Laboratory procedures are an extension to the physical examination performed by the clinician. The “Art & Science of Routine Investigation in Dental Practice”, a two day workshop January 9th and 10th, 2018) was conducted to empower the interns with this skill.

The Day 1 of the workshop included a lecture by Dr. K. Raghavendhar Karthik, focusing on utilizing appropriate investigative methods in a judicious and ethical manner with an added emphasis on prevention and early diagnosis of potentially malignant disorders. The objective of the program was to reinforce the need to include non-invasive chair side investigations in routine dental practice and to project the technique in the correct perspective discussing the indications, advantages, applications and protocols for cytological investigation. A video clip showing the technique of cytological smear making and staining using Rapid PAP kit was demonstrated. Following this a hands-on training of the same technique was conducted in the lab. The participants chose to mutually volunteer among themselves for the oral smear making process and were ably guided by all the staff members and post graduate students of Oral Pathology in completing the staining process. The participants also had an opportunity to study the microscopic slides and interpret the findings.

The Day 2 :

workshop had two sessions and the first session by Dr. Ramesh Kumar included a lecture and quiz on “Indications and Interpretation of Clinical Hematological Investigations”. Various clinical situations were put forth and the Interns were asked to select the most appropriate and meaningful investigation for the given clinical picture and also provide a list of differential diagnosis. A very interactive discussion followed after every case history presentation and the interns appreciated the nuances of choosing the hematological tests.
The next session dealt with a lecture and video demonstration by Dr. T. Dinesh Kumar, of the Biopsy techniques that can be used as a chair side investigation. The indications, armamentarium, and the procedure for Punch biopsy was discussed in detail. The interns were instructed on the importance of providing all the essential clinical details as well as the correct way of filling the biopsy requisition form. A brief education on the basic understanding of histo-pathological report was completed reinforcing the importance of clinic-pathological correlation. Following this was a hands-on training in which all the participants were allowed to take a Punch biopsy from a goat’s tongue and to suture the site, under the able guidance of all the staff members and post graduate students.
A total of 24 Interns took part in the two day work shop and benefitted from the proceedings.

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