Introduction: Awareness about dental implants is increasing among dental patients, which demands a higher level of competence for dental students. So, the objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and perception of undergraduate dental students about dental implants. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted after taking ethical clearance and approval from the Institutional Review Committee of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and informed consent from each dental college of Nepal. The sample included all those students who were present at the time of survey. Data collection were carried out during the academic schedules of the colleges, supervised, and monitored by the investigators themselves. Collected data were coded, entered in Microsoft excel 2013 and descriptive analysis was carried out. Results: A majority of the total (54.6%) and 59.2% of 5^th year respondents perceived to be moderately well-informed about dental implants. The main advantage of dental implants was thought to be longevity by 53.1% of total and 48.4% of 5^th year students; only 27.6% of the total and 42.2% of 5^th year students said the main advantage of dental implants is they are more conservative than other tooth-replacement modalities. Highest percentage of the total respondents (31.9%) said most important factor for implant success to be implant type and material, whereas 59.8% of 5^th year students said case selection. Those who felt dental implants require additional oral hygiene maintenance and care by the patient and dentist were 58.4% of total and 75.1% of 5^th year students. Over two-thirds (67.5%) of total thought that economic feasibility will limit use of dental implants in Nepal. The difficulty encountered to place implants was perceived to be average by 56.8% of total and 58.1% of 5^th year. There were differences in the perception and knowledge at different academic levels, but not as expected. Conclusions: It could not be concluded that knowledge about dental implants increased with increase in academic level. Even at the late-clinical year a majority of students gave unsatisfactory responses.

Objectives. This study was conducted to know the preferred source and perceived need of more information about dental implants by the undergraduate students of Nepal and their association with academic levels and gender. Materials and Methods. It was conducted in all the dental colleges of Nepal from June 2016 to June 2017 after taking ethical clearance and approval from the research committee of BPKIHS. It included all those who were present at the time of survey. Data collection was done through a cross-sectional questionnaire survey during the academic schedule of the colleges, supervised and monitored by the investigators themselves. The collected data were coded and entered in Microsoft excel 2013, and statistical analysis was done by SPSS 20 version. Result. A majority of the respondents agreed that they were not provided with sufficient information about implant treatment procedures during their BDS program (65.3%), would like more to be provided in the curriculum (95.1%), and would like to get additional reliable information from dental consultants and specialists (40.7%) and training on it from fellowship programs conducted by universities (39.2%). Significant association was seen between the responses and academic levels. Conclusion. Undergraduate dental students of Nepal want more information about dental implants through various means.

Purpose. Closed hollow bulb obturators are used for the rehabilitation of postmaxillectomy patients. However, the time consuming process, complexity of fabrication, water leakage, and discoloration are notable disadvantages of this technique. This paper describes a clinical report of fabricating closed hollow bulb obturator using a single flask and one time processing method for an acquired maxillary defect. Hard thermoplastic resin sheet has been used for the fabrication of hollow bulb part of the obturator. Method. After fabrication of master cast conventionally, bulb and lid part of the defect were formed separately and joined by autopolymerizing acrylic resin to form one sized smaller hollow body. During packing procedure, the defect area was loaded with heat polymerizing acrylic resin and then previously fabricated smaller hollow body was adapted over it. The whole area was then loaded with heat cure acrylic. Further processes were carried out conventionally. Conclusion. This technique uses single flask which reduces laboratory time and makes the procedure simple. The thickness of hollow bulb can be controlled and light weight closed hollow bulb prosthesis can be fabricated. It also minimizes the disadvantages of closed hollow bulb obturator such as water leakage, bacterial infection, and discoloration.

Background: Ear, nose and throat (ENT) problems are more common in children than adults. The objective of this study was to know the occurrence of various ENT disorders among children reporting to the out-patient department of a tertiary care center and to see their associations with three age-groups.Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Out-Patient Department of Ear, Nose and Throat from 2016 to 2017. All the patients of age group 0-16yrs were included in the study. Informed consent or ascent from the patients and permission from their parents were taken. Detailed history taking, clinical examinations and appropriate investigations were performed and recorded in a pre-formed proforma. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel format 2013 and statistical analysis was done with SPSS 20 version. Results: A total of 968 patients were examined, males 633(65.4%) and females 335(34.6%). The spectrum of ENT disorders reported were chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) 126 (13.0%), Otitis media with effusion (OME) 113 (11.7%), acute otitis media (AOM) 98 (10.1%), otomycosis with otitis externa 59 (6.1%), wax 36 (3.7%), foreign body ear (FB ear) 11 (1.1%), acute mastoiditis 22 (2.3%), acute rhinitis 35(3.6%), chronic sinusitis 33(3.4%), deviated nasal septum (DNS) 34 (3.5%), FB nose 21 (2.2%), vestibulitis with epistaxis 20 (2.1%), injury/trauma 11 (1.1%), tonsillitis 89 (9.2%), adenoid hypertrophy 71 (7.3%), acute pharyngitis 52 (5.4%), chronic pharyngitis 46 (4.7%), cervical lymphadenitis 37 (3.8%), FB esophagus 8 (0.8%) and laryngitis 12 (1.2%). CSOM was significantly associated with the age-groups 5-9 yrs whereas, AOM with 0-4 yrs. Adenoid hypertrophy was significantly associated with 0-4 yrs whereas, pharyngitis with 10-16 yrs.Conclusions: Most common ENT disorders reported were ear disorders and second most common throat disorders. Significant associations were found between disorders and age-groups.

Titanium and its alloys are the most commonly used materials for dental implants and hydroxyapatite is the most common bioactive material coated on titanium dental implants. Hydroxyapatite is from the ceramic class of biomaterials which has chemical and structural similarities with the biological apatite which forms the major inorganic portion of bone and tooth. It is not only bioactive, but also osteoconductive and non-toxic. The most interesting property of hydroxyapatite is its ability to interact with living bone tissue, forming strong bonds with the bone. Since the introduction of dental implants by Branemark in 1981, hydroxyapatite has gained attention as a preferred bioactive coating material for titanium dental implants and is still a hot topic of discussion. So, in this article, an attempt has been made to give an overview of present techniques of hydroxyapatite coatings on titanium dental implants, including their advantages, disadvantages, and limitations.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify and compare aerobic microorganisms adhering to polished and tissue surfaces of temporary removable partial dentures at 24hrs and at one week of dentures in use. Materials and methods: A total of 31 patients visiting the department of Prosthodontics for temporary removable partial dentures without any known systemic and oral diseases were included in the study. Dentures were fabricated according to the standard prosthodontic procedures accepted in the department. Each patient was examined twice, once after 24hrs of denture insertion, and then at oneweek of use wherein plaque samples were collected from the polished surface and the tissue surface. The samples were taken to the microbiology lab for microbiological investigations within half an hour of sample collection and different microorganisms were identified. Results: Microorganisms identified at 24 hours from polished and tissue surfaces of the dentures were same in type and not significantly different in frequency of isolation. They were Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Acinetobacteranitratus, Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacterfreundii and Candida albicans. Those identified at one week of dentures in use, from the two surfaces were same in type but three new types of microorganisms, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris were also found. There was a significant difference in the isolation frequency of Staphylococcus spp. from the two surfaces. Conclusion: Same types of microorganisms adhere to both the surfaces but significant differences may occur in frequency of isolation. With time dentures favour colonization of new microorganisms.