Investigating the effect of handedness on the dental caries pattern, gingival index, and plaque index in 6-10 years old children.

BACKGROUND: Handedness is one of the individual characteristics that causes different mental and practical capabilities including different abilities to perform oral hygiene instructions. It seems that the right-handed and left-handed individuals have different ability in brushing and removing plaque at different areas of the mouth. AIMS: To investigate the effect of handedness on decay pattern, gingival index, and plaque index in 6-10 years old children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, children 6-10 years of age who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected. Dental caries and plaque and gingival indices were also measured and recorded for each child. Then the relationship between the handedness and the recorded variables was evaluated. Independent t-test and nonparametric Mann-Whitney test were used for the statistical comparison of quantitative variables between two right-handed and left-handed groups and Chi-square test was used for the statistical comparison of qualitative variables between these two groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. RESULTS: The results showed that there was no significant relationship between any of the variables with being left- or right-handed. A significant relationship was observed only between the lowest plaque index and handedness (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A relationship cannot be considered between the handedness of children and their oral health status.

Evaluation of the effect of honey on the healing of tooth extraction wounds in 4- to 9-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the this study was to evaluate the effect of honey on the healing of tooth extraction wounds in children 4‒9 years of age. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In the present randomized clinical trial, 51 patients, 4‒9 years of age were selected randomly. All the subjects required extraction of one deciduous molar tooth. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. In group 1, after extraction of the tooth, the dentist used a cotton swab applicator to place a layer of honey on a piece of gauze moistened with normal saline solution (NSS) and placed it on the socket. In group 2, honey was not used; rather, NSS was applied. On days 3 and 7 after tooth extraction, the wound sizes were measured. RESULTS: In both groups, the wound sizes decreased significantly on the third day compared with baseline and on the seventh day compared with the third day (P < 0.05). On the third and seventh days after tooth extraction, wound sizes in the honey group were significantly lower than those in the NSS group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Honey resulted in a decrease in wound sizes and faster healing after extraction of teeth in children. Therefore, use of honey can be recommended after minor surgeries in the oral cavity.

An in-vitro comparison of visual inspection, bite-wing radiography, and laser fluorescence methods for the diagnosis of occlusal caries.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare accuracy and reproducibility of visual inspection (VI), bitewing (BW) radiography, and laser fluorescence (LF, DIANOdent) methods in the diagnosis of occlusal caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was done on 80 extracted permanent premolars that seem to be intact or with primary caries in fissures. Three trained dentist examined the teeth in four stages: VI, BW radiography, LF, and histologic examination. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of all methods were calculated and compared. For the LF method, using ROC curve and counterpart points on it, we determined upper and lower limits and calculated the parameters. RESULTS: The estimated accuracy was 58.9% for VI and 45.1% for BW radiography methods. Kappa coefficient for interexaminer reproducibility was 57% and 34.1% in VI and BW radiography, respectively. Inter- and intraexaminer reproducibility coefficients of LF methods were 78.4% and 83.6%, respectively. The mean intraexaminer reproducibility coefficient in the VI method was 61.2%. CONCLUSION: Although accuracy and reproducibility of the LF method were higher than those of the VI and BW radiography, it is better to use this method together with other methods to reduce diagnostic faults.

Predicting the size of unerupted canines and premolars using primary maxillary first molar.

AIM: One of the most important aspects of interceptive orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning is space analysis. To date all methods use the size of permanent teeth to predict the dimensions of unerupted teeth. The aim of this study was to predict the permanent teeth size using maxillary primary first molar. METHODS: The size of primary maxillary first molars and permanent canines and premolars of 80 subjects was measured on their dental casts. Regression equations were determined between the size of primary maxillary first molars and permanent canines and premolars. RESULTS: The new regression equations for predicting permanent tooth size in the maxilla and mandible were, respectively, Y = 2.2X + 13 and Y = 2.4X + 9.5 among females and Y = 2.7X + 5.5 and Y = 2.4X + 9.5 among males. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the primary maxillary first molar size can be used to predict the size of unerupted permanent teeth.