Association between passive smoking and dental caries status in children: A cross-sectional analytical study.

BACKGROUND: Several risk factors contribute to the development of dental caries in children, including sociodemographic, dietary, oral hygiene-related and other miscellaneous factors. Maternal smoking was highly associated with dental caries when compared to smoking by fathers or other household members. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries and their association with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among 5- to 10-year-old students attending private and government schools. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among schoolchildren. Data was collected from the primary caregivers using a pre-tested form to assess the ETS exposure under 5 domains based on history: antenatal exposure; exposure during the index period; exposure in the school neighborhood; exposure in restaurants/roadside stalls; and exposure in bus stops/railway stations. Dental caries was assessed based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines from 1997. The association was reported using prevalence ratios (PRs) (95% confidence interval (CI)). RESULTS: Data was obtained from 211 schoolchildren attending government (39.8%) and private schools (60.2%). The overall prevalence (95% CI) of dental caries was 49.3% (42.5-56.1%). Among all the risk factors evaluated in the study, exposure to ETS was associated with a significantly increased risk of dental caries. The adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) of ETS exposure varied with the mother's educational status and high sugar exposure, although this was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of dental caries among schoolchildren aged 5 to 10 years in the city was moderate and similar to the national average. Among the risk factors assessed in the study, antenatal exposure to ETS was found to significantly increase the prevalence of dental caries by 41% after adjusting for other factors. Therefore, it is important to educate parents on the causal role of ETS exposure in dental caries.

Probiotic inhibits oral carcinogenesis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to investigate the effects if probiotics can inhibit oral carcinogenesis. DESIGN: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PLOS databases were searched up to February 2020 to identify randomised controlled trials that fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tool was used for quality assessment of articles. This review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA-P) 2015 protocol guidelines. RESULT: The initial search retrieved 774 articles. Of these, only five articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. Two out of the five papers were further analysed for quantitative synthesis in meta-analysis. The majority of the included studies were found to be of "moderate quality". The qualitative synthesis found four probiotics that exhibited potential therapeutic effects in oral carcinogenesis, includingAcetobacter syzygii, AJ2, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus salivarius REN. Among them, the application of L. salivarius REN resulted in a 95 % lower risk for developing oral cancer (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It is known that probiotics have the potential to inhibit oral carcinogenesis, thus supporting the hypothesis of the study. The ability of L. salivarius REN to inhibit the development of oral cancer suggested that this bacterium can be a potential inhibitory agent against oral carcinogenesis.