Development of Valid and Reliable Tools for Pediatricians' Knowledge and Self-Perceived Competency Towards Oral Health of Children in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire of knowledge about oral health in childhood and a scale of self-perceived competency for pediatricians. In this way, the contributions of Turkish pediatricians on oral health in childhood and their effects on children's oral health and caregivers will be evaluated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Items were generated from published scientific literature, other questionnaires, and interviewing notes with the pedodontists. The study group examined publications on the preventive oral health of children, and they included items related to children in the item pool. The initial knowledge questionnaire consisted of 23 items and 10 items for the self-perceived competency scale. The content validity of the questionnaire and scale were determined by the assessments of the expert team. The internal consistency of the knowledge questionnaire and test-retest reliability of the self-perceived competency scale was examined. RESULTS: Thirty pediatricians took part in the study. The pediatricians were: 63.3% (n = 19) female and 36.7% (n = 11) male; their mean age was 37.97 ± 3.86 years. Most of the pediatricians were specialists with 83.4% (n = 25). The medical specialization of all pediatricians was university and the working year mean was 10.93 ± 4.28. The knowledge questionnaire had 10 items after content validity and internal consistency reliability investigations. The initial number of items for the self-perception level scale was 10. We excluded five items due to the content validity index. ICC value for 5-item self-perception level scale was calculated as 0.816 (95% CI: 0.606-0.914). Therefore, the scale has a good reliability level. CONCLUSION: Our knowledge questionnaire and self-perceived competency scale provide a validated and reliable tool in the assessment of pediatricians' knowledge and competency regarding oral health. Pediatricians can test themselves using this knowledge questionnaire and self-perceived competency scale.

Self-awareness of X, Y, and Z generations for dental health: A comparative clinical study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Generation defines as a group of people who were born in a same interval of year and shares similar life events at critical developmental stages, values, behaviors, and significant reactions. The aim of this clinical study was to assess self-awareness of dental health of X, Y, and Z generations in Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total of 239 individuals were divided into three homogenous groups X Generation (X Gen; n = 80), Y Generation (Y Gen; n = 80), and Z Generation (Z Gen; n = 79) by their date of birth 1965-1980; 1981-2000; 2001-2013, respectively. Self-rated caries status, frequency of tooth brushing, frequency of dental visits, and actual caries status were recorded. Self-awareness was calculated as the extraction of the numbers of actual caries and self-rated caries and coded as △ Caries. RESULTS: Mean Dental caries status was recorded using the number of decayed, missing or filled teeth (dft/DMFT) was 4.92 for X Gen; 4.68 for Y Gen; 3.66/3.51 for Z Gen individuals, respectively. Actual caries and self-rated caries were significantly incompatible with each other in all study groups (<0.001). △Caries were insignificant in X, Y, and Z Generations (>0.05); nevertheless, self-awareness (self-rated caries = actual caries) of Z Gen were found numerically more (23%) compared to other groups. Tooth-brushing habits of all individuals were mostly once-a-day (>0.05). Mean frequency of dental visits were once in a 3.5; 2.9; 1.5 years for X, Y, and Z Gens, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is no significant correlation between frequency of dental visits and self-awareness measures. Oral health education should urgently point out for all generations by dental professionals, media, and governmental authorities including preventive methods, oral hygiene instructions all aimed at preventing caries and raising self-awareness.

Childhood leukaemia: experiences of children and attitudes of parents on dental care.

Parental perceptions in the importance of dental care and preferences with regard to its provision while profiling the level of dental health knowledge of parents of leukaemic children were elicited. The setting was the Paediatric Dental Care Unit located in Medical Faculty. Data were collected by means of a structured interview, employing a questionnaire. Level of knowledge on both dental facts and preventive dentistry of the participants was insufficient. Major source of dental care was the resident paediatric dentist both in prior to (78.2%) and following (100%) diagnosis. Tooth extraction (17.6%) was the only treatment provided prior to diagnosis. Following diagnosis, 60 (69%) of these children had received operative dental treatment. The source of preventive advice was inconsistent. Parents appeared to place a high level of importance on their children's dental care and the preference for this to be provided within the hospitals in which the child has been treated. There is clearly a need to establish dental care units in hospitals in which treatment of childhood malignancy is provided. The provision for the future should be the continuous education of dentists, physicians and nurses who work in hospitals and public health services.

Debridement could be a solution to promote healing of established oral mucositis in children.

AIM: The aim of the study was to present a novel approach to promote healing of established oral mucositis and to alleviate symptom clusters in a group of children who were on induction chemotherapy. STUDY DESIGN: A clinical prospective study. METHODS: Children (40) diagnosed with Grade 3 or 4 oral mucositis were randomly assigned into two groups: In Group I (n=20), accumulated debris on ulcerations was removed (debridement); In Group II (n=20), subjects had no debridement. The condition of oral lesions, speech, lips, teeth, saliva, gingiva, and swallowing ability were examined 3 x week during the study. All subjects received the same oral care regimen. They were well balanced in respect of age, the type of antineoplastic treatment, and the number. RESULTS: Debridement promoted resolution and decreased the severity of oral mucositis significantly. Thus, the subjects had less oral discomfort, pain, and nutritional difficulties. STATISTICS: The data were entered in the SPSS 13.0 program, and the tests used were Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney, and Spearman's correlation coefficient with a 5% significance level. CONCLUSION: Well-controlled, prospective clinical studies related to the management of established oral mucositis will lead to the development of potential interventions and improved patient care.