ABSTRACT
Background: Although there have been numerous studies on dental caries in children with Down syndrome, the reports are conflicting. Studies on salivary chemical composition of children with Down syndrome are limited. Aim: The study aims to evaluate and compare the dental caries experience, salivary flow rate, pH, buffering capacity, and concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, total proteins, and sialic acid in children with Down syndrome and healthy controls. Settings and Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: Forty subjects with Down syndrome aged 5–18 years fulfilling the eligibility criteria from six special schools were selected by snowball sampling. Sixty healthy controls from six neighborhood schools fulfilling the eligibility criteria were selected by simple random sampling by matching the age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Sociodemographic data, oral hygiene practices, diet history and dental caries experience were recorded. About 6 mL of stimulated whole saliva was collected. Salivary flow rate, salivary pH, buffering capacity, and the concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, total proteins, and sialic acid were determined. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean proportional caries rate between the study and control group (P = 0.90). Salivary pH (P = 0.00) and salivary sodium concentration (P = 0.02) were significantly low in the study group than the control group. Salivary buffering capacity was significantly higher in the study group than the control group (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Dental caries experience of children with Down syndrome was similar to the healthy controls. School health programs could be implemented in special schools to improve oral and general health of special children.
ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Empathy and Emotional Intelligence are the two affective domain parameters which significantly affect a doctor’s way of treating patients; hence they may influence the doctor-patient relationship. Establishing a proper doctor-patient relationship has a great impact on professional success of the doctor. Thus, the present study was aimed to assess whether there is any association between empathy of dental practitioners towards their patients and the dental practitioners’ emotional intelligence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 243 dental practitioners including clinicians, academicians and post-graduate students from Bareilly city who were instructed to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of the Health Professional (HP) version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) and the Schutte’s Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS). Pearson’s correlation coefficient and linear regression were used to test the statistical significance of the observations. Results: A positive correlation was found between empathy and emotional intelligence. The correlation was significant p=0.05, even after adjusting for the confounders and the regression model showed significance with r value of 0.12 Interpretation & Conclusion: Empathetic dentists were found to have higher emotional intelligence. Irrespective of variations in age, gender, qualification, occupation and years of working experience, empathy and emotional intelligence showed positive correlation.