Safety and Efficacy of Plaque Removal Using Manual and Powered Toothbrush in Cerebral Palsy Children by Parents/Caregivers: A Randomized Control Crossover Trial.

Aim: The aim of our study was to check the safety and efficacy of plaque removal using manual and powered toothbrush in cerebral palsy children by parents/caregivers. Materials and methods: This was a single blinded, crossover randomized control trial conducted on 60 cerebral palsy children between the age of 6 to 14 years. They were randomly divided using a flip coin method into two groups: group A-manual toothbrush and group B-powered toothbrush. The plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and gingival abrasion (GA) score were measured at baseline, then at an interval of 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks. This was followed by a crossover between two groups with a washout period of 1 week. Results: Both manual and powered toothbrush showed a significant reduction in plaque and gingival score before and after crossover when compared to baseline (p < 0.05). The GA score was reduced to 100% in both groups. However, there was no statistically significant difference between both the groups before and after the crossover. Also, through the questionnaire it was observed that both child (86.6%) and parent (70%) showed positive feedback towards powered toothbrush. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the present study that the efficacy of a powered toothbrush is comparable to that of a manual toothbrush. Parents and caregivers, on the contrary, displayed a favorable attitude towards the use of powered toothbrushes due to their ease of use. Clinical relevance: Cerebral palsy is one of the most common neurological disorders among children. It is associated with poor motor skills and manual dexterity that hampers their ability to brush and thus leads to poor oral hygiene. A powered toothbrush seems more appealing and is specially designed for patients with poor neuromotor coordination. How to cite this article: Deshpande AN, Naik K, Deshpande N, et al. Safety and Efficacy of Plaque Removal using Manual and Powered Toothbrush in Cerebral Palsy Children by Parents/Caregivers: A Randomized Control Crossover Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2023;16(2):344-349.

Association of Anthropometric Measurements, Hemoglobin Level and Salivary Parameters among Caries-free and S-ECC Children.

Context: The implication of severe dental caries in children may have its effect on general health apart from affecting the orodental tissues. Many children reporting with severe caries have shown weighing less due to malnourishment resulting in anemia and modified somatic growth. Aims: Study aimed to assess and compare anthropometric measurements, hemoglobin level, and salivary parameters among caries-free and severe early childhood caries (E-CCC) children. Settings and design: For caries-free group [Group I] and S-ECC group [Group II] data were obtained from age-matched children with similar socioeconomic status. Materials and methods: Children with severe caries and without caries from the age-group 3- 6 years participated in the study. Children were measured for height, weight, measurement of mid-upper arm circumference, and waist circumference. Hemoglobin level was recorded. The collected unstimulated saliva was assessed for flow rate, salivary pH, and its buffering capacity. Statistical analysis used: Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out using Windows software and SPSS (21). Tests of significance namely t-test and Chi-square test were used along with regression analysis. Results: Caries experience showed no statistical difference for age and gender among the sample population. Significant difference was found for all anthropometric measurements. When comparison for hemoglobin was done for both groups I and II, significant difference was observed [p = 0.003]. Conclusion: Children with severe dental caries in the present study had low hemoglobin which, if persisted, can lead to anemia. Though the anthropometric parameters may appear normal in children diagnosed with severe early childhood caries, pediatric dentist should ensure the hemoglobin level test, as iron deficiency can affect growth and development of the child, if left undiagnosed. How to cite this article: Deshpande AN, Sudani U, Wadhwa M, et al. Association of Anthropometric Measurements, Hemoglobin Level and Salivary Parameters among Caries-free and S-ECC Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2022;15(S-2):S164-S171.

Pervasive Endosymbiont Arsenophonus Plays a Key Role in the Transmission of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Vectored by Asia II-1 Genetic Group of Bemisia tabaci.

Insects often coevolved with their mutualistic partners such as gut endosymbionts, which play a key in the physiology of host. Studies on such interactions between Bemisia tabaci and its primary and secondary endosymbionts have gained importance due to their indispensable roles in the biology of this insect. Present study reports the predominance of two secondary endosymbionts, Arsenophonus and Cardinium in the Asia II-1 genetic group of whitefly and elucidates their role in the transmission of its vectored Cotton leaf curl virus. Selective elimination of endosymbionts was optimized using serial concentration of ampicillin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, tetracycline, and rifampicin administered to viruliferous whiteflies through sucrose diet. Primary endosymbiont, Portiera was unresponsive to all the antibiotics, however, rifampicin and tetracycline at 90 µg/ml selectively eliminated Arsenophonus from the whitefly. Elimination of Arsenophonus resulted in significant decrease in virus titer from viruliferous whitefly, further the CLCuV transmission efficiency of these whiteflies was significantly reduced compared to the control flies. Secondary endosymbiont, Cardinium could not be eliminated completely even with higher concentrations of antibiotics. Based on the findings, Arsenophonus plays a key role in the retention and transmission of CLCuV in the Asia II-1 genetic group of B. tabaci, while the role of Cardinium could not be established due to its unresponsiveness to antibiotics.

