Dentists' Attitudes and perceptions toward protective mouthguards.

OBJECTIVES (BACKGROUND): Risk of dental injury from contact sports can be prevented by the use of mouthguards. Dentists provide excellent information regarding mouthguards. Thus, the aim was to assess the awareness among dentists regarding the same, the level of training in fabricating a mouthguard and whether they regularly recommend one for their athletically active patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This institutional cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Department of Orthodontics, Government Dental College, Kottayam, and Kerala, India. An online form was sent out to 1500 offices and departments in dental institutions through email with a time period of 1 month given to fill responses and was analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A response from 640 was recorded; most of them had not received or had fabricated a mouthguard during their dental training or private practice, even though one-third recommended one to their athletically active patients with a lack of formal training being the reason for not routinely advocating mouthguard usage. Most were aware of more than one type of mouthguards and recommended customized one for the same, however, more than half were not aware of a different type intended for orthodontic patients. CONCLUSION: It is not a routine practice currently, among general dentists and specialists alike, in our country, to prescribe a mouthguard. It is time that the dental fraternity spread awareness for the prevention of injuries. A relook into the academic curriculum while advocating the use of customized mouthguards to patients due to contact sports is required.

Impact of vitamin D fortified milk supplementation on vitamin D status of healthy school children aged 10-14 years.

UNLABELLED: Vitamin D deficiency is a major public health problem, needing immediate attention. We studied the effect of vitamin D fortification of milk in school children. Our results show that fortification of milk is safe and effective strategy to deal with widespread vitamin D deficiency. INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D deficiency among school children and adolescents is a well-documented major public health problem, needing immediate attention. To assess the effect of vitamin D fortified milk on serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D [S.25(OH)D] levels, we carried out a prospective double-blind randomized control trial in apparently healthy school children, aged 10-14 years. METHODS: Of 776 subjects recruited out of 796 who consented, 713 (boys-300; girls-413) completed the study. Subjects were randomized into three groups. Group A (n = 237) received 200 ml of unfortified milk per day while group B (n = 243) and group C (n = 233) received 200 ml of milk fortified with 600 IU (15 µg) and 1,000 IU (25 µg) of vitamin D per day for 12 weeks. Serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, S.25(OH)D, and urinary calcium/creatinine ratio were estimated at baseline and after supplementation. RESULTS: Hypovitaminosis D [25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml] was observed in 92.3 % subjects with mean S.25(OH)D level of 11.69 ± 5.36 ng/ml. There was no significant difference in S.25(OH)D levels among the three groups at baseline. The mean percentage change in S.25(OH)D level in groups B (137.97 %) and C (177.29 %.) were significantly greater than group A (-5.25 %). The percentage of subjects having S.25(OH)D levels >20 ng/ml following supplementation were 5.9 % in group A, 69.95 % in group B, and 81.11 % in group C in comparison to 6.32 %, 4.9 % and 12 %, respectively, at baseline. CONCLUSION: Fortification of milk with vitamin D is an effective and safe strategy in improving S.25(OH)D levels in children aged 10-14 years.

The effect of growth hormone deficiency on size-corrected bone mineral measures in pre-pubertal children.

UNLABELLED: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children has been frequently perceived to be a cause of low bone mass accrual. The confounding effects of poor growth limit the interpretation of prior studies of bone health in GHD. We studied size-corrected bone mineral measures in 30 pre-pubertal GHD children and 75 healthy controls. Our study shows that size-corrected whole-body bone mineral content of GHD children were comparable with controls. INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of GHD on size-corrected bone measures at the lumbar spine (LS) and the whole body (WB). METHODS: LS bone area (BA), LS bone mineral content (BMC), WB BA, WB BMC, and lean body mass (LBM) were measured in 30 pre-pubertal GHD children and 75 controls by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Multiple linear regressions were used to calculate size-corrected (Sc) LS BA(Sc), LS BMC(Sc), WB BA(Sc), and WB BMC(Sc) from control subjects using height and age as independent variables. Furthermore, the relationship between muscle and bone was studied by first assessing LBM for height (LBM(Ht)) and then determining WB BMC for LBM (WB BMC(LBM)). All values were converted to Z-scores and compared with the control. RESULTS: At diagnosis, WB BMC(Sc) Z-score of GHD children was not significantly different from controls. However, mean Z-scores of LS BA(Sc) (-0.89 ± 0.84, p < 0.0001), LS BMC(Sc) (-0.70 ± 1.1, p < 0.001), WB BA(Sc) (-0.65 ± 1.0, p < 0.006), and LBM(Ht) (-0.66 ± 1.7, p < 0.01) were significantly reduced, and WB BMC(Lbm) (0.78 ± 1.5, p < 0.003) was significantly higher in GHD children than controls. CONCLUSION: Size-corrected WB BMC of GHD children were comparable with controls, and bones were normally adapted for muscle mass. Determinants of bone strength which may primarily be affected by GHD are muscle mass, bone size, and geometry rather than bone mass.

Novel application of hydrotropic solubilizing additives in the estimation of aspirin in tablets.

Highly concentrated aqueous solutions of various hydrotropic agents like sodium benzoate, sodium salicylate, sodium acetate, sodium citrate, nicotinamide and sodium ascorbate have been observed to enhance aqueous solubilities of a large number of poorly water-soluble drugs. In the present investigation hydrotropic solubilization technique has been employed to solubilize poorly water-soluble aspirin (analgesic and antipyretic drug) by 0.5 M ibuprofen sodium solution to carry out titrimetric analysis of aspirin in tablet dosage form. Results of analysis by proposed method and Phamacopoeial method are very comparable. Proposed method is new, rapid, simple, accurate, and reproducible. Statistical data proved the accuracy, reproducibility and the precision of proposed method.