[Evaluation of knowledge, attitude and practice of parents of children with cardiac disease about oral health]

Cardiac patients have different dental needs than healthy individuals and clinicians should be well aware of these differences. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare knowledge, attitude and practice of parents of children with cardiac disease and healthy children. In this case-control study, data were collected using a questionnaire. The study population consisted of 25 parents of children with cardiac disease and 25 parents of healthy children selected at a pediatric physician office. Both groups were matched in terms of age, gender and parents' educational level. Data analysis was performed using independent sample t-test for knowledge and attitude and Mann Whitney test for practice with Alpha =0.05 Based on the parents' responses, knowledge of parents was 45.24 +/- 23.29 in the cardiac group and 41.10 +/- 20.45 in healthy group. This difference was not statistically significant. Attitude of parents was 79.3% +/- 9.9 in the cardiac group and 78.9% +/- 6.6 in the healthy group. This difference was not statistically significant either. In the cardiac group, 44% brushed two times a day compared with 20% in the healthy group; 50% of the cardiac children had never visited a dentist while healthy children had regular dental visits In the fields of knowledge and attitude there were no significant differences between two groups, knowledge of parents in two groups was poor but their attitude was positive also practices of parents in the field of children's brushing was good but in the field of attending to dentist was poor

[ effect of pH on the erosive potential of Iranian and imported soft drinks using atomic absorption spectrophotometry]

An increase in pH can affect the erosive potential of soft drinks, but the possible role of calcium salts and phosphate has not been fully recognized. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of pH on the erosive potential of soft drinks on permanent tooth enamel. This experimental in vitro study was performed on 8 beverages and 240 intact premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes. Two Iranian soft drinks [Cola and Orange Zamzam] and 2 imported ones [Pepsi and Mirinda] constituted the case group and 4 solutions with the same pH served as the control group. The teeth were divided into 3 groups [A, B and C] and further subdivided into 8 subgroups and immersed in 20 ml of one of the 8 beverages for 15 minutes [A], 45 minutes [B] and 12 hours [C]. The amount of Ca[++] released in each soft drink or solution was estimated by AA-spectrophotometry at the end of each exposure time. A statistically significant difference was found in the extent of erosion between the case and control groups which increased with exposure time [P<0.001]. The pattern of Ca[++] concentration changes were similar in both study groups [p=0.3915], but the case group revealed a higher erosive potential than the control group [P<0.001]. The percentage of titratable acids seems to have a greater effect on the erosive potential of beverages when compared to pH. Measuring pH alone could not accurately estimate the erosive potential of different soft drinks

[Fluoride content and uptake in sound enamel after the usage of Persica and Irsha in comparison with standard oral-B mouthwash]

Regarding to increasing fluoride consumption by patients and increasing currency of different kinds of mouthwashes like Persica and Irsha that claim to have fluoride, the aim of this study was to determine fluoride content and uptake in sound enamel after usage of Iranian mouthwashes in comparison with standard oral-B mouthwash. In this in vitro experimental study, the fluoride content of mouthwashes were determined. Then 30 extracted human sound premolars were randomly divided into three groups of 10 and each tooth was longitudinally bisected into experimental and control halves. A specified hemi circular area on each experimental half was treated with one of the rinses. Three case-control groups were evaluated after using Oral-B, Irsha and Irsha with brushing. The amount of fluoride uptake in enamel surface [KOH - Soluble fluoride] and structure [structurally bound fluoride] was determined by the method of Caslavska and Mc Cann. The results were analyzed by using paired t, ANOVA and LSD tests. Persica didn't have any considerable fluoride but Irsha was found to have the same amount of fluoride as Oral-B [0.05% NaF]. There was a statistical difference between experimental and control halves in fluoride content [P<0.05]. But there was no significant difference between three groups in fluoride uptake. Persica did not have any considerable fluoride. There is no difference between structurally bound fluoride uptake after using Irsha with or without brushing. But it decreased the amount of KOH-Soluble Fluoride