Objective: To assess the dental care knowledge, and practice of secondary school adolescents in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Methodology: Four hundred and twelve secondary school adolescents were assessed using interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data on dental care knowledge and practice obtained through the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with level of significance set at 5%. Result: Consumption of sticky, sugary and chocolaty food items was perceived by a majority (81.8%) as unhealthy to dental health and 66.3% perceived consumption of fruits and vegetables as healthy to the teeth. Vertical brushing technique was mentioned by 69.7% of respondents as the best method of brushing the teeth, and 89.6% stated that teeth should be brushed twice daily. Majority 57.0% of respondents open caps of soft drink bottles with their teeth and 74.3% used toothpicks to remove food trapped in between teeth. Majority (82.8%) perceived that dentist should be visited for check-up once in 6 months, however, only 31.6% of respondents had visited dentists before. There was a statistically significant relationship between tooth brushing technique and type of school attended by the respondents (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Majority of the respondents have good oral health knowledge but poor dental health practice.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Introduction: Conservative tooth preparation has been increasingly accepted and practiced among dentist, especially when treating small sized tooth decay. This includes tunnel preparation for simple class II caries or those carious lesions located only on the proximal surface of a posterior tooth with the adjacent noncarious tooth. This study attempted to determine the practice of tooth tunnel preparations among dentists of the Palestinian Dental Association. Methods: Three hundred dentists from the Palestinian Dental Association were randomly selected and received an online questionnaire. Informed consent was also obtained. Frequency and percentage were computed for qualitative variables. Data were analyzed using SPSS Inc. Released 2009. PASW Statistics for Windows, Version 18.0. Chicago: SPSS Inc. Results: Of the 193 dentists who answered the surveys, 154 (79.8%) participants said that they were familiar with tunnel restorations. However, only 107 (55.4%) did actual cases. Most of them have been practicing dentistry for >10 years. Glass-ionomer high viscosity cement and flowable composites were usually used as filling material for this technique. Compared with class II composite restorations, tunnel restoration has more clinical success and longevity for the 74 (69.2%) of the 107 dentists, who perform the technique. Conclusion: Half of the participants with >10 years of experience perform tunnel restorations in their practice. More than half agreed that it had better clinical result than conventional class II composite restorations.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of permanent anterior teeth fracture due to trauma in South Indian population. Materials and Methods: After formal consent, study was conducted on 2000 patients reporting for treatment in A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences and Rural Satellite Centers from June to December 2013. They were examined under good illumination using sterilized mouth mirror, explorer and cotton rolls. Results were evaluated using Pearson Chi-square test. Results: Of 2000 patients, overall prevalence of anterior teeth fracture due to trauma was 14.85%, 53.9% cases were noticed in the age group of 15-30 years, 20.2% cases in an age group of 12-15 years. Of 14.85% (297) cases, 53.9% males and 46.1% females had anterior teeth fracture, 88.67% cases were with respect to maxillary arch and 11.33% cases were with respect to mandibular arch. 43.9% patients had enamel and dentin fracture, only enamel fracture was seen in 31.6% patients and the least was 6.01% which showed displacement of tooth without crown or root fracture, 67% were because of falls and rest of the 33% of patients had anterior tooth fracture because of violence, sports and traffic accidents, 71.42% cases had fracture with maxillary central incisor. Furthermore, 59.6% cases were seen with Class II Division I malocclusion. Conclusions: In the present study we noticed that fall was the most frequent cause and are seen more in males with an increased prevalence in 15-30 years of age. Furthermore, fracture of maxillary central incisor was most common and among all, fractures involving enamel and dentin were most common.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Cleft lip and palate are one of the most common congenital craniofacial malformations. While preoperative treatment for infants with cleft lip and palate is still a scientific debate, patients with this malocclusion usually have to be treated from infancy to adulthood. Orthodontist plays an important role in the treatment of patients with cleft lip and palate. The purpose of this review is to give information about cleft lip and palate and presurgical nasoalveolar molding.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Objective: The objective was to find the prevalence of dental fluorosis among school children residing in Kanpur city, Uttar Pradesh India. Materials and Methods: A total of 1343 school children, residing in the city since childhood and consuming the groundwater, in the age group of 7-17 years was selected from various schools. Schools were selected from all four directions of the city. Children were categorized in five age groups and were examined for dental fluorosis. Dean's criteria for assessment of dental fluorosis were used, and observations were recorded on a study specific performa. Results: Among the 1343 children examined, 243 (18%) were found to be having dental fluorosis, among which number of males (131) was more than females (112). Among the different grades of fluorosis observed, mild dental fluorosis was observed in most of the cases (158). It was observed that the southern part of the city had a maximum number of cases of dental fluorosis. Conclusion: It was evident from the results that the city had a good number of cases of dental fluorosis and that the groundwater in certain areas had more than normal quantity of fluoride. Since this study was the first attempt in this area, more studies can be undertaken to substantiate our findings.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Oral health is important for well-being and chronic disease prevention. Physician's confidence and willingness to counsel patients on lifestyle practices is related to their personal behavior. Limited data exists regarding oral self-care practices among physicians in developing countries, as the majority seeks oral health advice and care from doctors rather than dentists. Aim: To determine the oral self-care practices, dental attendance, and self-perceived oral health status of internal medicine residents in Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among internal medicine resident doctors attending an update course using a self-administered structured questionnaire, which included oral care practices. