Oral impacts on daily performance: Validity, reliability and prevalence estimates among Indian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Dental diseases negatively influence people's oral health-related quality of life and thus their perceived need for dental care. OBJECTIVES: To test the validity and reliability of an Indian version of Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) index for college students and to identify age and sex-specific OIDP prevalence estimates. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 800 professional and non-professional bachelor degree college students of Udaipur, India aged between 17 and 24 years. Oral health-related quality of life among the college students was assessed through OIDP, tested for validity and reliability and then prevalence rates were estimated. Chi square test was employed for statistical analysis. Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.82. RESULTS: Sixty percent subjects reported at least one oral impact in last 6 months with overall mean OIDP score of 2.49±3.92. The most commonly affected performances were cleaning teeth (24%) and eating (12%). A significant association in oral impacts on daily performances among college students was observed with age (P=.001) but not with gender (P=.053). CONCLUSIONS: The validity and reliability of OIDP and also the prevalence of oral health-related impacts were found to be high. OIDP index showed acceptable psychometric properties in the context of an oral health survey among Indian college students.

Feeding practices and early childhood caries among preschool children of Bhubaneswar, India.

PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) in preschool children of Bhubaneswar city and to determine its relationship with feeding practices and socio-economic status of the family. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 320 preschool children aged 3 to 6 years from randomly selected preschools of Bhubaneswar. A structured questionnaire was filled by parents for each child. Clinical examination included the recording of dental caries (dmft) using WHO criteria. Chi-square test and ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Mean age of the study population was 4.26 ± 1.035 years. Prevalence of ECC was 37.2%, and the mean dmft was 2.40 ± 1.86. Children whose mother had no schooling (61.1%) and belonged to middle class (38.2%) showed higher caries prevalence which was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Children who were bottle fed at night and consumed in between meal snacks had higher caries (53.6% and 43.1%, respectively) which was significant. CONCLUSIONS: ECC is a serious public health problem in this population that requires considerable efforts of early detection and treatment along with successful preventive strategies to decrease the same.

Effectiveness of chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), MTAD and sodium hypochlorite irrigants on smear layer.

BACKGROUND: Endodontic success depends heavily on effective chemo-mechanical debridement of root canals through the use of instruments and irrigating solutions. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of chamomile hydroalcoholic extract, Biopure™ mixture of tetracycline isomer, acid and detergent (MTAD) and 2.5 % sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) on removal of the smear layer. STUDY DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. METHODS: Thirty extracted single-rooted, primary human teeth were allocated at random into three experimental groups of 10 teeth each. For each tooth, the canal was prepared using the step-back technique. During instrumentation, 2 ml of the irrigant was used for at least 10 s after each file and 10 ml as a final flush for 2 min for chamomile and NaOCL irrigants. Whereas for MTAD, an initial rinse with 1.3 % NaOCl for a cumulated period of 20 min, and use of MTAD as the final rinse for a period of 5 min was followed. Longitudinal grooves were made on root segments, then split into two halves with a chisel, stored in 2.5 % glutaraldehyde solution and fixed in ethanol series. Specimens were examined for the smear layer according to Hulsmann et al. (Int Endod J 35:668-679, 2002) criteria using a scanning electron microscope. STATISTICS: Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used. RESULTS: The most effective result in removal of smear layer occurred with the use of MTAD, followed by chamomile extract. The chamomile extract was found to be significantly more effective than 2.5 % NaOCl solution which had only minor effects. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of chamomile to remove the smear layer was superior to 2.5 % NaOCl alone, but less effective than MTAD mixture.

Hemodynamic, ventilator, and ECG changes in pediatric patients undergoing extraction.

