ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To compare the caries experience between Azadirachta indica chewing stick users and toothbrush users among 35-44-year-old rural population in Southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This ex post facto research was conducted in the rural parts of two sub-administrative areas of a district in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sample size for the study was determined to be 400, with 200 subjects in each group. Subjects following indigenous oral hygiene methods were identified using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. After obtaining 200 subjects using A. indica chewing sticks, age, gender, and socioeconomic status matched controls using toothbrush were identified. American Dental Association type III examination was carried out to record caries experience (decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) Index) after obtaining informed consent and thus obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. RESULTS: It was observed that the caries experience was more in toothbrush users compared to subjects following indigenous methods (DMFT, 4.38 ± 1.93 vs. 3.54 ± 1.02). Similar results were obtained when the decay component of DMFT index was exclusively compared. No significant difference in the plaque scores and the mean number of filled, missing teeth was observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Though conclusive results cannot be drawn from this study about the positive influence of indigenous methods on caries experience, the results emphasize the cardinal need to more thoroughly understand the potential benefits of indigenous methods before dismissing them as retrogressive approaches.
ABSTRACT
Soft tissue calcification is a pathological condition in which calcium and phosphate salts are deposited in the soft tissue organic matrix. This study presents an unusual calcification noted in the cartilaginous portion of the Eustachian tube. A 67-year-old woman presented for dental treatment, specifically for implant placement, and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed. The CBCT scan was reviewed by a board-certified oral and maxillofacial radiologist and revealed incidental findings of 2 distinct calcifications in the cartilaginous portion of the Eustachian tube. To the authors' knowledge, no previous study has reported the diagnosis of Eustachian tube calcification using CBCT. This report describes an uncommon variant of Eustachian tube calcification, which has a significant didactic value because such cases are seldom illustrated either in textbooks or in the literature. This case once again underscores the importance of having CBCT scans evaluated by a board-certified oral and maxillofacial radiologist.
