The evaluation of the effectiveness of conventional and pulsating toothbrushes on the oral health of healthy and mentally disabled pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVES: Children, especially the mentally disabled, are generally incapable of obtaining adequate oral hygiene levels by manual brushing due to their lack of knowledge about oral hygiene and their limited motor skills. In order to handle those limited skills, different designs of manual and electric toothbrushes are developed and put on markets. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pulsating toothbrushes with easy-to-use properties, against conventional toothbrushes and to analyze their benefits on mentally disabled pediatric patients. METHODS: Thirty-one healthy and 31 mentally disabled children (aged between 7 and 12) participated in this study. The effectiveness of three different toothbrushes (Oral-B Pulsar, Colgate 360° Micro Sonic Power, Oral-B Stages 3) was investigated with a cross-over study design. DMFT, dft, modified sulcus bleeding index (MOD-SBI), approximal plaque index (API) and Green and Vermillion simplified oral hygiene index (G&V OHI-S) measurements are performed to evaluate the oral hygiene status. RESULTS: In the mentally disabled group the manual toothbrush for MOD-SBI, and Colgate 360° Micro Sonic Power for API showed the best results respectively. CONCLUSION: The ability of tooth brushing was improved both in healthy and in disabled children during this 5 months study. Unfortunately, it was not obvious in disabled children. Persevering training for tooth brushing might be the most important regardless of the kind of toothbrush.

Association between dental caries and adherence to the Mediterranean diet, dietary intake, and body mass index in children.

BACKGROUND: Children with healthier nutritional status are less likely to develop severe caries than those with a high-sugar content diet. Studies evaluating dental caries and nutritional status in school-age children have generally focused on dietary intake, diet quality, or anthropometric measures, and the number of studies evaluating them together is limited. OBJECTIVE: It was aimed to evaluate the relationship between dental caries adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD), dietary intake, and Body Mass Index (BMI) in school-age children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with 300 healthy children (52.0% boys, 48.0% girls) aged between 6 and 12 years. The data collection forms included sociodemographic characteristics, oral health practices of children, Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents (KIDMED), and food consumption records. Anthropometric measurements (body weight and height) of the children were taken. Dental examinations were performed by a pediatric dentist. RESULTS: While the DMFT mean score of the children was 1.7 ± 2.09, the mean dft score was 2.9 ± 3.29. The mean of KIDMED scores was 5.9 ± 3.32. DMFT and dft scores decreased statistically as maternal education increased (p < 0.05). DMFT and dft scores were not statistically different between BMI groups according to gender and age (p > 0.05). DMFT scores differed statistically between KIDMED groups (p < 0.05). This difference was between low-optimal and low-improvement-needed groups. While there was a low negative correlation (r=-0.169) between calcium intake and DMFT score, a low positive correlation was found between glucose (r = 0.172) and fructose (r = 0.149) intake and dft score (p < 0.05). In regression analysis, while the children's age related DMFT scores positively, maternal education and KIDMED scores related DMFT scores negatively. Also, children's age and maternal education related dft scores negatively. CONCLUSION: In this study, adherence to the MD rather than nutrients was found to be important in dental caries. Also maternal education level was also found to be a determinant factor in dental caries in children. DMFT and dft did not differ between BMI groups.Further studies should be conducted to assess the impact of the MD on dental caries in children to develop dietary interventions for preventative purposes.

Microleakage of high viscosity glass-ionomer and glass-carbomer with and without coating before and after hydrothermal aging / Microinfiltracao de ionomero de vidro de alta viscosidade e carbômero de vidro com e sem revestimento antes e depois de envelhecimento hidroterma

