Evaluation of RURS elbow guard in the management of thumb-sucking habit in children with and without intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: Digit sucking is a common oral habit among many children, which involves placing the thumb/finger into the mouth, which can cause malocclusion in mixed and permanent dentition. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of the RURS elbow guard in the management of thumb-sucking habits in children with intellectual disabilities and those without in terms of the mean duration of appliance therapy. The secondary objective was to compare the RURS elbow guard with an intraoral crib in healthy children (without intellectual disabilities) to manage the habit of thumb-sucking. DESIGN: Children with intellectual disabilities and those without between the age of 4 and 16 years were included in the study and categorised into three groups, namely group I (50 normal children; intraoral crib appliance), group II (50 normal children; RURS elbow guard) and group III (50 children with intellectual disabilities; RURS elbow guard). RESULTS: The mean duration of appliance therapy for groups I, II and III were 200.20 ± 20.43 days, 204.34 ± 20.56 days, and 218.43 ± 15.66 days, respectively (p < 0.001). The differences in the mean duration between group I and group II were statistically non-significant, with statistically significant differences between group I and group III (p < 0.001) and between group II and group III (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The RURS elbow guard was found to be an efficient appliance in treating thumb-sucking among children who had mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. RURS elbow guard was equally efficient as an intraoral crib appliance in managing thumb-sucking habits in children without intellectual disabilities.

Micronutrients and Their Role in Oral Cancer: A Review.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death across the world. Oral cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer in the world. The incidence of oral cancer increases with the increase in the consumption of carcinogens such as tobacco and alcohol as seen in south and southeast Asia. Oral cancer is seen to arise from pre-existing leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis. Antioxidants have been hypothesized to be chemopreventive agents for several cancers. Micronutrients such as zinc, copper and selenium, along with antioxidants are required for the production of various enzymes that help prevent DNA damage caused by free radicals.

Amlodipine-induced Gingival Hyperplasia - A Case Report and Review.

Anticonvulsants, antihypertensive calcium channel blockers and immunosuppressants are the three main classes of drugs known to cause drug-induced gingival hypertrophy or hyperplasia. Among the calcium channel blockers, nifedipine administration has most frequently been associated with medication-related gingival hyperplasia. The incidence with amlodipine, which has a mode of action pharmacodynamically comparable to nifedipine, has rarely been reported. Here, we present a rare case of amlodipine-induced gingival hyperplasia in a hypertensive patient.

Needle in a haystack: Intraoperative breakage of pediatric minimal access surgery instruments.

The search for tiny bits of broken pediatric minimal access surgery (MAS) instruments in an operative field is akin to the search for a needle in a haystack. With the extension of MAS to the pediatric age group, instruments are becoming smaller and equitably more prone to breakage. When breakages occur, retrieval, especially in the pediatric abdominal cavity, can be challenging. Inability to do so would affect patient safety and also lead to a web of medico legal and ethical issues. We present two cases of intraoperative breakage: An eyeless 3-0 polyamide suture needle and a 2-mm grasper blade both of which were successfully retrieved and fortuitously escaped becoming retained surgical items.

Wetting characteristics of addition silicon materials subjected to immersion disinfection--an in-vitro study.

An in-vitro study was conducted to assess wetting characteristic of four brands of addition silicon materials subjected to immersion disinfection using four different disinfectants. Among the non-disinfected specimens, the lowest contact angle was recorded for Aquasil ultra (21.63), followed by Imprint II (29.06), Aquasil LV (44.10) and Take 1 (44.55). While 5.25% phenol increased the contact angle of all the silicon materials; 0.05% iodophor increased the angle of Take 1 and Imprint II and 0.5% sodium hypochlorite increased the angle of Imprint II and decreased for Aquasil ultra. However, 2% glutaraldehyde did not significantly change the contact angle of any of the four impression materials.

