Dental Caries and Dental Anomalies in Children Undergoing Chemotherapy for Malignant Diseases.

Purpose: The study aims to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries and anomalies in pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy or those who have completed chemotherapy. Methods: A total of 250 pediatric patients within the age group of 6 months to 17 years, either admitted to hospitals for chemotherapy or on follow-up, were included as a part of the study. Complete oral examination inclusive of the diet history, oral hygiene methods, past dental history, the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), def score, and any dental anomaly was diagnosed clinically and radiographically using an orthopantomogram. The samples were further categorized under type of malignancies and duration of chemotherapeutic drug usage groups (from 6 months to 10 years and more than 10 years) to establish a correlation of these variables with the prevalence of dental caries and dental anomalies. Results: Among all patients, 108 (43.2%) had completed the treatment (chemotherapy), while 142 (56.8%) were undergoing the treatment. Forty-three (17.2%) patients showed positive findings for dental anomalies. Conclusion: The present study confirms the strong positive correlation between long-term exposure to chemotherapeutic agents and the prevalence of dental anomalies and dental caries in children. How to cite this article: Talekar AL, Musale PK, Kothare SS. Dental Caries and Dental Anomalies in Children Undergoing Chemotherapy for Malignant Diseases. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2022;15(4):428-432.

Ex Vivo Assessment of Natural Teeth Wear against Zirconia and Novel Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Composite Crowns in Primary Teeth by a Three-Dimensional Assessment Method.

OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of the study was to assess the material wear, antagonistic natural primary teeth wear, and microhardness of zirconia (ZR), a recently launched novel glass-fiber-reinforced composite crown (GFRC). The research question was, are these aesthetic crowns resulting in antagonistic natural primary tooth wear and the crown material itself? METHODS: Forty-five primary canines were divided into three groups (15 per group) and mounted against Zr (Group A), GFRC (Group B), and natural teeth as control (Group C) in the wear test machine. All samples were assessed for surface wear with pre- and post-3-dimensional scanning. In addition, microhardness was assessed for all three groups. RESULTS: The mean microhardness value for the Zr disc was 1157 ± 7 HV; for the GFRC disc, it was 29.35 ± 2 HV; while with natural teeth, it was 105 ± 4 HV. There was a statistically significant difference in teeth wear in the prescan and postscan in the natural tooth (p < 0.05) group, highly significant difference (p < 0.001) in the ZR group, and no significant difference in the GFRC group. CONCLUSION: There is more significant wear loss of glass-fiber-reinforced composite discs as compared to zirconia. In addition, the wear of the antagonistic tooth with zirconia and natural teeth is more remarkable than with GFRC. There is a vast difference of microhardness between natural teeth and zirconia (almost 10 times higher) which suggests further scope of study. Clinical Relevance. Pediatric dentistry deals with the transition of dentition from primary to permanent through mixed dentition. Selection of restorative material needs to be done cautiously when we are dealing with primary teeth and young permanent teeth as antagonistic teeth. Wear of the crown material itself and opposing natural teeth are essential factors that should be considered in selecting crowns in clinical practice. The present study results can be extrapolated to clinical practice, and the practitioner can consider various factors in selecting full-coverage crowns for primary teeth. The vast difference in aesthetic crowns and natural teeth microhardness indicates a further need for research. Additionally, there is no literature published for the recently launched GFRCs.

Comparative assessment of dentin removal following hand and rotary instrumentation in primary molars using cone-beam computed tomography.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric endodontics has witnessed many advances in recent years, thus facilitating a faster and efficient treatment option in root canal therapy in children. This in vitro evaluation aims to determine the amount of dentin removal in primary mandibular first and second molars instrumented with hand and rotary files using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHOD: Sixty primary mandibular molars were divided into two groups: Group I was prepared by manual instrumentation using K-type files and Group II was prepared with rotary instrumentation using 0.04 Hero Shaper Classics. Both these groups were further divided into two subgroups, namely (a) primary mandibular first molar and (b) primary mandibular second molar. All the root canals were prepared up to size 30 using the stepback technique. They were mounted on silicone-based impression material and subjected to CBCT scans for the evaluation of dentin removal before and after instrumentation. Dentin removal was calculated by superimposing images using the InVivo 5.1 Anatomage software. Data were statistically analyzed using independent samples t- test. RESULTS: An average amount of dentin removed was found to be significantly higher in manual instrumentation compared to rotary instrumentation in both primary mandibular first and second molars (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Rotary technique serves as an efficient alternative to the traditional manual instrumentation by overcoming its shortcomings in terms of conservation of the remaining dentin thickness and the time required for its preparation.

Mineral trioxide aggregate pulpotomy: patient selection and perspectives.

This narrative aims at reviewing the available literature for mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy to understand the procedure better and eventually improve the clinical and radiographic outcomes. An electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane, ScienceDirect and ClinicalKey databases with the following keywords: MTA pulpotomy, clinical outcomes, radiographic outcomes, primary teeth. No specific inclusion or exclusion criteria were applied as to what articles would be included in this review. The time period for the search began from 2001 with respect to MTA pulpotomy. However, this was not restrictive during the search. MTA pulpotomy has been a successful treatment modality in primary molars with proven success over the years. There is limited literature to support its success in primary incisors.