Evaluation of the Maternal Perception of the Oral Health of the Inpatient Infant

Aim: To evaluate the mother's perception of the oral health of their inpatient infants in maternity or infirmary units of a public hospital. Methods: Questionnaire applications were scheduled and educational lectures were carried out on how to sanitize the infant's mouth after breastfeeding, even in the absence of primary teeth, emphasizing the importance of breastfeeding. Results: A significant number of mothers reported that they received no guidance regarding the oral health care of their infants. They had never attended lectures by dental practitioners, as well as they did not know that the use of pacifier, baby bottle and digital sucking habit could interfere with their infant's oral heath over time. Conclusions: The majority declared that they had no care with the oral health of their infants. Only five mothers of newborns reported that they performed the oral hygiene of them once a day after the first breastfeeding. The mothers showed lack of knowledge on the diseases which can affect their children during early infancy as they had no information on how to prevent them. They did not know that early caries lesions could affect the infant and that harmful oral habits can predispose to the development of malocclusions. (AU)

Dentists' actions about oral health of individuals with Down Syndrome

To investigate the knowledge and actions of dentists for treatment of individuals with Down syndrome. Methods: A questionnaire was applied to all the dentists (n=90) working at the FHS (Family Health Strategy) modules in the urban limits of Parnaíba, PI, Brazil. Four of the questions in the questionnaire were written according to the Theory of Planned Behavior Table and Likert scale (questions 6,7,9 and 15), in order to analyze the professionals' intentions. Sixteen objective questions were elaborated with the purpose of collecting information about the degree of the dentists' knowledge as regards the intention of attending courses in the patients with special needs area including DS, and interaction with other professionals and families. The option was to use a questionnaire applied to the dentists of the region, from August to November 2014. Results: It was found that most professionals were women and they considered themselves able to identify these patients. Among the professionals, 70% showed they had no difficulty in identifying the patient with DS, and 5.2% had no opinion about the subject. Only 6.6% of the professionals showed to be certain about their aptitude to attend to these patients; 70% were partially apt, that is, they were not absolutely sure about their aptness. There was a statistical relationship between the variables understanding and difficulty in the treatment. There was no statistical relationship between the variable capacity to identify, understanding of the needs and fitness variable in attendance. Conclusions: Patients with Down syndrome need more attention and care of dentists, they must also be involved in a multidisciplinary approach. Most of the professionals do not follow the procedures laid down by the Ministry of Health, but showed interest in attending a course in this area and there is a low number of SD patients being cared in Parnaíba, PI...