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 21.0, P < 0.05 was significant. Results: The response rate was 82.0%. Data from 109 residents from the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria were analyzed. The mean age of the residents was 33.1 (4.0) years. 39.8% brushed twice a day, 20.2% used dental floss regularly, 10.1% used the roll technique for brushing and 30.3% of the doctors had never been to a dentist. However, 61.1% felt dental visits should be undertaken every 6 months and 57.8% strongly agreed/agreed that the state of their oral health was excellent. There was no difference in the oral hygiene practices by gender, designation or geopolitical zone of the residency program apart from dental flossing (female > male, P = 0.002). A higher proportion of junior compared to senior residents strongly agreed/agreed and strongly disagreed/disagreed that their oral health status was excellent (P = 0.026). Conclusion: The oral self-care practices of these doctors involved in managing patients with medical conditions linked to oral health is inadequate. There is a need for better education on oral self-care among physicians.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Removal of bacterial plaque, the primary etiological factor for periodontal disease, from the oral cavity is one of the modes of preventing this disease, however it is not known if bacterial plaque formed in interdental areas are being cleaned effectively like other tooth surfaces since they are relatively inaccessible. Aim: The aim was to determine the interdental cleaning behavior of patients attending dental clinics of a tertiary health institution in a developing country. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study in which information such as; tooth surfaces being cleaned regularly, interdental cleaning aids, cleaning frequency, knowledge of interdental cleaning and its source was collected using structured questionnaires from adult patients attending the Dental Centre of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 246 patients participated in the study and the mean age was 40.4years (standard deviation = 17.4). There were 134 (54.5%) females. Only 86 (35%) were aware of interdental cleaning and 57 (23.2%) practiced it regularly; 39 (15.9%) used dental floss, 12 (4.9%) interdental brushes, 5 (2.0%) wood sticks and 1 (0.4%) used rubber tip stimulators. Two patients used blade and broomstick in addition. The main reason for not cleaning interdentally was no prior knowledge in 160 (65.0%) patients. Conclusion: Less than a quarter of the patients in this study engaged in regular cleaning of the interdental surfaces and lack of knowledge was the major reason for not doing so. Dissemination of information about the importance of interdental cleaning is therefore recommended.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: The awareness of periodontal diseases is generally poor among Nigerians. Working within the hospital environment should give an edge to nonmedical professionals, who could help to promote periodontal health awareness in countries with an inadequate number of dental health professionals. This study aimed to determine the awareness, knowledge of periodontal diseases and oral hygiene behavior of nonmedical professionals within a hospital setting. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 302 nonmedical professionals in a teaching hospital in Nigeria. Pretested, self-administered, semi-structured questionnaires were utilized for data collection on sociodemography, number of years of work experience in the hospital, work cadre, awareness and knowledge of periodontal diseases, oral self-care and dental attendance pattern. Results: The awareness of periodontal disease was relatively high (60.2%) in the nonmedical professionals. However, only 29.8% had adequate knowledge of periodontal diseases. Their knowledge was significantly associated with male gender (P = 0.042), higher education (P = 0.006) and nonYoruba ethnicity (P = 0.015). Their duration of work within the hospital premises did not significantly affect their periodontal health knowledge. Less than half (42.7%) practiced twice or more daily brushing while only 11.9% used interdental floss for interproximal plaque removal. Their dental attendance pattern was mostly (83.5%) problem-oriented rather than preventive. Conclusion: The nonmedical professionals had fairly high awareness but inadequate periodontal health knowledge and oral hygiene practices. These findings may make their role as oral health promoters a questionable one, unless, this is addressed urgently.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Organic tissue dissolution is considered as one of the most important and desirable property of endodontic irrigant, any soft tissue remnant, harboring bacteria, left in the canal after endodontic therapy may be the cause of failure. Aim: The present study aimed at assessing and comparing the human pulp dissolution (thereby eliminating the bacteria) capacity of some potential endodontic irrigants viz., sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) (2.5% and 5.25%), chlorine dioxide (5%) and peracetic acid (5%). Materials and Methods: Forty human pulp specimens from extracted premolars were taken and weighed. They were immersed in test solution for 30 min, dried on filter paper and weighed again. The percentage weight loss was calculated and statistically analyzed. Conclusion: It can be concluded that NaOCl showed the best tissue dissolution capacity, followed by 5% peracetic acid.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Objective: Resin cements containing phosphoric acid modified methacrylate monomers are commonly used for zirconia-based restorations. However, there are few studies of microleakage of zirconia frameworks cemented with these types of resin cements. The purpose of this study was to compare microleakage of zirconia frameworks cemented with two types of phosphate monomer-based resin cements after long-term thermocycling. Materials and Methods: Totally, 30 permanent premolars were randomly divided into two groups: Self-etching (SE) (Panavia™ F2.0, Kuraray Medical, Japan) and self-adhesive (SA) (RelyX™ U100, 3M ESPE, USA) resin cements. The teeth were prepared for zirconia frameworks, which were fabricated by TDS CAD/CAM. After cementation and thermocycling (20,000 cycles), specimens were immersed in 2% methylene blue dye solution for 24 h and were sectioned mesiodistally and buccolingually. Microleakage was recorded, and the data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and Sign test (α = 0.05). Results: All specimens showed significantly higher microleakage scores at the cementum margins than at the enamel margins (P < 0.05). The SE resin cement provided significantly lower microleakage scores than the SA resin cement at the enamel margin (P < 0.05); however, there were no statistically significant differences in microleakage between two resin cements at the cementum margins (P > 0.05). Conclusion: SE resin cement has a better sealing ability than SA resin cement at the enamel surface. Both resin cements presented high microleakage at the cementum margins, especially at the tooth/resin interface.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]