Orthodontic treatment needs of children with high caries using Index for Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontic Needs (IPION).

AIM: This study aimed to use the Index for Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontic Treatment Needs (IPION) in high caries children and to investigate the IPION components that differentiate level of preventive and interceptive orthodontic treatment need (P&I Tx need). METHODS: A sample of 202 children (8-9 years of age) was randomly selected from the schools in urban and rural areas in Songkhla Province, Southern Thailand. Dental models, intra-oral photographs, and the examination of oral function were collected and the P&I Tx need was determined according to IPION. Chi-square or Fisher's exact test were performed to test the difference in proportions of each component of IPION among levels of P&I Tx need. RESULTS: Almost all children (96.0%) needed preventive and interceptive orthodontic treatment. The characteristics that were significantly different among P&I Tx need groups were primary molar proximal caries, anterior crossbite, lower permanent molar tipping, and abnormal molar relationship (p < 0.05). The major part of the IPION scores in the definite treatment need group came from caries, early loss, and crossbite. CONCLUSIONS: The P&I Tx need in this group of children was very high. Primary molar proximal caries, anterior crossbite, lower permanent molar tipping, and abnormal molar relationship were the dominant factors that indicated P&I Tx need in these children.

School-based intervention for improving the oral health of children in southern Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: A two-year study assessed the benefit of an enhanced oral health promotion program combined with a closely supervised tooth brushing program in schools, using toothpaste containing 1,450 ppm F- and 1.5% arginine, on oral health and dental caries. METHODS: 15 southern Thailand schools and 3,706 pre-school children were recruited: 8 schools with 1,766 children as controls; 7 schools with 1,940 children in the intervention groups. Of the intervention schools five were classified as cooperative school and two as non-cooperative schools, based on the criteria of 80% participation in the prescribed tooth brushing activities. RESULTS: The DMFT and DMFS increments ("enamel and dentine") were 1.19 and 1.91 for the control group and 1.04 and 1.59 for the intervention groups. These represent 12.6% and 16.8% reductions in caries respectively. The DMFT and DMFS increments ("dentine threshold") were 0.26 and 0.44 for the control group and 0.19 and 0.29 for the intervention group, representing 26.9%, and 34.1% reductions in caries incidence respectively. For the more cooperative schools the benefits were greater: up to a 40.9% reduction in caries for DMFS ("dentine threshold"). At the 24 month examination there were significant improvements in dental plaque scores with greater improvements seen in the intervention group, greater still in the cooperative schools. CONCLUSIONS: This study documents the positive effect from use of fluoridated toothpaste (1,450 ppm F- and 1.5% arginine) administered by schoolteachers and undertaken via an enhanced school oral health program. Optimising oral health interventions for young children in Thai schools may have a significant impact on caries incidence resulting in reductions of up to 34% reductions in caries for all schools included in the study and up to 41% for the most cooperative.

Lactobacillus species and genotypes associated with dental caries in Thai preschool children.

Lactobacilli have been associated with the presence and progression of dental caries. Nevertheless, the relation between certain species or genotypes of Lactobacillus and caries is unclear and there are no data available for the Thai population. This study aimed to examine the distribution of species and genotypes of oral Lactobacillus among children with rather high caries prevalence, and to investigate whether certain species or genotypes were more related to caries activity than others. One hundred and sixty-five children were examined for caries status. Saliva samples were collected and the numbers of lactobacilli were counted. A total of 357 Lactobacillus isolates from 59 children were identified to species level by 16S ribosomal RNA genes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) -restriction fragment length polymorphism and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Furthermore, 304 isolates from 56 children were genotyped using arbitrarily primed PCR. Significant correlation was found between levels of lactobacilli and dental caries (P < 0.001). Among the 10 identified species of Lactobacillus, L. salivarius was more prevalent in children with moderate to high caries prevalence compared with children with low caries prevalence, while L. fermentum was the most predominant species in all study groups. Moreover, a genetic heterogeneity of Lactobacillus species was found among the children and those with high caries prevalence tended to be colonized with more than one clonal type. In summary, L. salivarius may be a putative caries pathogen among preschool Thai children.

