Comparison of oral hygiene practice and awareness in rural Lahore

This study was aimed at assessing the improvement in the dental hygiene practice and subsequently the oral health among the population in outskirts of Lahore aged 12 - 79 years following the changes made in educating the population regarding oral health and its diseases, a year ago. The survey was conducted on World Oral Health Day at a Camp held in a private Dental college OPD in Lahore. A cross-sectional survey was held in the Oral Diagnostics Department in September 2012. All new patients aged between 12 and 79 years of age, who came for the World Oral Health Day Camp were included in the sample. All other age groups and patients who were undergoing treatment in the hospital previously were excluded. The data for this study were collected by carrying out an interview with the patients using a pre-tested questionnaire. Following the interview patients also underwent an oral examination. The disease status of the patient was recorded which included oral disease and conditions such as caries, periodontal disease, attrition, TDI, oral lesions and all combinations. Data analysis was done using the IBM SPSS version 20. The results showed the nature of dental hygiene as practiced by all patients and their current oral health status. The final sample size was 185 [male 89 and female 96]. The largest group was of 30-39 years. It was observed that 93% of the sample practiced daily tooth brushing and 46% had an intake of one teaspoonful of sugar in their regular tea. It was established that despite following regular regime of tooth brushing, regular dental checkups and reduced sugar consumption, the level of caries was the highest [36.2%] in all oral conditions observed. Chi-square analysis revealed a statistically significant association between gender and sugar consumption [p=0.001] and also between Tooth brushing and education [p=0.001]. There was significance between education and gender and disease and tooth brushing while a high significance in gender and sugar, age and education, education and tooth brushing, and age and tooth brushing / was observed in 2 -tailed significance of Pear son's correlation. It can be understood that positive changes brought in the dental hygiene knowledge and practices of the far flung and rural population can establish a marked difference in the improvement of their oral health and subsequently impact the disease trends overtime

Oral health related quality of life [OHRQoL] in dental undergraduates

The objectives of this study were to assess the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life [OHRQoL] among students in a private Dental Undergraduate School in Lahore. A cross sectional study design was used. One hundred and twenty dental students of years 2 and 3 returned completed forms containing the 14 item Oral Health Impact Profile [OHIP-14]. Old and new batch students of both years were included giving a sum to four batches of students. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 19. The results showed the perceived OHRQoL among students studying in two different stages [year 2 and 3] of the dental course. Age was found to be significant [P < 0.05] with the OHRQoL dimension of 'Physical pain: discomfort eating food' [p=0.043] and highly significant [P < 0.01] with the dimensions of 'Physical discomfort: poor diet' [p=0.007], 'Psychological Discomfort: Selfconsciousness'[p=0.004], 'Functional Limitation: worsened taste'[p=0.007], 'Handicap'[p=0.001] and 'Psychological disability: embarrassment'[p=0.001]. Gender was found to be significant with 'Psychological disability: embarrassment' [p=0.046] and 'Social disability: difficulty in doing job' [p=0.040] and was highly significant with 'Psychological Discomfort: Self-consciousness' [p=0.001], 'Functional Limitation: trouble pronouncing words' [p=0.002] and 'Social disability: irritability' [p=0.010]. Year of study showed high significance with Psychological discomfort: self-consciousness [p=0.002]. The results of this study underscored the relationship between the OHRQoL and age, gender and study year and their impact on OHRQoL among the dental student community. It is essential that students are enlightened with oral health problems and how to overcome them, so that subsequent years of study in a Dental School and the OHRQoL are least affected

Dental health awareness amongst school children aged 5-10 years in Lahore sample

An investigation was carried out to assess the dental health awareness amongst school children aged 5 to 10 years in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. This cross-sectional survey included nine different schools of Lahore City having a total sample size of573. The assessment of the children's level of awareness was done by clinical examination of their teeth followed by an interview. One dentist carried out all dental examinations. The examiner recorded caries incidence in all erupted teeth. Following the clinical examination, children participated in an interview using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included information about gender, age, family structure, and information regarding tooth brushing habits, routine, knowledge about brushing, amount of tooth paste used, who taught them about brushing and visits to the dentist. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 19.0 and included descriptive statistics which was frequency distribution and cross-tabulation. It was found that teachers had played a very little role in educating the children about tooth brushing and providing dental awareness [6.8%]. It was the parents, however, who brought about more dental awareness in their children and gave them the necessary knowledge about oral hygiene [36.1%] especially male children. This association was highly statistically significant [p= 0.001]. Majority of the children used half-length of toothpaste for tooth brushing and this frequency increased 2 in 8 year olds therefore reducing their decayed missing filled teeth index score to a 0.31 as compared to 9 year olds [0.71]. A statistically significant association was also seen between age and toothpaste size [p= 0.003]

Oral health related quality of life [OHRQoL] in 40 to 70 years

This study was aimed to assess the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life [OHRQoL] among aged 40-70 years. The survey was conducted in Prosthodontics department of a private Dental College in Lahore, Pakistan. A cross sectional survey was carried out over a period of three months [August-October 2010]. New male and female patients aged between 40 and 70 years, who came to the department of Prosthodontics for partial and complete denture problems were included in the sample. All other age groups and old [who were undergoing treatment in the department] patients were excluded. Data for this study was collected by carrying out an interview using the Oral Health Impact Profile 14 which is the shorter version of OHIP 49. Two hundred and ten patients completed the questionnaire forms containing the 14 item Oral Health Impact Profile [OHIP-14]. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 19. The results showed the perceived OHRQoL among adults ranging from 40-70 years in age. Age was found to be highly significant [p < 0.01] with the OHRQoL dimension of 'psychological discomfort: feeling tense' [p=0.002] and 'physical disability: interrupted meals' [p=0.006] and significant [p < 0.05] with the dimensions of 'functional limitation: worsened taste' [p=0.04] Gender was found to be significant with 'psychological disability: difficulty relaxing' [p=0.04] and highly significant with 'social disability: irritability' [p=0.003], 'handicap: life less satisfying' [p=0.002], 'physical disability: poor diet' [p=0.01], 'handicap: inability to function' [p=0.002] and 'handicap: inability to function' [p=0.002]. Complete and partial denture appliances showed significance with the dimensions of 'functional limitation: worsened taste' [p=0.02] and portrayed high significance with 'physical pain: aching in mouth' [p=0.01] and 'physical pain: discomfort eating food' [p=0.001]