Periodontitis as a risk factor for cerebrovascular accident: a case-control study in the Indian population.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic infections have been reported to be risk factors for coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke. However, the association of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke with periodontal disease, which is also a chronic inflammatory disease, needs to be evaluated. The present case-control study was designed to determine if an association exists between periodontal disease and cerebrovascular accident in the Indian population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This case-control study consisted of 200 subjects (100 cases and 100 controls) who were 33-68 years of age. Cases were examined within 5 d after their first acute ischemic attack. Clinical parameters recorded included plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment loss. The medical questionnaire collected information on family history of stroke, dietary history, history of smoking and history of alcohol consumption. Cases were additionally scrutinized for diabetes, hypertension and total serum cholesterol level. The education level of patients was also considered. RESULTS: The mean plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment loss values of subjects with cerebrovascular accident were significantly higher when compared with those of the control group (p < 0.05). In fully adjusted logistic regression analysis, a probing pocket depth of > 4.5 mm was found to be the most significant factor for stroke (odds ratio = 8.5; confidence interval = 1.1-68.2) followed by hypertension (odds ratio = 7.6; confidence interval = 3.3-17.1) and smoking (odds ratio = 3.1; confidence interval = 1.3-7.4). CONCLUSION: The data from this study support the proposed link between periodontitis and cerebrovascular accident in the Indian population. However, further studies are necessary to verify and quantify the role of oral infections and genetic factors in the process of atherosclerosis.

"An exophytic mandibular brown tumor": an unusual presentation of primary hyperparathyroidism.

CASE REPORT: A case of 35-year-old male patient with previously undiagnosed primary hyperparathyroidism who presented with an atypical exophytic mandibular swelling is reported. PURPOSE: The aim is to alert the clinicians to include this entity although extremely rare, in the differential diagnosis of swellings in the maxillofacial region and to highlight another remarkable aspect in the multitude of presentations associated with primary hyperparathyroidism especially in the setting of normocalcemia.

Orofacial haemangiopericytoma--a rare case.

Haemangiopericytoma is an uncommon vascular tumour that originates from small pericapillary spindle-shaped cells. Clinical diagnosis of such a lesion is an extremely challenging task because there are very few detailed reports of such lesions and one would hardly think of a diagnosis such as haemangiopericytoma while examining a lesion. We report here a case of haemangiopericytoma arising from the infratemporal fossa involving the orbit, the lateral wall of the nasal cavity, the maxillary sinus, the maxillary alveolar process and the ethmoidal sinus. The clinical features, radiological findings and differential diagnoses to be considered, and the available treatment options, are discussed in this case report.

Mesocolic hernia: an unusual internal hernia.

Internal hernia may be either congenital or acquired. Its incidence has been reported to be 1-2%. Herniation may be persistent or intermittent. Internal hernia is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction with a reported incidence of 0.2-0.9%. The most common type is paraduodenal. Less common types include mesocolic hernia, which occurs following abdominal surgery. We report mesocolic hernias in two young patients, which presented as small bowel obstruction without any prior abdominal surgery.

Oral habits in children--a prevalence study.

This epidemiological study was conducted upon 4,590 school children to find the prevalence of oral habits in Mangalore in relation to their age and sex and to find the correlation, if any, between the habits and the malocclusion status. We noted that 29.7% of the population had habits of which 3. 1% had digit sucking, 4.6% mouth breathing, 3.02% tongue thrusting, 6.2% bruxism, 6% lip/cheek biting, 12.7% nail biting, 9.8% pencil biting and 0. 09% masochistic habits respectively. Digit sucking, pencil biting and tongue thrust were highly prevalent among Group 1 (3-6 years) children. Mouth breathing and bruxism were significant in Group 2 (7-12 years) cases whereas lip/cheek biting and nail biting were more common in Group 3 (13-16 years) cases. Digit sucking, tongue thrust, mouth breathing and bruxism were more prevalent among the boys whereas lip/cheek biting, nail biting and pencil biting were more prevalent among the girls. 28.95% of the children in Group 2 and 3 with habits had malocclusion. There was a significant correlation between class I type 2, class II div 1 and tongue thrust and mouth breathing whereas children with digit sucking showed a high correlation with class I type 2 malocclusion.