Marginalized community refers to a small group of people who are vulnerable, oppressed or underserved which include low-income individuals, homeless, native people and refugees. Oral healthcare among this group of people requires more attention. This predicament led a group of students and lecturers from the Faculty of Dentistry, University Sains Islam Malaysia to develop a dental community service programme. This study aimed to determine the background of patients involved in the programme, to identify the common medical problems and treatment needs for the patients in the marginalized community. Periodic visits were arranged for the selected centre for the past three years. During the visits, dental screening and treatment were documented in the dental treatment card. The dental screenings were carried out for 431 patients in the Chow Kit area and 217 patients in the Rohingya Refugees centre. More than a quarter of the total number of patients received basic dental treatment such as restorations and scaling. The study found that the distribution of patients attending both programmes differs in terms of the age range. The most common medical problems among patients are hypertension and diabetes mellitus and in comparison, communicable diseases were more common to be found among the homeless. The need for restoration and extraction were high in both programmes.

Background: Despite advances in pain detection, diagnosis, and management, the prevalence of dental pain is still on the rise. Although dental pain is not directly related to fatal out-comes, the two most common types of dental pain—dental caries and dentin hypersensitivity—have a significant impact on an individual’s quality of life. Understanding the mechanism of the pain pathway is one of the crucial steps in providing better treatment for these patients. Ion channels are critical biomolecules that have been the subject of dental study owing to their roles in the trans-mission and transduction of external stimuli, as well as in the control and perception of pain. Numerous immunohistochemical (IHC) staining approaches have also been used to identify the many ion channels implicated in peripheral pain signaling in dental pulp. Highlight: This review highlights the critical steps in IHC and its role in the detection of ion channels involved in the dental pain signaling pathway. Conclusion: The key ion channels identified using IHC and whose functions have been widely researched in dental tissues are addressed in this review article.

Medical treatment by Muslim doctors will sometimes be influenced by Islamic law and ethics rather than solely medical consideration. Muslim patient’s sometimes need reassurance that modern medicine that offered to them is also acceptable by Islamic law. Orthognathic deformities are condition which associated with discrepancies of the jaw. These deformities resulted from different rates of growth of the maxilla, the mandible or both. Performing cosmetic surgery seems to change the creation of Allah and the original law of changing Allah’s creation is prohibited. In assessing the orthognathic surgery law for patients with this dentofacial defect, the researcher found that the main issues that need to be investigated are the difficulties existed (Masyaqqah) and the level of patient harm in addition to the intention or purpose of performing orthognathic surgery. However, according to the principles of the Islamic jurisprudence, orthognathic surgery is permitted based on the principles such as ad-darar yuzal, al-musyaqqah tajlibu al-taisir, al-darurat tuqaddiru biqadaruha, irtikab akhaf al-dhararain, al-darurat tubihu mahzurat and al-umur bimaqasidiha. Orthognathic surgery can be done because the purpose is to treat defects and restore function. This objective is very consistent with the fiqh rules that stated, every harm and distress should be eliminated.

Medical emergencies can be alarming to any clinicians, but these situations can be managed well if proper preparation has been made. The objectives of this study are to evaluate USIM dental graduate’s knowledge in dealing with medical emergencies in dental practice, to assess perceived level of competency of USIM dental graduate’s in dealing with medical emergencies in dental practice and to determine the need for further improvement in medical emergencies undergraduate training. A standardised questionnaire form consisting of demographic data, experience, knowledge and perceived level of competency of dental practitioner in dealing with medical emergencies were distributed to USIM dental graduate.123 respondents answered the online questionnaire. Around 58.5% of them had experienced medical emergencies during dental treatment. All of them answered correctly on management of hypoglycaemia but only 44.7% answered correctly on management of unresponsive patient and 65% answered correctly on position of syncope patient. Most of the respondents were not confident in administrating intravenous medication (46.3%), handling foreign body aspiration (24.4%) and using Automated External Defibrillator (AED) (38.2%). This study can be used to guide further improvement in medical emergency training for undergraduates and enhancing the proficiency level of the USIM dental graduates.

Medical emergencies in dental practice is not uncommon and it can be alarming to any clinician but it managed well with proper preparation beforehand. This study is aimed to evaluate private dental practitioner's knowledge in dealing with medical emergencies in dental practice, to assess perceived level of competency of private dental practitioners in dealing with medical emergencies in dental practice and to determine private dental practitioners need for further improvement in medical emergencies training. A standardised questionnaire form consisting of demographic data, experience, knowledge and perceived competency in management of medical emergencies in dental practice was used. Most respondent answer correctly regarding medication indicated in angina attack (92.6%), meanwhile the question on first action in dealing with unresponsive patient got the least correct answer (25%). Most of the respondent felt incompetent in conducting certain procedures especially in administration of intravenous drugs where. Majority of the practitioners (66.2%) felt competent in performing measurement of vital signs. Nonetheless, all respondents showed the desire to obtain further knowledge in medical emergencies management. The results of this study can provide an insight for further improvement in medical emergencies management including the necessary skills and knowledge required by dental practitioners in order to deliver a safe and reliable dental practice.

Aim/Objective: A study to obtain data of medical emergencies at the non-hospital based private dental practice of private clinics in Petaling district of Selangor. Methodology: 90 out of 281 identified main practitioners of private non-hospital based private dental clinics in Petaling district of Selangor agreed to participate. A standardized questionnaire formsused consist of four parts including demographic data, emergency equipment and drugs available, occurrence of medical emergencies and training/competency of dental practitioners. All data retrieved were analyze using descriptive statistical analysis.

Dentists should provide a safe environment for all patients and this also includes preparing for the occurrence of medical emergencies in dental setting. Managing medical emergencies must be considered in the initial set up of a dental clinic. Some emergencies are indeed unavoidable hence all dental clinic members must be prepared and well trained to manage medical emergencies. Among the steps that should be taken in preparing dental clinic for medical emergencies are development of emergency plan, evaluation of patients’ risk, monitoring of vital signs, training of staff and availability of emergency drugs and equipment.

Impression compound has been introduced for more than 100 years. Since then, it has been widely used to obtain a preliminary impression of the edentulous arch. Although the use of impression compound has declined markedly over recent years as newer materials have become available, the cost-effectiveness and desirable physical and mechanical properties make this material indispensable in developing countries and teaching institutions. Its high viscosity characterizes impression compound as a mucocompressive impression material, which enables the full depth of the sulcus to be recorded for the retention of complete dentures. Literature reviews revealed that most contact allergies to impression materials are towards polyether, very few are towards alginate and polysulfide, and no reported cases have been found toward impression compound. This case report demonstrates a recent rare case of contact allergy towards impression compound during a routine impression taking for a fully edentulous arch in a 61-year-old woman. The patient developed symptoms of an allergic reaction, and the management of the condition was described.