RESUMO
Aim: The current purpose of the survey is to completely evaluate parents' attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions of myofunctional appliances. Materials and Methods: Parents in Chennai participated in this cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey. Pilot study was carried out to determine the sample size, and 500 individuals were the final sample size. The 10 organized, predesigned, and validated questions are on awareness of myofunctional appliance. Results: The result of the survey showed that in 500 subjects, 79.8% were aware of skeletal problems. The proportion of parents willing to recommend the use of such treatments is about 70%, while 69% believe that myofunctional appliances are important in correcting skeletal problems. Conclusion: The present study has established that most parents know about the functional appliance and have an understanding of how to distinguish between skeletal problems. In order to diagnose skeletal issues in an appropriate age range for the individual, more awareness about appliances is necessary and needs to be developed.
RESUMO
Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a major oral health problem, mainly in socially disadvantaged populations. ECC affects infants and preschool children worldwide. Aim: A survey to identify the factors influencing the ECC among preschool children in Madipakkam, Chennai. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3-5-year-old preschool children in Madipakkam, Chennai. Three schoolchildren participated in the study. In total, 313 children aged three to five years took part in the study. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect general information to assess their feeding habits and oral hygiene practices. Results: Dental caries experience (dmft and deft) was high among children who were bottle-fed compared to children who were breastfed. The children who were breastfed for less than six months had more caries than other children who were breastfed for more than six months. Conclusion: Factors such as age and BMI did not show any association with ECC. Other factors such as feeding habits, snacking, oral health behavior, parental assistance in brushing, and regular dental visits are found to be associated with the ECC. Most of the risk factors studied in this study are modifiable. Therefore parents and children should be educated about the risk factors of ECC and mechanisms to control it.