A Comparison between Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block and Crestal Anesthesia in Children Undergoing Dental Extraction Procedure

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of crestal anesthesia compared to the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) in 6-9-year-old children undergoing tooth extraction. Material and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 70 children who needed bilateral mandibular primary molar extractions. The Faces Pain Scale was used to determine the efficacy of the anesthetic technique. Demographic data, onset time of anesthesia, duration of anesthesia, and blood pressure were also recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25 and analytical tests: t-test, chi-squared test, and one-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The efficacy of the IANB was significantly higher than the crestal anesthesia (p<0.05). The duration of IANB anesthesia was significantly more than the crestal anesthesia (p<0.05). The two anesthetic techniques showed no significant differences in pediatric blood pressure as a determinant of the pain evoked in children during the injection (p>0.05). Conclusion: Crestal anesthesia proved an effective method to extract primary molars. However, further studies are necessary to confirm this.

Evaluation of Relationship between Sever Early Childhood Caries and Breast Milk`s Lactose among 12- to 24-month-old Children.

Statement of the Problem: Severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) is common among infants and toddlers. It has many problems and challenges for families as well as dentists in fields of prevention and treatment. Purpose: The study aimed to investigate the relationship between occurrence of S-ECC and level of lactose in breast milk, in infants aged 12 to 24 months. Materials and Method: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was carried out from April to July 2020 on 30 children aged 12 to 24 months with or without S-ECC, who were sol-ely breastfed; their mothers answered questions about their breastfeeding habits. After the child's dental visit, the mother was asked to express 10 to 20ml of her milk as a sample and give it to the researchers. The samples were immediately kept at -4°C and then they were tested for lactose measurement. Finally, the test results were analyzed by SPSS 21 software using independent t-test. Results: The average amount of lactose in the breast milk of cases with S-ECC infant was 5.74g/100 ml and the average amount of lactose in the breast milk of cases without S-ECC infant was 4.64g/100 ml. There was no significant difference in lactose concentration between the two groups (p Value=0.64). The average number of breastfeeding times in cases with S-ECC infants was 7.87 per day while in the healthy cases this was 7.33 per day. There was no significant difference between the numbers of breastfeeding times per day in two groups. Conclusion: According to this study, the amount of lactose in breast milk of children with S-ECC was slightly higher than the amount of lactose in breast milk in children with healthy teeth.

Prevalence and Associated-Factors for Entamoeba gingivalis in Adolescents in Southeastern Iran by Culture and PCR, 2017.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the prevalence and potential factors associated with Entamoeba gingivalis in adolescents in the city of Kerman, southeastern Iran, 2017. METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 315 adolescents (mean age; 15 yr) consisting of 189 males and 126 females were randomly selected. For each adolescent, two specimens were collected for culturing and examination by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to explore any association with demographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of E. gingivalis was 11.7%. Totally, 30 (15.9%) males and 7 (5.6%) females were infected with E. gingivalis. The rate of infection in males was 2.8 times higher than that in females (P<0.001). Statistical analysis identified 4 major factors including sex (OR=4.12, P<0.001), gingival index with severe inflammation (OR = 50, P<0.001), Candida spp. infection (OR=4.41, P<0.001) and decay-missing-filled teeth [DMFT (OR=3.27, P<0.001)]. In contrast to the aforementioned factors, adolescents with history of antibiotic consumption were significantly protected from E. gingivalis infection (OR= 3.24, P<0.001). Culture media detected 9.2% (n= 29), whilst PCR identified 11.4% (n= 36) of infection. CONCLUSION: The present findings clearly demonstrate a positive association between E. gingivalis and distinct demographic and clinical risk determinants. Therefore, dental practitioners and health surveillance personnel should be aware of these confounding factors to rigorously detect and critically manage oral health issues in school-age children in order to prevent or at least minimize the eventual periodontal complications in later life.