Psychiatric Disorders in Adolescents Attending Psychiatry Outpatient Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is the time when most mental illness begins most of the time these problems are overlooked leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The study is undertaken to find out the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in adolescents attending psychiatry outpatient department in a tertiary hospital. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done from 1st December 2019 to 29th November 2020 at a tertiary care centre of Kathmandu. Ethical approval (Ref No.: 012-076/077) was taken from the Institution Review Committee. A semi-structured proforma was used for the socio-demographic profile of patients and International Classification of Diseases-10 was used to make the diagnosis. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16. RESULTS: A total of 174 adolescents were included in the study. Out of the total cases 141 (81.03%) (75.1-86.8 at 95% Confidence Interval) were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, among them 73 (51.77%) were males and 68 (48.23%) were females. The common diagnoses were anxiety disorders 63 (36.20%), mood disorders 34 (19.54%), psychotic disorders 26 (14.94%), substance use disorders 8 (4.59%), non-organic sleep disorders 5 (2.87%), behavioral and emotional disorders 3 (1.72%) and mental retardation 2 (1.149%). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of psychiatric illnesses is high in the adolescent population compared to the similar studies.

Enhancing RNAi Efficiency to Decipher the Functional Response of Potential Genes in Bemisia tabaci AsiaII-1 (Gennadius) Through dsRNA Feeding Assays.

Whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a global invasive pest that causes substantial losses to agricultural crops worldwide either by direct feeding or vectoring numerous plant viruses. Management with insecticides remains a big challenge due to its rapid resistance development potential as well as the impact of these chemicals on non-target organisms. Thus, in search of alternate and novel pest management strategies RNA interference (RNAi) has come up as potential future tool in this direction. The present study targets nine potential genes (Aquaporin (AQP), Calcitonin (CAL), CyclophilinB (CYCP), Knottin-1 (k-1), Heat shock proteins (Hsp20, Hsp40 and Hsp70), SWItch/Sucrose Non-fermentable (SNF7) and inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) of whitefly that have been implicated to play a role in various vital physiological functions and virus transmission. The RNAi mediated knockdown efficiency of these genes has been improved through the conjugation of respective target gene dsRNA with CQD (carbon quantum dots) nanoparticles or simultaneous knockdown of dsRNA specific gut nucleases. The studies revealed that feeding of dsRNA (40 µg/ml sucrose diet) of the target gene(s) either conjugated with CQD or along with dsRNA against dsRNase (dsdsRNase) (40 µg/ml sucrose diet) enhanced the RNAi efficiency by 24-89% compared to whiteflies fed with naked dsRNA of the same target gene. The studies provide insights about the functional role of various genes in whitefly, which can possibly be exploited for the management of this pest in the future.

Microabrasion-remineralization (MAb-Re): An innovative approach for dental fluorosis.

Enamel microabrasion is a noninvasive method that removes intrinsic and superficial defects from teeth aimed to improve dental esthetic with minimal loss of dental tissue. This case presentation describes the attempt for teeth color correction utilizing that conservative technique in a young girl whose maxillary anterior teeth presented an opaque white/brown stain. Along with microabrasion, an innovative approach of application of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate crème on the tooth, and remineralization was carried out thereby reducing postoperative sensitivity of the treated tooth. Based on the results of this case report, it can be concluded that this technique is efficient and can be considered a minimally invasive procedure.