BACKGROUND: Dental treatment induces pain anxiety and fear. This study was conducted to assess the changes in hemodynamic, ventilator, and electrocardiograph changes during extraction procedure among 12-15-year-old children and compare these changes with anxiety, fear, and pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A purposive sample of 60 patients selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria underwent study procedure in the dental OPD of a medical college and hospital. The anxiety, fear, and pain were recorded by dental anxiety scale, dental fear scale, and visual analogue scale, respectively, before the start of the procedure. The systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and electrocardiogram changes were monitored during the extraction procedure. The recording was taken four times (preinjection phase, injection, extraction, and postextraction) and was analyzed. RESULTS: At the preinjection phase the mean vales were systolic blood pressure (128 ± 11.2), diastolic blood pressure (85.7 ± 6.3), heart rate (79.7 ± 9.3), and oxygen saturation (97.9 ± 5.8). These values increased in injection phases and decreased in extraction phase and the least values were found after 10 min of procedure and this relation was significant for all parameters except oxygen saturation (P = 0.48, NS). ECG abnormalities were seen among 22 patients and were significant before and after injection of Local anesthetic (P = 0.0001, S). CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety, fear, and pain have an effect on hemodynamic, ventilator, and cardiovascular parameters during the extraction procedure and hence behavioral management has to be emphasized among children in dental clinics.

Oral health promoting factors: a preliminary survey on knowledge, attitude and practise among caregivers in Udaipur, India.

AIM: To assess the level and determine the relationship between knowledge, attitudes and practices related to oral health promoting factors among secondary caregivers attending day-care centres. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive survey. METHODS: A survey was conducted among 110 caregivers in Udaipur. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire addressing aspects of knowledge, attitudes and practises of oral health promoting factors in children. RESULTS: Caregivers age, education and duration of employment were significantly associated with knowledge, attitude and practise scores (p ≤ 0.05). Primary job option and number of children under care were significantly associated with practise scores. A positive relationship was found between the average knowledge, attitude and practise scores of respondents, but this was not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05). STATISTICS: General Linear Model (GLM) with Bonferroni post hoc was used for statistical analysis. CONCLUSION: Good understanding of caregiver knowledge and attitude is essential for oral health promotion efforts to be effective.

Assessment of periodontal status and treatment needs among 12 and 15 years old school children in Udaipur, India.

AIM: To assess and compare the periodontal status and treatment needs among school children aged 12 and 15 years in public and private schools of Udaipur, India and to provide baseline data for planning and evaluation of oral health care promotion programmes. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive survey. METHODS: A survey was conducted on 900 school children aged 12 and 15 years in Udaipur. The data were collected by means of clinical examination using the CPITN index. STATISTICS: Data was analysed using Pearson's Chi-square and student's t-test. RESULTS: Children aged 15 years had higher scores of healthy gingiva compared with 12 years old. Gender difference of females having better gingival health than males was seen in both age groups. Amongst the schools, children in private schools had good periodontal status in comparison to public schools. A statistically significant association between frequency of tooth brushing and CPITN scores was found among children of the 15 year old group. CONCLUSION: There is a need for a long term school oral health promotion program to sustain the healthy tissues of this growing Indian population.

Barriers to the utilization of dental services in udaipur, India.

OBJECTIVE: Regular home care and yearly dental check-ups are the best means of dental care. In spite of the information on dental care, many people fail to take these precautions. The objective of this study was to determine the barriers in regular dental care and home care and to assess their association with age, sex, education and income. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 427 randomly selected individuals, 248 males and 179 females. Data were collected by a pre-tested, self-administered 14 question questionnaire. The answer "very much" was scored as one, "to some degree" as two and "not at all" as three. The data was described and analyzed by frequency distribution and chi square test with P<0.05 level of significance. Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between dental visits with age, sex and education. Correlation between income and dental visits was determined by Spearman's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The male group had more dental visits (P>0.05), but females experienced higher dental fear (P<0.001). The younger age group had more visits within one year in comparison to the older. Increase in education, decreases the barriers for regular dental care. Income had a significantly negative correlation with dental visit (P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that males believed in having regular dental care. Cost of the treatment also affected the dental visits, but the distance they had to travel to get the dental treatment was not much significant. Above all, felt need had a major impact on the dental visits.