Introduction: Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine the p...Introduction: Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health behaviors among a sample of portuguese adolescents and verify the association with socio-demographic factors, in order to analyze the main needs related with oral health education to improve oral health status among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed with a sample of 447 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old, attending a public school in Sátão, Portugal. A self-administered questionnaire was applied questioning about socio-demographic factors and oral health behaviors to each adolescent in the classroom. Prevalence was expressed in proportions and crude odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association between oral health behaviors and socio-demographic factors. Results: The prevalence of tooth brushing (twice-a-day or more) was 90.6%. Five point eight percent of adolescents reported daily flossing, more frequent among female gender (female, OR = 2.03, 95% CI = (1.35 to 3.05)) and adolescents older than 15 years (>15 years, OR = 1.90, 95% CI = (1.24 to 2.92)). Sixty-seven percent had at least one dental appointment in the previous twelve months. The prevalence of dental appointments was associated with the father’s professional situation (unemployed, OR = 0.33, 95% CI = (0.17 to 0.65)) and crowding index (>1, OR = 0.4, 95% CI = (0.16 to 0.98)). Thirty-two point nine percent of adolescents referred having at least one episode of dental pain during their lives. Conclusion: Considering the results of the present study that show the need of improvement of some aspects related with oral health among adolescents, oral health community programs and primary preventive strategies, such as improvement of oral health education in schools should be considered in order to reduce the risk level of oral diseases and develop better oral health behaviors.展开更多
The applicatio n of nano particles as selective drug delivery platforms arises as one the most promising therapeutic strategies in the biomedical field. Such systems can encapsulate drugs, prevent its premature degrad...The applicatio n of nano particles as selective drug delivery platforms arises as one the most promising therapeutic strategies in the biomedical field. Such systems can encapsulate drugs, prevent its premature degradation, transport and promote the drugs specific delivery to the target site. Among the different nanostructures, gold-core mesoporous silica shell (AuMSS) nanorods have been one of the most explored due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The mesoporous silica biocompatibility, high surface area that can be easily functionalized, tubular pores that can store the drugs, conjugated with the intrinsic capacity of gold nanorod to absorb near-infrared radiation, allows the combination of hyperthermia (i.e., photothermal effect) with drug delivery, making them a nanoplatforms with a huge potential for cancer therapy. Nevertheless, the successful applicati on of AuMSS nanoparticles as an effective can cer nano medicine is hindered by the uncon trolled release of the therapeutic payloads, limited blood circulation time and unfavorable pharmacokinetics. In this review, an overview of the modificati ons performed to improve the AuMSS nano rods applicati on in nanom edicine is provided, highlighting the practical approaches that enhaneed the AuMSS nanorods targeting, responsiveness to different stimuli, and blood circulation time. Further, the basics of AuMSS nano rods syn thesis procedures, gen eral properties, and its applicati on in can cer therapy are also described.展开更多
文摘Introduction: Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health behaviors among a sample of portuguese adolescents and verify the association with socio-demographic factors, in order to analyze the main needs related with oral health education to improve oral health status among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed with a sample of 447 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old, attending a public school in Sátão, Portugal. A self-administered questionnaire was applied questioning about socio-demographic factors and oral health behaviors to each adolescent in the classroom. Prevalence was expressed in proportions and crude odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association between oral health behaviors and socio-demographic factors. Results: The prevalence of tooth brushing (twice-a-day or more) was 90.6%. Five point eight percent of adolescents reported daily flossing, more frequent among female gender (female, OR = 2.03, 95% CI = (1.35 to 3.05)) and adolescents older than 15 years (>15 years, OR = 1.90, 95% CI = (1.24 to 2.92)). Sixty-seven percent had at least one dental appointment in the previous twelve months. The prevalence of dental appointments was associated with the father’s professional situation (unemployed, OR = 0.33, 95% CI = (0.17 to 0.65)) and crowding index (>1, OR = 0.4, 95% CI = (0.16 to 0.98)). Thirty-two point nine percent of adolescents referred having at least one episode of dental pain during their lives. Conclusion: Considering the results of the present study that show the need of improvement of some aspects related with oral health among adolescents, oral health community programs and primary preventive strategies, such as improvement of oral health education in schools should be considered in order to reduce the risk level of oral diseases and develop better oral health behaviors.
文摘The applicatio n of nano particles as selective drug delivery platforms arises as one the most promising therapeutic strategies in the biomedical field. Such systems can encapsulate drugs, prevent its premature degradation, transport and promote the drugs specific delivery to the target site. Among the different nanostructures, gold-core mesoporous silica shell (AuMSS) nanorods have been one of the most explored due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The mesoporous silica biocompatibility, high surface area that can be easily functionalized, tubular pores that can store the drugs, conjugated with the intrinsic capacity of gold nanorod to absorb near-infrared radiation, allows the combination of hyperthermia (i.e., photothermal effect) with drug delivery, making them a nanoplatforms with a huge potential for cancer therapy. Nevertheless, the successful applicati on of AuMSS nanoparticles as an effective can cer nano medicine is hindered by the uncon trolled release of the therapeutic payloads, limited blood circulation time and unfavorable pharmacokinetics. In this review, an overview of the modificati ons performed to improve the AuMSS nano rods applicati on in nanom edicine is provided, highlighting the practical approaches that enhaneed the AuMSS nanorods targeting, responsiveness to different stimuli, and blood circulation time. Further, the basics of AuMSS nano rods syn thesis procedures, gen eral properties, and its applicati on in can cer therapy are also described.
