Oral health status and treatment needs of Iruligas at Ramanagara District, Karnataka, India.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the oral health status and treatment needs of Iruliga tribal community residing at Ramanagara District, Karnataka, India. METHODS: The total population of 2605 Iruligas residing at 26 villages of Ramanagara District was included for the study. Data were collected using World Health Organization (WHO) 1997 'Oral Health Assessment Form'. Examination was done under good natural light using a mouth mirror and community periodontal index (CPI) probe. RESULTS: The total study population was 2605, comprising 1545 males and 1060 females in the age group of 1-80 years with the mean age of 30.56 +/- 19.51. The majority of Iruligas (79.8%) used chew sticks as an oral hygiene aid. Subjects with leukoplakia were found to be 3 (0.12). The most commonly seen enamel opacity/hypoplasia was diffuse opacity affecting 930 (35.7%) subjects. A mild form of dental fluorosis affected 1658 (63.65%) subjects. Subjects with bleeding were only 4.22%; subjects with calculus were 57.9%; those with shallow pockets (4-5 mm) were 22.0% and subjects with deep pockets (> or = 6 mm) were 3.67%. The prevalence of dental caries among Iruligas was found to be 7.52%. The mean number of decayed, missing, filled (DMF) permanent teeth per person was 0.55 +/- 0.1. Definite malocclusion, which required elective treatment, was noted in 14.1%. Iruligas with need for referral were found to be 29.94% (n = 780) according to the various treatment needs required for different oral diseases. CONCLUSION: This study revealed less prevalence of oral diseases among Iruligas, highlighting the role of good oral health practices prevalent among this isolated population.

A model for selection and assessment of community-based sites for dental students' extramural clinical experiences.

As a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson's Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education grant, the Extramural Education Program (EEP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry was charged with developing partnerships with community-based oral health programs throughout Illinois. These programs are to be used for clinical service-learning rotations for fourth-year dental students, relying on the utilization of the dentists employed at the community site as preceptors for the students. Because the College of Dentistry had essentially no community-based service-learning experiences prior to the Robert Wood Johnson grant, procedures and protocols needed to be developed to standardize a process for site and preceptor selection. An administrative process was developed to engage, recruit, and partner with community-based oral health programs that provided direct clinical services. This article will discuss the development of criteria used to select sites and preceptors for extramural clinical rotations; the development of a set of standardized assessment instruments; and the credentialing process for community-based adjunct faculty that leads to the affiliation agreements. These community-based rotations have been integrated into the College of Dentistry curriculum as a required extramural service-learning course referred to as Extramural Clinical Experience (DADM 325).

An audit of general dental practitioners' referral practice following the distribution of third molar guidelines.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery waiting lists are amongst the longest of any surgical specialty. The majority of patients on these waiting lists have been referred for removal of their third molars (wisdom teeth). With increasing pressure to reduce the size of both out-patient and surgical waiting lists, it is important to ensure that only those patients with a recognised clinical need are referred and accepted for treatment. In April 1998, local general dental practitioners were issued guidelines for the management of patients with impacted third molars. This paper describes an audit that assessed the impact of this intervention. The results suggest that referral guidelines are an effective means of changing general dental practitioners' referral practice and that, used along with other strategies, could be effective in reducing oral and maxillofacial surgery out-patient and surgical waiting lists.

Quality assurance practices in the community dental services within the North and South Thames Regions.

The aim of this study was to describe the progress of implementing Quality Assurance (QA) programmes within the Community Dental Services (CDS) in the North and South Thames Regions. Nearly 70 per cent of CDS managers responded to the survey questionnaire. The results indicate that although definite progress has been achieved in most services, further progress is being limited by a lack of co-operation between different departments and the minimal support and guidance being given to those responsible for the management and development of the QA programmes.

The relationship between registration and dental health benefit in 8- and 9-year-old children in Cheshire.

The dental treatment needs of 8- and 9-year-old children registered with a GDP for at least 6 months were compared with the dental treatment needs of children from a similar social background who were neither registered nor regularly attending the Community Dental Service. The children were examined by one of the authors without prior knowledge of registration status for evidence of treatment need. Unequivocal treatment need was defined as untreated dental caries in permanent teeth, sepsis associated with deciduous teeth, instanding maxillary incisors, and untreated permanent teeth fractured into dentine; untreated caries in the deciduous teeth was also recorded. Registration status of the children was subsequently obtained from the Dental Practice Board. Sixty-three per cent of the children had been registered with a GDP for at least 6 months at the time of the survey, 6% had been registered for less than 6 months and 31% had never been registered under the new dental contract. Of the children who had been registered for more than 6 months, 18.5% had unequivocal treatment need as against 17.5% in the unregistered group; 40.4% of the registered children had decay in their deciduous teeth, as against 36.5% of the unregistered children. Comparison of the dental treatment needs of registered and unregistered children showed no significant difference between the two groups.