Partial pulpotomy on caries-free teeth using enamel matrix derivative or calcium hydroxide: a randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To compare the effect of enamel matrix derivative (EMD) and calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)(2)] on exposed human pulp. METHODOLOGY: Fifteen pairs of human contralateral premolars were intentionally and partially pulpotomized. The exposed pulps were randomly capped with either EMDgel (Emdogain) or a mix of Ca(OH)(2) and sterile water. The subjects recorded pain or discomfort during the first 10 days and were also interviewed and examined by a blinded examiner at 1 day, 2 weeks, 3 and 6 months post-operation. Periapical radiographs were taken prior to the operation, and 3 and 6 months post-operation. After 6 months, the teeth were extracted and processed for histological evaluation. The data were described and analysed using McNemar test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS: The EMDgel-treated teeth had significantly less tooth hypersensitivity than the Ca(OH)(2)-treated teeth during the first 2 weeks (P = 0.031) but were not significantly different after 2 weeks (P = 0.125). No detectable periapical radiographic changes were observed in any teeth and radiographic evidence of dentine bridge formation from both groups were not significantly different during the follow-up periods (P > 0.05). Histological evaluation demonstrated that the Ca(OH)(2)-treated teeth had less inflammation and more dentine bridge formation than those in the EMDgel-treated teeth. CONCLUSIONS: After 6 months, healthy pulps capped with Ca(OH)(2) had more favourable results than counterparts capped with EMDgel. However, similar clinical and radiographic results were seen in both groups.

Risks for early childhood caries analyzed by negative binomial models.

Because of the high incidence of early childhood caries (ECC), a longitudinal study to identify risk factors from the prenatal period to the child's first birthday among 9- to 18-month-old children was conducted with negative binomial modeling. Overall, 495 children had dental examinations at ages 9, 12, and 18 months. Mothers were interviewed during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy and when the children had dental examinations. The highest incidence of caries was found among children who were born to mothers with >or= 10 decayed teeth and who never received calcium supplements during pregnancy, and children who were not fed supplementary foods at age 3 months, had sweet-tasting foods at 5 months, started snacking at 5 months, had sugary snacks, had soft drinks, and did not have their teeth brushed daily at 9 months. Thus, prenatal care and child-rearing-practices during and after birth are important risk factors for the incidence and incremental rate of ECC.

Longitudinal study of the presence of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in relation to dental caries development in 3-24 month old Thai children.

OBJECTIVE: To study the acquisition of mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli in relation to dental caries development in 3-24 month old Thai children. METHODS: Salivary samples were collected from 169 children using sterile wooden tongue depressors at the ages of 3, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months. The blades were pressed onto selective media for MS or lactobacilli. After incubation, the colony forming units of MS/lactobacilli were counted. Dental status was recorded from 9 months old using modified WHO criteria. RESULTS: The number of children with caries and number and severity of decayed teeth significantly increased with age. The presence of MS/lactobacilli was detectable at an early age and the cumulative prevalence of MS/lactobacilli increased with age. Children who were colonised early by MS or lactobacilli showed a higher number of decayed teeth than of those who were colonised later. The children with no MS/lactobacilli had significantly fewer decayed teeth and there was a significant correlation between MS/lactobacilli level and tooth decay. CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal study shows early colonisation of the mouths of Thai children by MS/lactobacilli and where there are persistently high levels of the bacterias increased risk of development of dental caries.

Comparison of proximal caries detection in primary teeth between laser fluorescence and bitewing radiography.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this in vitro study were to: (1) compare the accuracy of a laser fluorescence system (DIAGNOdent) in proximal caries diagnosis in primary teeth with that of bitewing radiography, using the histological examination as a gold standard; and (2) evaluate the reliability of the DIAGNOdent examination. METHODS: Included were 107 extracted primary molars without obvious cavities on proximal surfaces. The teeth were examined by 2 examiners using DIAGNOdent directly on the lesions (without contact; ie, proximal surfaces were not in contact with other teeth) and indirectly (with contact; ie, proximal surfaces were in contact with adjacent teeth). To simulate contacting teeth, the studied surface was set adjacent to a sound surface in a wax base. The contacting teeth were also diagnosed using bitewing radiography. Results of the diagnoses were compared with a histological gold standard. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each diagnostic system. Inter- and intraexaminer reliabilities of DIAGNOdent were calculated using intraclass correlation (ICC). RESULTS: At the dentine caries (D3) level, the sensitivities of bitewing radiography (with contacting teeth) and DIAGNOdent with and without contacting teeth (direct application) were 0.41, 0.85 and 0.93, respectively, and the specificities were 1, 0.89, and 0.87, respectively. Both inter- and intraexaminer reliabilities using DIAGNOdent with and without contacting teeth (direct application) were very high (ICC=0.97 to 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability of DIAGNOdent is very high and its diagnostic validity (sum of sensitivity and specificity) is higher than that of bitewing radiography for proximal caries detection in primary teeth.