Sleep disorders and work-related stress with oral hygiene among Indian shift workers.

Construction workers are mostly migrants from isolated villages and are not vigilant about health care measures besides poor language skills. Majority of the population works in shifts across the globe. As a result of poor sleep architecture, excessive sleepiness or insomnia, the construction labourers working in shifts have approximately twice the risk of OSA when compared with those working in the daytime. Likewise, the performance and the productivity of employees in construction sites are impeded by added stress. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the sleep disorders, work-related stress and its impact on oral hygiene among the construction workers in Chennai. A cross sectional study was conducted among 518 workers in various construction sites at Chennai, South India. The study incorporated BerlinQuestionnaire to evaluate disordered breathing during sleep, the Work Ability Index that contains questions concerning work, working ability and health and the Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (Greene and Vermillion, 1964) that was used for recording the oral hygiene status. Pearson correlation between education and OHI-S was statistically significant (r=-0.108). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that mean WAI score had a positive significant association with work experience (B=0.059, SE=0.030, p=0.05), habits (B=0.032, SE=0.017, p=0.05) and marital status (B=0.135, SE=0.54, p=0.01). In contrast, education (B=-0.0.052, SE=0.023, p=0.02) and work schedule (B=0.022, SE=0.037, p=0.54) were inversely associated with the mean score. Based on the current findings, it is imperative to restore work ability for those with poor work ability thereby enhancing productivity in the migrant workers. As shift work may be extremely detrimental to poor sleep quality, the employers should arrange shift schedules in accordance with sleep physiology. Additionally, dental awareness and interventions are required to improve oral hygiene among migrant workers.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activity of Thymus vulgaris-mediated selenium nanoparticles: An in vitro study.

Background: Nanotechnology is the specialty associated with material science and biology, rather than a particular field. It entails the method of particles at nanoscale called Nanoparticles, wherein they have control over bulk macroscopic properties of the identical material. The "drug nanocarrier," selenium possesses strong antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-cancer as well as anti-inflammatory properties. As the medicinal plant Thymus vulgaris possesses a lot of phytochemicals, this study was conducted to assess the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of selenium nanoparticles (SeNps) reinforced with T. vulgaris. Materials and Methods: Anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant activity of SeNps reinforced with T. vulgaris extract were assessed using bovine serum albumin and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, respectively, at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 µL. Results: The values for anti-inflammatory property of nanoparticles were higher than the standard values at 30, 40, and 50 µL concentrations. Percentage of inhibition was highest at 40 µL (87.7%) and 50 µL (92.6%). The values for antioxidant property of nanoparticles were found to be higher than the standard values at 10, 20, and 30 µL concentrations. Percentage of inhibition was highest at 30 µL (68.3%). Conclusion: SeNps reinforced with T. vulgaris extract have a potential as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent and can be used as an alternative to commercially available products.

Prevalence and Comparison of Dental Caries experience among 5 to 12 year old school children of Chandigarh using dft/ DMFT and SiC Index: A Cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries is the most common chronic disease of childhood that interferes with normal nutrition intake, speech, and daily routine activities. Dental caries affects people of all ages with the highest priority risk group being school-going children. Hence, this cross-sectional study helps to determine the prevalence and to compare the dental caries experience among 5- to 12-year-old school-going children of Chandigarh using dft/DMFT and SiC index. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted among 3354 school children in the age group of 5 to 12 years. The subjects were selected from four randomly selected schools in Chandigarh. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare the mean difference at 5% significance level (P < 0.05). RESULTS: The prevalence of dental caries was found to be 46.9% with a mean dft and DMFT score of 1.36 ± 2.16 and 0.28 ± 0.80, respectively. The SiC index score for primary and permanent dentition were 3.53 ± 2.53 and 0.85 ± 1.20, respectively. The dft scores declined progressively as the age advanced whereas the DMFT scores increased from 5 to 12 years. CONCLUSION: Caries prevalence was high in primary than permanent dentition. Comparison between dft/DMFT and SiC indices indicated there is a subgroup that presented with a higher caries rate.

Concerns with oral health care services for adults with cognitive and intellectual disabilities.

It is of interest to document data on oral health care services for adults with cognitive and intellectual disabilities. Hence, a study protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with registration number: CRD42020150759. We used PubMed, Science Direct, LILACS and SCIELO to collect data from known literature using keywords containing MESH (Medical Subject Headings) terms. The risk of bias rating for the collected data was calculated using the Newcastle-Ottawa assessment Scale. The AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare, Research and Quality) was used for classifying the level of evidence in the collected data. Analysis of available data shows that there is a lack of dentists with adequate skills to treat people with disabilities resulting in high cost for dental treatment. Thus, we conclude that inconvenient location of dental clinic, lack of dentists willing to treat people with disabilities and attitude of dental staff towards people with learning disabilities were considered as barriers and challenges faced for dental health service utilization in this context.