cross-sectional format on the target population of dental students of 10-12 semesters and professors of the mentioned groups. Context, input, process and product were assessed using a questionnaire consistent with the CIPP pattern checklist. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and T-test via SPSS 16 software.
Results: The average scores of professors and students in different areas of the Periodontology Department were as followed: the context (75, 58.6); input (18.9, 1.37); process (68.7, 8.37) and product (56.2, 1.37) fields, respectively. In the Dental Public Health Department, the average scores also included context (50, 3.64); input (25, 5.63); process (100, 58) and product (75, 3.58) areas, respectively.

Conclusion: In the Department of Periodontics, the input as well as process and output were undesirable for the students and the input was undesirable for the professors. In the Dental Public Health Department, just input was unfavorable for professors and relatively desirable for students in all four areas.

Introduction: Considering the importance of periodontal supportive treatment in long-term preservation of teeth and prevention of recurrence of periodontitis, it was aimed to identify the factors affecting patients' compliance in continuing periodontal treatment.
Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted on 233 patients referred to the periodontics and oral health and community dentistry departments and were candidate for non-surgical periodontal treatment. Data were collected by researcher-made questionnaires and the association between demographic characteristics and some possible external and internal influencing factors with the patients' attendance in first follow-up was investigated.
Results: Only 39% of patients participated in the first follow-up. The patients' previous internal desire to participate in follow-up sessions had a statistically significant relationship with their compliance (P=0.001). Age, gender, education level, economic status, type of employment of patients and smoking did not show any significant relationship with following up the treatment. None of the investigated factors such as lack of time, the quality of mutual communication between the dentist and the patient, satisfaction with the treatment, providing health instructions by the dentist and explaining the consequences of not continuing the treatment to the patient did not affect the probability of the patient's adherence to continuing the treatment.
Conclusion: There is no definite factor to increase the compliance rate of patients and it is necessary to increase the patients' motivation with different intervention methods, in a way that the importance of participating in the follow-up sessions is clarified for the patients

Introduction: Exams can be a potential cause of increasing students' academic stress. The current study examined the impact of exam-related stress on the oral health practices and periodontal measures of Yazd dental students in 2024.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a census was conducted on 42 fourth-year students. Following the acquisition of consent, two weeks prior and during the final week of the exams, measurements of the plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and stress levels were taken using the Gadzella questionnaire for comparison. Furthermore, the connection among gender, living apart from the family, and dormitory life concerning stress levels was explored. The students’ oral health habits of the students were also assessed via self-reporting. No guidance or hygiene instructions were given to the participants, and if there was any alternation in the frequency of brushing or flossing, the sample was excluded. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS22 software along with and paired T, Wilcoxon and Pearson tests.
Results: Gender, living with the family or independently, and living in a dormitory or a private home had no impact on students’ stress levels. The alternations in the PI and GI indices as well as academic stress changes were notable (P-value< 0.001). No significant correlation was detected between PI and GI concerning the frequently of brushing or flossing (P-value >0.05).
Conclusion: Taking into account the rise among students during exam periods along with the absents of a link between these changes and their overall oral hygiene habits, it seems that the stress from exams adversely affects oral health.