The effect of early childhood caries on chewing function and tolerated food texture levels in preschool children.

BACKGROUND: The early form of caries can affect solid food consumption. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of oral health status on chewing performance, and tolerated food texture among preschool children suffering from early childhood caries (ECC). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 109 children aged between 3 and 6 years, who were allocated to three groups (severe-ECC (s-ECC), ECC and control) on the basis of their caries. Chewing function was evaluated by using the 'Karaduman Chewing Performance Scale (KCPS)' and the Turkish version of the 'Mastication Observation and Evaluation instrument (T-MOE)', and the tolerated food texture was determined by the 'International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative (IDDSI)'. Carious lesions, oral hygiene and gingival health status were evaluated by using the 'decayed, missing, filled tooth/surface indices (dmft/s)', 'plaque and gingival indices'; respectively. RESULTS: A total of 56 children (51.4%) had s-ECC, 39 (35.8%) had ECC and 14 (12.8%) had no caries (control group). KCPS showed that 26 (86.7%) children suffering from s-ECC were at level 1, and 11 (100%) children were at level 2. Seven (100%) children with s-ECC had IDDSI level-5. All children with healthy oral status had IDSSI level-7. Compared to the ECC and control groups, the s-ECC group had significantly lower scores from the T-MOE total and subscale scores (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The evaluation of chewing performance during routine dental examinations of children with ECC (especially s-ECC) may considerably contribute to the early diagnosis of chewing problems and the provision of necessary oral rehabilitation.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of dysphagia clinicians regarding oral health-An international study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of dysphagia clinicians regarding oral health care. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: An 11-question and 37-statement survey inquiring the clinicians' descriptive information, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to oral health was administered via Google forms. A total of 234 dysphagia clinicians responded on behalf of themselves. The findings showed that 41.5% (n = 97) of the clinicians had a high level of knowledge about oral health. There was a significant relationship between the level of oral health knowledge and the clinicians' oral health education (p < .05). A percentage of 6.4 (n = 15) of the clinicians had a high level of attitude toward oral health. Oral health education status of clinicians and their profession was significantly related to the attitude toward oral health (p < .05). Most of the clinicians (44.0%, n = 103) had low behavior level. The level of behavior was significantly associated with status of receiving oral health education, their professions, duration of experience, and institution (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that clinicians exhibit moderate mean knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors scores, and these states are significantly associated with oral health education. This can serve as a stimulus for clinicians caring for dysphagia patients to receive oral health education during their university education.

Video game playing and oral health in school-age children: A cross-sectional study in Turkey.

AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship of video game playing with oral/dental health and harmful oral habits in school-age children. METHODS: The daily video gamer (n = 77) and occasional video gamer (n = 77) children between 6 and 12 years old were included in the study. A questionnaire inquiring socio-demographic characteristics, video gaming and abnormal oral habits of the children was filled by parents. The children were examined intraorally and decayed-missing-filled tooth, the International Caries Detection and the Assessment-II System scores, dental plaque and gingival indices were recorded. RESULTS: Of the children; 42.9% daily video gamers played video games for between 1 and 2 h and 57.1% played for ≥2 h while all of the occasional video gamers spent for between 1 and 2 h on video game per day. The daily video gamer and occasional video gamer children were not different in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, frequency of having daily tooth brushing habit, using children's toothpaste and having regular dental checkup (P > 0.05). No statistically significant difference was present between the groups in terms of frequencies of abnormal oral habits and having at least one abnormal oral habit (P > 0.05). Severe gingivitis and advanced caries lesions were more common in daily video gamer group (14.2% vs. 3.9%, P = 0.025 and 90.9% vs. 70.9%, P = 0.026, respectively). Daily video gaming time was weakly correlated with plaque index (r = 0.26, n = 77, P = 0.024). Daily video gaming for ≥2 h increased the risk for severe gingivitis (odds (95% confidence interval) = 4.53 (1.07-19.23), P = 0.041) while daily video gaming for between 1 and 2 h decreased the risk for having abnormal oral habit (odds (95% confidence interval) = 0.39 (0.16-0.93), P = 0.034). CONCLUSION: In school age, daily video gaming may worsen oral and dental health compared with occasional video gaming. Particularly, an excessive video gaming time seems to be associated with poor oral health in school children.

Problematic media use is associated with poor oral health in Turkish school-age children: a pilot cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: In the recent years, problematic media use (PMU) has become a serious health concern for children. The precisely defined effects of PMU on children's oral health are unknown. It was aimed to investigate the relationship between the PMU and oral health and oral habits in school-age children. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, mothers and their healthy children aged 6-11 years who applied to pediatric dentistry outpatient clinic were enrolled. PMU was assessed using the parent-reported Problematic Media Use Measure Short Form (PMUM-SF). PMUM-SF scores were divided into 3 groups from the lowest to the highest tertile. Multivariable logistic regressions for PMU (moderate-high vs. low) were used to predict the odds of having good and parafunctional oral habits, poor oral hygiene, gingivitis and caries. RESULTS: Totally 153 mother-child pairs participated in this study. Plaque index, gingival index, ICDAS-II (International Caries Detection and Evaluation System), DMFT and DMFS [decayed (D), missing (M), filled (F) tooth (T) /surfaces (S)] scores were significantly higher in children with moderate-high PMU (P < 0.05). After adjusting for potential confounders, moderate-high PMU decreased the probability of good oral habit of daily toothbrushing [Odds (95% CI) = 0.43 (0.20-0.94)] while it increased the risk of oral parafunctional habit of object sucking/biting [Odds (95% CI) = 3.34 (1.27-8.74)]. Moderate-high PMU increased the risk of moderate-severe gingivitis, moderate-extensive caries and the presence of DMFT [Odds (95% CI) = 2.13 (1.01-4.50); 4.54 (1.11-18.54) and 2.16 (1.07-4.36), respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: Turkish school-age children with a remarkable PMU were significantly more likely to have poor oral health and exhibit oral parafunctional habits Oral health screening seems to be needed for Turkish children experiencing PMU.