Acupuncture treatment of facial palsy

Bell's palsy is an idiopathic, acute peripheral-nerve palsy involving the facial nerve which supplies all the muscles of facial expression. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Electro-Acupuncture on patients with Facial Palsy. This study was conducted on patients with facial palsy at a private clinic at Peshawar during 1999-2009, and 49 cases were included in the study. All those cases that were within first two weeks of illness or who had related history of stroke or they had upper motor neuron lesion were not included in the study. Electroacupuncture was used as the main therapeutic technique to treat these cases. Patients were subjected to acupuncture treatment at four major points on the face for 20-25 minutes everyday for 10 days. Specific points were used for nasolabial fold and watering of the eye. After rest for a week patients were again evaluated and another course of treatment comprising of 5-10 days was sufficient in most cases. Frequency of electro-acupuncture is kept at 60-80 cycles per minute. Total number of patients studied was 49 with duration of illness as early as 3 weeks to a year and above. Cases with duration of illness from 3 weeks onward showed rapid recovery of palsy symptoms with electro-acupuncture. All cases showed recovery. Palsy of the angle of the mouth did not recover completely. Electro-acupuncture is effective in treating facial palsy cases

investigation in to the concepts and techniques used for establishing postpalatal seal in undergraduate dental curriculum

A survey of Pakistani Dental Colleges was conducted to determine which concepts and techniques are currently prevalent in the teaching of establishing the postpalatal seal in the undergraduate dental curriculum. A previous structured questionnaire from international article comprised seven multiple-choice questions, was distributed by mail and personal contact to 50 demonstrators and faculty members of Prosthodontics departments, of ten different [3 Government and 7 Private] Dental Colleges in the country. Of these, 42 teachers retuned the completed questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 84%. Results from this survey showed that 85.72% of the teachers were teaching a combination of phonation with other methods for determining the location of the vibrating line. The one vibrating line concept for establishing the postpalatal seal [PPS] was taught by 80.95.7% of teachers, 52.38% of these locate the posterior termination of the maxillary denture posterior to vibrating line. Carving the PPS in the maxillary master cast was taught by 83.33% of teachers. Most of the teachers 83.33% were teaching the students to carve the PPS to a depth of 1.0-1.5 mm in the maxillary master cast. Compressibility of the palatal tissues was a consideration during PPS carving for all of the teachers. The butterfly pattern was the most frequently [88.09%] described pattern for PPS carving. No difference in Concepts and Techniques in the teaching of establishing postpalatal seal was evident from government and private dental colleges

Pain management in lumbago: role of acupuncture in addition to local steroid infiltration at trigger points

To know the effect of Acupuncture in addition to local steroid infiltration at trigger points in patients of lumbago. All patients who reported to Pain and Plegia Centre with lumbago were included in the study. Majority among them gave the history of treatment by various surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons. Patients with caries spine, ankylosing spondylitis and those who had under gone spinal surgery were excluded. Acupuncture and ancillary techniques were used as primary modality to relieve chronic diffuse pain. Trigger spots were identified by deep palpation and were injected with steroid for complete cure. Total number of patients studied was 400. Among them 371 [92.75%] cases of low back pain of muscular origin responded well with complete relief of symptoms. In the remaining 29 [7.25%] cases of low back pain with radiological findings of marginal disc prolapse 20 [5%] recovered completely, four [1%] could live with residual symptoms while 5 cases [1.25%] were uncomfortable and were referred for surgery. Nonspecific chronic low back pain is due to spasm of paraveretebral muscles in the lumbosacral region and its primary cause is trigger spots in the muscles. This spasm is effectively relieved by acupuncture form of treatment unmasking trigger spots, which heal to local pinpointed injections of steroids

role of acupuncture in arthritis of the knee joint in addition to local steroid injection

This study was conducted to know the effects of acupuncture on patients with osteoarthriiis [OA] of the knee joint and to identify the trigger points in these patients. This study was conducted on OA of knee joint at Pain and Plegia center Peshawar from 1999 to 2004. Patients with multiple small joints pain, rheumatoid arthritis, gout or in whom knee joint was distended with fluid were excluded. All patients were treated with acupuncture for pain relief. Trigger spots were identified by palpating the knee. These trigger spots were treated by local instillation of triamcinolone acetonide 40 mg. These patients were then treated with Transcutaneous Electro-Neuro Stimulator [TENS] to treat muscle weakness. Out of 250, 225 cases [90%] were symptoms free. Only 25 cases [10%] relapsed with in a month after completion of treatment. Pain knee was mainly due to tendonitis, in close proximity to the knee joint. Main trigger points were outside the knee joint at adductor tubercle possibly at the insertion of adductor magnus and on the lateral side at the origin of gastrocnemius lateral head. The third trigger spot was on the medial aspect probably in tibial collateral ligament. Pain knee joint attributed to OA Knee is in fact due to tendonitis and not due to osteoarthritic changes in the joint and it is very much amenable to complete recovery by using both acupuncture therapy and local steroid injections