Awareness, attitude, and practice of pediatricians regarding early childhood caries and infant oral healthcare of children in Puducherry- A cross-sectional survey.

CONTEXT: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is the most virulent form of caries, which requires early intervention. Pediatricians are health professionals who first examine the child, and must be able to educate parents about basic preventive dental care, early diagnosis of pathological changes in the oral cavity and appropriate referrals for the children. AIMS: To assess the awareness, attitude, and practice among pediatricians regarding ECC and Infant Oral Healthcare (IOHC) in Puducherry. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Setting: Study was conducted among pediatricians of Puducherry. Design: Observational Cross-sectional study. METHODS AND MATERIAL: After obtaining consent from Pediatricians, a prevalidated questionnaire was distributed and collected from them regarding their awareness, attitude, and practices toward ECC and IOHC. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Percentage. RESULTS: Out of 85% Pediatricians who responded, 57% of them were aware of initial white spot lesions, and 39% of them were aware of maternally-derived Streptococcus mutans disease. 100% of them were willing to avail information, training on IOHC. CONCLUSIONS: It is clear from the study that Pediatricians in Puducherry had limited awareness regarding the prevention of oral diseases. It is essential to provide sufficient knowledge to them by incorporating a module on ECC and infant oral health care in their curriculum.

Age and Reasons for First Dental Visit and Knowledge and Attitude of Parents Toward Dental Procedures for Puducherry Children Aged 0-9 years.

BACKGROUND: The first dental visit provides the dentist an opportunity to advise parents on prevention of oral diseases and also allows for early detection of caries and arrest of its progression. The first dental visit should occur no later than 12 months of age. However, parents fail to give importance to primary dentition as they feel that they are temporary. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the age of first dental visit and most common reasons for the visit among children aged 0-9 years and to examine the knowledge and attitude of their parents toward treatment procedures for children, taking into account their socioeconomic and educational status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining informed consent from parents, sociodemographic data that included age and gender of the child, educational status, occupation of parents, and annual family income were collected. A validated questionnaire was given to the parents. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics (proportion) was used to report the data. To examine differences in knowledge and attitudes among different socioeconomic and educational groups, chi-square test was used with P value <0.05. RESULTS: A total of 300 completed questionnaires were analyzed. Age of first dental visit was 6-9 years (57%) and the most common reason for the visit was decayed teeth (33%). The overall attitude of parents toward treatment procedures for children was good in spite of low levels of knowledge about primary teeth and role of the pedodontist. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to promote early dental visits by providing education on perinatal and infant oral healthcare to the healthcare professionals dealing with children. It is also important to promote awareness regarding the maintenance of primary dentition.

Evaluation of Streptococcus mutans serotypes e, f, and k in saliva samples of 6-12-year-old school children before and after a short-term daily intake of the probiotic lozenge.

AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the variations in the levels of Streptococcus mutans in saliva before and after short-term daily intake of the probiotic lozenge. To estimate the prevalence of S. mutans serotypes e, f, and k and its variations in salivary levels before and after short-term daily intake of the probiotic lozenge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted among 60 children of 6-12 years old, who were given lozenge twice daily containing probiotic bacteria twice daily, one in the morning and another in the evening after brushing for 1 month. The placebo lozenge group also followed the same protocol. A pre- and post-quantitative analysis of S. mutans and serotypes e, f, and k level were done in the saliva of both experiment and control groups. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data thus collected were statistically evaluated using repeated measures of ANOVA, followed by post hoc test and independent t-test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: When compared with baseline, a significant reduction of S. mutans was seen after 1 month intervention and 6 months follow-up. The prevalence of serotype e was found to be 5% and serotype k was found to be 12%, whereas none of the samples carried serotype f. Future long-term research with a larger sample size is required to determine the prevalence of S. mutans serotype and longer evaluation period is required to assess the preventive role against caries development.