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the microleakage patterns of GIC and GGC with and without their protective surface coatings on enamel and dentin margins before and after aging. Material and Methods: Two rectangular cavities (height: 2 mm; width: 3 mm; depth: 1.5 mm) were prepared on each tooth at the cemento-enamel junction were prepared on human permanent molars (N=56) and the teeth were randomly assigned to be restored with one of the following: a) high viscosity glass-ionomer cement (GIC) (EQUIA Fil, C Corp., Tokyo, Japan) (n=28), b) glasscarbomer cement (GCC) (Glass Carbomer Products, Leiden, The Netherlands) (n=28). Half of the teeth were further divided into two groups where one group received protective surface coating (SC) (G-Coat Plus, GC Corp) (n=14) and the other group did not (n=14). Half of the teeth were stored for 24 hours (n=7), and the other half was thermocycled (5000 cycles, 5-55°C) (n=7). For microleakage analysis, the teeth were immersed in 5% methylene blue dye for 24 hours, sectioned into two equal halves. Microleakage patterns were evaluated using stereomicroscope and scored on a scale of 0-3 (0: No dye penetration, 1: Dye penetration less than half of the axial wall, 2: Dye penetration more than half the axial wall, 3: Dye penetration spreading along the axial wall). Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests at the significance level of 0.05. Results: Compared to 24 h storage, after thermocycling, surface coating on GIC decreased microleakage significantly compared to GCC (p=0.046) but not for GCC. In the thermocycled groups, coated GIC showed significantly less leakage at the enamel margin but no significant difference was found with both GIC and GCC in the dentin margins. Conclusion: The application of surface coating significantly reduced the microleakage scores of GIC but not GCC, within the enamel margins only. (AU)

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os padrões de microinfiltração de GIC e GGC com e sem seus revestimentos protetores superficiais nas margens de esmalte e dentina antes e após o envelhecimento. Material e Métodos: duas cavidades retangulares (altura: 2 mm; largura: 3 mm; profundidade: 1,5 mm) foram preparadas em cada dente na junção cemento-esmalte de molares permanentes humanos (N = 56), sendo aleatoriamente designados para serem restaurados com um dos seguintes: a) cimento de ionômero de vidro (GIC) de alta viscosidade (EQUIA Fil, C Corp., Tóquio, Japão) (n = 28), b) cimento de vidrocarbômero (GCC) Carbomer Products, Leiden, Holanda) (n = 28). Metade dos dentes foram divididos em dois grupos, onde um grupo recebeu revestimento protetor de superfície (SC) (G-Coat Plus, GC Corp) (n = 14) e o outro grupo não (n = 14). Metade dos dentes foram armazenados por 24 horas (n = 7), e a outra metade foi termociclada (5000 ciclos, 5-55 ° C) (n = 7). Para análise de microinfiltração, os dentes foram imersos em corante azul de metileno a 5% por 24 horas, seccionados em duas metades iguais. Os padrões de microinfiltração foram avaliados usando estereomicroscópio e pontuados numa escala de 0-3 (0: Sem penetração de corante; 1: penetração de corante inferior à metade da parede axial; 2: penetração de corante mais do que metade da parede axial; 3: penetração de corante ao longo da parede axial). Os dados foram analisados pelo teste de Kruskal-Wallis ao nível de significância de 0,05. Resultados: em comparação com o armazenamento de 24 h, após a termociclagem, o revestimento de superfície no GIC diminuiu significativamente a microinfiltração em comparação com o GCC (p = 0,046), mas não para o GCC. Nos grupos termociclados, o GIC revestido apresentou significativamente menos infiltração na margem do esmalte, mas não houve diferença significativa para o GIC e o GCC nas margens dentinárias. Conclusão: A aplicação do revestimento de superfície reduziu significativamente os escores de microinfiltração do GIC, mas não do GCC, apenas nas margens do esmalte. (AU)

Assessment of the Feelings and Attitudes of Children towards Their Dentist and Their Association with Oral Health.

This study assessed the feelings and attitudes of children toward their dentists and their association with oral health. Methods. A questionnaire designed to evaluate the attitudes of children toward dentists and preferences was completed by 200 children and their families. In addition, the children were examined and the World Health Organization (WHO) method was used to obtain dmft and DMFT scores. Results. The mean dmft and DMFT scores were 3.52 ± 2.44 and 1.35 ± 1.29, respectively. Of the children, 92.5% reported that they had visited a dentist before. Of the children who had visited dentists, approximately 71.5% reported that they enjoyed their visits. Of the children, 84% preferred female dentists, 76.5% preferred dentists that wore a colored coat, and 63% preferred a decorated dental clinic over a plain clinic. The mean dmft and DMFT values of children who were afraid of dentists were significantly higher than those of children who were not (P<0.01 and P<0.05, resp.). Conclusion. Children have strong perceptions and preferences regarding the appearance of their dentists and dental clinics. The results of this study might help dentists to improve their delivery of care.