Role of diet and dietary habits in causing dental caries among adults reporting to a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan; a case-control study.

Objective: To determine the association of diet and dietary practices with dental caries among adults. Design: A case-control study. Setting: Operative Department, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan. Participants: 300 participants of both genders, aged 25-50 years. Interventions: A food frequency questionnaire and a patient proforma were used to determine the frequency and preferences of diet and dietary habits that may be associated with dental caries among adults, respectively. The diet and dietary habits of 150 adults with caries (cases) were compared with those of 150 adults without dental caries (control). An independent sample T-test was applied to determine the difference in mean age. Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square tests were applied to determine the significance of diet and dietary habits respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis determined the odd ratio change in significant variables. P-value ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: Refined sugar (p-value = 0.69), fruit juices (p-value = 0.45), carbonated beverages (p-value = 0.91), duration of consumption of sugary food (p-value = 0.07), and frequency of brushing (p-value = 0.15) were not found to be significantly associated with dental caries in adults. The gender (p-value = 0.02), preferred time for eating sugary foods (p-value <0.001), smoking (p-value <0.001), and tea consumption (p-value = 0.02) were found to be significantly associated with dental caries. Conclusion: Adults who regularly consumed sugar as a snack other than regular mealtimes were more likely to be associated with dental caries. Men, smokers, and adults who frequently took shots of sugar with their tea were more likely to be associated with dental caries.

Efficacy of camphorated paramonochlorophenol to a mixture of honey and mustard oil as a root canal medicament.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of camphorated paramonochlorophenol to a mixture of honey and mustard oil as a root canal medicament. DESIGN: An in vitro comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: This study was carried out in collaboration with microbiology department of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi and was conducted from Aug-2001 to Nov-2001. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 90 infected root canal contents of decayed teeth was collected from Operative Dentistry Department of Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi. Each sample was inoculated aerobically as well as an-aerobically. Organisms were identified and isolates were preserved and refrigerated for experiments. Medicaments were procured and prepared in comparable dilutions. Minimum inhibitory concentration of both medicaments was compared by susceptibility testing against already preserved isolates. RESULTS: The tested mixture (honey and mustard oil equal v/v ) demonstrated antibacterial activity against all isolates at concentration of 12.5%(mean of effective conc.17.11%) while that of camphorated paramonochlorophenol was comparably at higher concentration 3.1%(mean of effective conc. 3.35%). However the mixture revealed better results than that of individual agents, which was 12.5% to 25% respectively. CONCLUSION: Mixture (honey and mustard oil) was effective, viable alternate endodontic medicament.

Frequency of dens evaginatus of permanent anterior teeth.

OBJECTIVE: To calculate the frequency of dens evaginatus in permanent teeth. DESIGN: A descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID), Rawalpindi from April 2002 to April 2003. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A clinical and radiographic analysis of 5400 permanent anterior teeth was conducted to determine the occurrence of this developmental malformation. RESULTS: Dens evaginatus was found in about 2.4% of the permanent anterior dentition and was more frequent in the maxilla, particularly in the lateral incisor. This anomaly was less frequent in the mandible. CONCLUSION: This study shows that dens evaginatus of anterior teeth is more common in the permanent dentition particularly, the maxillary incisors. Furthermore, the frequency of dens evaginatus is high in males than females.