Enzymatic comparison and mortality of Beauveria bassiana against cabbage caterpillar Pieris brassicae LINN

Abstract Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus, is the alternative biocontrol agent exploited against major economic crop pests. Pieris brassicae L. is an emerging pest of the Brassicaceae family. Therefore, in the present study, fungal isolates of Beauveria bassiana, viz. MTCC 2028, MTCC 4495, MTCC 6291, and NBAII-11, were evaluated for their virulence against third instar larvae of P. brassicae. Among all these fungal isolates, maximum mortality (86.66%) was recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 4495 at higher concentration of spores (109 conidia/ml), and the minimum mortality (30.00%) was recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 6291 at a lower concentration (107 conidia/ml) after ten days of treatment. The extracellular cuticle-degrading enzyme activities of fungal isolates were measured. Variability was observed both in the pattern of enzyme secretion and the level of enzyme activities among various fungal isolates. B. bassiana MTCC 4495 recorded the maximum mean chitinase (0.51 U/ml), protease (1.12 U/ml), and lipase activities (1.36 U/ml). The minimum mean chitinase and protease activities (0.37 and 0.91 U/ml, respectively) were recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 6291. The minimum mean lipase activity (1.04 U/ml) was recorded in B. bassiana NBAII-11. Our studies revealed B. bassiana MTCC 4495 as the most pathogenic isolate against P. brassicae, which also recorded maximum extracellular enzyme activities, suggesting the possible roles of extracellular enzymes in the pathogenicity of B. bassiana against P. brassicae.

In Vitro Comparative Evaluation of Cleaning Efficacy and Volumetric Filling in Primary Molars: Cone Beam Computed Tomography Evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Pulpectomy of primary teeth is mostly carried out with hand files and broaches which is tricky and time consuming procedure. The development of new design features like varying tapers, non-cutting safety tips and varying length of cutting blades have resulted in new generation of rotary instruments. AIM: To compare and evaluate cleaning efficacy, canal preparation and volumetric filling using conventional files and rotary V Taper files through cone beam computed tomography. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Thirty extracted primary molars were selected. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups each containing 10 teeth i.e. 30 canals in each group. Group A was instrumented with K files; Group B rotary V Taper files and Group C was Hybrid group. Sodium hypochlorite (1%) was used for irrigation. Root canal filling was done with Zinc Oxide Eugenol cement in all groups. The volumetric analysis i.e. Percentage of Volume (POV) of the root canal filling in primary molars was done through CBCT Software. RESULT: In present study, p- value was found to be significant (<0.05). Almost 100% of canals of hybrid group were fully filled and 63.3% of canals of hand filing group were partially filled. The filling was found to be dense and no. of voids was least in hybrid group. CONCLUSION: Clinical time required in primary molar endodontics, especially with unpredictability and difficulty of canal morphology, is inevitable. The study confirms superior ability of rotary-file systems to shape severely curved canals with less time and significant decrease in procedural errors like partial filling, voids and inappropriate canal preparation.

Enzymatic comparison and mortality of Beauveria bassiana against cabbage caterpillar Pieris brassicae LINN.

Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus, is the alternative biocontrol agent exploited against major economic crop pests. Pieris brassicae L. is an emerging pest of the Brassicaceae family. Therefore, in the present study, fungal isolates of Beauveria bassiana, viz. MTCC 2028, MTCC 4495, MTCC 6291, and NBAII-11, were evaluated for their virulence against third instar larvae of P. brassicae. Among all these fungal isolates, maximum mortality (86.66%) was recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 4495 at higher concentration of spores (109conidia/ml), and the minimum mortality (30.00%) was recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 6291 at a lower concentration (107conidia/ml) after ten days of treatment. The extracellular cuticle-degrading enzyme activities of fungal isolates were measured. Variability was observed both in the pattern of enzyme secretion and the level of enzyme activities among various fungal isolates. B. bassiana MTCC 4495 recorded the maximum mean chitinase (0.51U/ml), protease (1.12U/ml), and lipase activities (1.36U/ml). The minimum mean chitinase and protease activities (0.37 and 0.91U/ml, respectively) were recorded in B. bassiana MTCC 6291. The minimum mean lipase activity (1.04U/ml) was recorded in B. bassiana NBAII-11. Our studies revealed B. bassiana MTCC 4495 as the most pathogenic isolate against P. brassicae, which also recorded maximum extracellular enzyme activities, suggesting the possible roles of extracellular enzymes in the pathogenicity of B. bassiana against P. brassicae.

