Evaluation of oral hygiene care of under 4 years old children by their mothers based on the health belief model

Objective: Oral health is one of the basic components of preschool children's health. Young children completely depend on their parents, specially their mothers, to have an appropriate oral health. Health belief model shows the relationship between some structures related to personal perceptions, barriers and perceived self-efficiency, and behavior. This study aims to determine the oral health care status of children under 4 by their mother according to health belief model in Tehran

Methods: In this cross-sectional [descriptive-analytic] study, 200 mothers with children under 4 who visited health care centers under the authority of Shahid Beheshti University of medical Sciences were randomly chosen. A questionnaire which was designed according to health belief model [HBM] was used to collect data. Collected data was analyzed by SPSS software

Results: It was found that only in 10% of the cases knowledge score was favorable. Participants scored 50.85%, 75.93%, 72.23%, 92.06%, 48.2%, 86.31%, 64.07% in knowledge structures, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self efficiency and behavior respectively. Knowledge structures [p<0.01, r=0.276], perceived barriers [p<0/01, r=0/314] and perceived self efficiency [p<0.01, r=0.269] showed positive correspondence and significant relationship with the oral and dental health behaviors by their mothers. Structures of health belief model could describe 17.9% of behavior variance. Amongst these structures, perceived barriers had more important role

Conclusion: This study estimated that the behavioral status of oral and dental health care of children under 4 by their mothers is moderate. Therefore planning an educational program using behavioral models and theories, such as health belief model is suggested, so that it can increase knowledge and self-efficiency and reduce perceptive barriers to promote children's oral health

review on preventive measures and treatment of white spot lesions in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

Objective: One complication of fixed orthodontic treatment in patients with poor oral hygiene is development of demineralized enamel lesions compromising esthetics. This study aimed to review preventive measures and treatment of white spot lesions [WSLs] in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

Review of Literature: In this review study, PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for articles published during 1964-2013 using the keywords "white spot lesions", "demineralization", "mastic gum", "casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate or CPP-ACP", "chitosan" and "orthodontics"; 96 articles were evaluated

Conclusion: White spot lesions can be prevented by conventional plaque control and adjunct measures such as the use of fluoride-containing compounds, chlorhexidine [CHX], xylitol gums, chitosan compounds and laser. Low-concentration fluoride, CPP-ACP compounds and laser help remineralize these lesions. If not treated, bleaching, microabrasion and tooth restoration are the final solutions

Failure rate of dental procedures performed under general anesthesia on children presenting to Mofid pediatric hospital during 2010-2011

Extensive dental treatments for young healthy and medically compromised children are performed under general anesthesia in a daily basis. Considering the side effects of sedatives and anesthetic drugs and also the high risk of dental caries in this group of patients, it is especially important to decide the safest and the most cost beneficial treatments. This study aimed at clinical evaluation of the failure rate of various dental procedures performed under general anesthesia on children presenting to Mofid Pediatric Hospital in Tehran during 2010-2011. This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 104 patients who received dental treatments under general anesthesia in Mofid Pediatric Hospital and a minimum of 6 months had been passed from their treatment. Dental examination was performed on a dental chair using dental mirror and a probe in the out-patient dental clinic of Mofid Pediatric Hospital. Recorded information included all types of treatment failures occurred in patients that were registered in especially prepared forms. Overall difference in failure rates was calculated using Chi square test while multiple logistic regression test was used to investigate the effect of different factors on the failure rate of treatment modalities. Our study results indicated that stainless steel crown [SSC] was the most successful treatment with the lowest failure rate [1.5%]. SSC had a significantly lower failure rate compared to amalgam [7.9%] and posterior composite restorations [9.9%] [P=0.003 and P=0.000, respectively]. Composite buildup of the anterior teeth had the highest failure rate [22.4%] among all types of anterior restorations [11.6%] [P=0.009]. The failure rates of both pulpectomy and pulpotomy procedures were found to be reasonably low rating at 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively. The highest failure rate belonged to anterior teeth build-ups. Teeth restored with SSC had the highest success rate indicating it as the treatment of choice for badly carious posterior teeth of children who require dental treatments under general anesthesia

Association of salivary sCD14 concentration levels with early childhood caries

Early childhood caries [ECC] is a severe type of dental caries affecting infants and pre-school children. Because of the infectious nature of the disease, the immunologic response by the host plays an essential role in its development. This study investigated the association between the presence of salivary sCD14 and ECC. This study was carried out on 40 healthy children, of whom 20 were caries-free [CF] and 20 had ECC, within the ages of 36 to 71 months. Unstimulated saliva of the children was collected with disposable needle-less syringe from buccal and labial vestibules. Seven children with ECC received complete treatments. Saliva was collected for a second time after 3 months from this group. The sCD14 levels in salivary samples were analyzed by ELISA method. Mean concentrations of sCD14 in ECC and CF groups were 57.82 and 31.92 ng/ml respectively [p=0.008]. After three months, the mean concentration of sCD14 among the treated children decreased to 11.38 ng/ml, which was significantly lower compared to that of ECC children before intervention [p<0.001], and also CF children [p<0.05]. The increased levels of sCD14 can be considered as a marker of inflammation and innate immune response during ECC