Effect of oral health promotion interventions on pregnant women dental caries: a field trial.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is a costly and very common disease, especially in pregnant women. Reasons such as not paying attention to oral health, poor diet and also lack of adequate education in this regard cause this to happen. Performing well-designed educational interventions using primary health system's forces, can improve oral health of pregnant women and help control this disease. We conducted this study to evaluate the effectiveness of some oral health interventions on pregnant women dental caries. METHODS: A field trial study was done in comprehensive Health Centers in Varamin, Tehran, Iran to assess 439 mothers' dental health status from pregnancy up to 2 years after delivery in intervention (n = 239) and control groups (n = 200). Mothers in intervention groups received oral health-related education consisted of nutritional and behavioral messages via either of four methods: A: comprehensive method including all following methods together (n = 74), B: group discussion by dentists (n = 59), C: face to face education by primary health care providers (n = 53), and D: social network applications (n = 53); while those in control group only received routine maternal and oral health care. We used a questionnaire to collect mothers' demographic, socioeconomic and dental care behavior data and also performed oral examinations to assess their DMFT at baseline and 24 months after delivery to evaluate the effectiveness of these educational oral health interventions. RESULTS: From 454 mothers participated the examination session, 18 pregnant women discontinued during the follow-ups and 439 were remained with mean age of 27.47. In the intervention group, the frequency of daily brushing among women increased from 64% at baseline to 85.6% at the last follow-up and the mean D significantly decreased nearly 1unit at same period (P < 0.05). Most and least dental caries changes were in comprehensive intervention group and social network intervention group compared to other intervention groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Performing educational interventions during and after pregnancy using various message delivery methods and messengers (oral health professionals and trained PHCPs), could improve oral health status and behaviors of pregnant and lactating mothers in a feasible and applicable manner.

Community-based interventions to reduce dental caries among 24-month old children: a pilot study of a field trial.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common dental disease among children worldwide, leading to many difficulties on child's growth. As WHO mentioned, educational interventions in addition to interprofessional collaboration are needed to achieve proper ECC prevention. In present study we've aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of some oral health promotion interventions to reduce dental caries among 24-month old children. METHODS: A field trial study was conducted amongst 439 mothers from pregnancy up to 24 months after delivery in Public Health Centers in Varamin, Tehran, Iran. Participants were allocated to intervention (n = 239) and control groups (n = 200). Demographic, socioeconomic status and dental care behavior data were collected using a questionnaire. The content of our study intervention consisted of nutritional and behavioral oral health-related messages. Mothers received messages via either of four methods (A: comprehensive method including all other methods together (n = 74), B: group discussion by dentists (n = 59), C: face to face education by primary health care providers (n = 53), and D: social network (n = 53). The control group received routine maternal and oral health care. To assess the effectiveness of interventions on promoting children's oral health, the oral health-related behaviors data, the number of decayed teeth (d), and being caries free at the age of two were considered. RESULTS: Among the 436 examined children, with a mean age of 23.7 months, 48.2% were male. The frequency of using finger toothbrush increased from 53.4% to 89.8% in all intervention groups. The mean (SD) of decayed teeth at 24 months in intervention and control group were 0.36 (0.93) and 1.61 (2.61), respectively. All the four intervention groups, except social network, had more chance of being caries free compared to control group (P value < 0.05). Analysis showed that children in comprehensive intervention group had a higher chance of being caries free compared to all other groups, after adjustment for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Performing oral health interventions could help the prevention of dental caries in newborn children. Also, using a combination of different methods of sending messages can have the best results in promoting oral health.

Oral health status in relation to socioeconomic and behavioral factors among pregnant women: a community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Oral health of women during pregnancy is an important issue. Not only it can compromise pregnancy outcomes, but also it may affect their newborn's overall health. The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and associated factors in pregnant women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 407 pregnant women in the second and third trimester of pregnancy in Varamin, Iran. Oral health status was examined, and demographic, socioeconomic status and dental care behavior data were collected. Oral health indices included periodontal pocket, bleeding on probing (BOP) and decayed, missed, filled teeth (DMFT). Regression analysis of DMFT was used to study the association between demographic, dental care behaviors indicators and outcome variables using the count ratios (CR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The mean (SD, Standard Deviation) age of participants was 27.35 (5.57). Daily brushing, flossing habit were observed in 64.1, and 20.6% of mothers, respectively. Mean (SD) of DMFT, D, M, F were 10.34(5.10), 6.94(4.40), 2.22 (2.68) and 1.19(2.23), respectively. Women older than 35 years had significantly more DMFT [CR = 1.35 (95% CI 1.13; 1.60)], less D [CR = 0.75 (95% CI 0.59; 0.94)], and more M [CR = 3.63 (95% CI 2.57; 5.14)] compared to women under 25 years after controlling for education and dental care behaviors. Women with academic education had significantly less decayed teeth [CR = 0.63 (95% CI 0.48; 0.84)], compared to women with under 12 years of education. CONCLUSIONS: Oral health status of pregnant women was not satisfactory, having an average of seven decayed teeth in their mouth.

Evaluation of the efficacy of zinc sulfate in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced mucositis: a double-blind randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Oral mucositis is a serious complication of chemotherapy that results in painful debilitating inflammation, necessitating the administration of analgesics. There is no cure for mucositis. Some studies have evaluated the effect of zinc sulfate on mucositis. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of oral zinc sulfate on prevention of mucositis, xerostomia, and pain induced by chemotherapy. METHODS: This double-blind, randomized controlled trial was carried out on 50 adult patients who underwent chemotherapy during 2008-2009. Patients were divided in two groups. Patients in the intervention group were administered three, 220 mg zinc sulfate capsules daily until the end of their chemotherapy treatment. Patients in the placebo group received three placebo capsules daily, which were similar in shape, taste, and color to the zinc sulfate capsules. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 17 software, using the independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U and Friedman tests. RESULTS: The incidence of grade 3 mucositis was lower in the zinc sulfate group. In the first follow up, grade 3 mucositis was detected in 10% of patients. In the placebo group, grade 3 mucositis was seen in 46.6% of patients. By the fourth follow up, grade 3 mucositis was detected in 3.33% of patients in the intervention group and in 20% of patient in the placebo group. At the end of the study there was no grade 3 mucositis detected in the zinc sulfate group, whereas there were 3.57% of patients in the placebo group with grade 3 mucositis.  The results also showed that zinc sulfate decreased the effects of xerostomia and pain in patients under chemotherapy treatment. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that zinc sulfate might decrease the intensity of mucositis.