Comparative evaluation of oral hygiene status and gingival enlargement among epileptic and healthy children as related to various antiepileptic drugs.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a gathering of neurological disorders characterized by epileptic seizures. Epileptic children, who are on active treatment with antiepileptic drugs, have a well-recognized side effect of gingival enlargement. Therefore, all efforts should be made, particularly for the population who are diagnosed or affected by the systemic disease. This study was conducted with an aim to determine oral hygiene status and gingival enlargement among epileptic and healthy children as related to various antiepileptic drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the department of pedodontics and attached general hospital. A sample size of 120 participants with 60 healthy and 60 epileptic children between age 2 and 14 years were included. Oral health status of participants was examined using oral hygiene simplified index and plaque index. Gingival enlargement was assessed using Miranda-Brunet index. For statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA test, independent t-test, and Pearson's Chi-square test were used. RESULTS: From the total participants included in the study, 49% of participants had good oral hygiene from healthy group, and 28% participants had poor oral hygiene from the epileptic group. Sodium valproate was the most common drug used and was associated with increased gingival enlargement. CONCLUSION: Conclusion can be drawn that epileptic children under medication had poor oral hygiene and an increased risk for gingival enlargement as compared to their healthy counterparts. It must be stressed that the epileptic patients should be given dental care without conditions and provided with best possible care to restore esthetics and functions.

Evaluation of Pseudomonas fluorescens for the management of tomato early blight disease and fruit borer.

Early blight disease and fruit damage by Helicoverpa armigera are serious problems of tomato causing heavy losses in the yield. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of talc based formulation of antagonist Pseudomonas flourescens (Psf) delivered through two different forms of substrate, farmyard manure (FYM) and vermicompost, for the management of tomato early blight disease. Two treatments of Psf, were selected Solarization of nursery soil + seeds and seedlings root dip treatment with Psf formulation + Use of FYM colonized with Psf formulation; Solarization of nursery soil + seed and seedlings root dip treatment with Psf formulation + Use of vermicompost colonized with Psf formulation. These were compared with farmer's practice and untreated control. The impact of all these treatments on tomato fruit borer, H. armigera was also studied. There was not much variation in plant growth parameters (plant height and canopy width) between all the treatments. Both biocontrol treatments (17.69% and 141.3 q acre-1; 15.70% and 139.4 q acre-1, respectively), as well as farmer's practice (10.25% and 208.5 q acre-1) were found to be better than untreated control (29.21% and 94.6 q acre-1) in reducing the incidence of early blight disease in tomato and increasing the marketable yield of tomato fruits. However, the farmer's practice was found to be significantly better than both biocontrol treatments of Psf in controlling fruit damage due to disease, as well as fruit borer. The effect of both bioagents enriched formulations i.e. FYM+Psf and vermicompost+Psf with respect to disease was significantly at par with each other, whereas they had no impact on the fruit borer incidence. The results indicated that either of biocontrol treatments of P. flourescens using farmyard manure and vermicompost, as delivery substrates, can be considered as one of the component along with chemical control in developing IPM programme for the management of early blight disease in tomato.

The diagnostic value of cell block as an adjunct to liquid-based cytology of bronchial washing specimens in the diagnosis and subclassification of pulmonary neoplasms.

BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, the diagnostic value of cell block (CB) as an adjunct to ThinPrep liquid-based cytology (LBC) of bronchial washing specimens in the detection and subclassification of pulmonary neoplasms has not been well evaluated. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of CB in this setting. METHODS: A total of 74 bronchial washing specimens and concurrently prepared CBs with a diagnosis of malignant or suspicious/atypical obtained from bronchoscopy procedures performed during 2009 were reviewed along with 28 randomly selected negative cases. LBC and CBs were reviewed independently. Deeper levels and ancillary studies were performed on CBs for specific tumor classification if needed. LBC and CB diagnoses were correlated with final histology and/or bronchial brushings. RESULTS: Use of CBs increased the number of positive diagnoses from 18 (LBC only) to 30 (combined LBC and CB) and 36 (combined LBC and CB with ancillary studies), with increased diagnostic yields of 67% and 100%, respectively. CB without ancillary techniques detected 22 malignancies whereas LBC detected 18 malignancies and CB with ancillary techniques detected 29 malignancies. A specific tumor diagnosis was possible in 22 of 29 (76%) malignancies detected by CB. Bronchial brushings and histology confirmed malignancy in 91% and 92% of cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CB combined with LBC was found to improve the rate of detection of malignancy over LBC alone, especially in cases with suspicious or atypical LBC diagnoses. Increased diagnostic yield is observed when CB is used with or without ancillary studies, but the yield is higher with CB using ancillary studies. CB serves as yet another available source of diagnostic material for immunohistochemical and molecular studies.