Dental care in children with Down syndrome: A questionnaire for Belgian dentists.

BACKGROUND: To date, research on the opinions of dentists on the oral health care of children with DS (Down Syndrome) is scarce. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Evaluate the views and knowledge of Belgium dentists regarding dental care of children with DS. An adequate sample of dentists were invited to fill in a validated questionnaire. Results were assessed in 95% confidence interval with p< 0.05 level. RESULTS: A total of 356 questionnaires were returned (177 men, 179 women). Mean age of the dentists was 50.3 years (SD: 11.9) and 75% obtained their degree more than 20 years ago. 72.5% of all dentists replied that they had not been instructed in how to treat children with DS during their dental educational training, whereas this is only the case for 39% of the dentists who obtained their degree less than 10 years ago. Half of the group indicated that additional training and education would be (very) desirable (52.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Dentists don't seem to feel comfortable in treating children with DS and refer them to a special care dentistry centre in a hospital. It is positive that dentists are in favour of obtaining additional training and education to help them feel more confident in treating children with DS in daily practice. However we must not conclude that because students or qualified dentists received such training that they will automatically treat more patients with special needs.

Treatment needs and predictive capacity of explanatory variables of oral disease in young athletes with an intellectual disability in Europe and Eurasia.

AIM: To evaluate the oral condition and treatment needs of young athletes with intellectual disability (ID) from 53 countries of Europe and Eurasia who participated in the Special Olympics European Games held in Antwerp, October 2014. METHODS: A cross- sectional study was undertaken with data collected through standardised procedures from consenting athletes under 21 years of age. Oral hygiene habits, reports of oral pain and presence of gingival signs, sealants, untreated caries and missing teeth were recorded. STATISTICS: Data analysis was performed in SPSS to produce descriptive statistics and explanatory variables for untreated decay, and gingival signs of disease were tested with Multilevel Generalized Linear Mixed Models. RESULTS: Five hundred three athletes participated in this study (mean age 17 yrs). Untreated decay was recorded in 33.4% of the participants and 38.7% of them had signs of gingival disease. Absence of untreated decay was associated with lower chances of gingival signs, while absence of sealants was related with higher chances of untreated decay. CONCLUSIONS: There is consistent evidence of persistent need for increased promotion of oral health, as well as preventive and restorative treatment in young athletes with ID in Europe and Eurasia. Due to the limited predictive capacity of the studied variables for oral disease, further studies including other related factors are needed.

Oral health in children with Down syndrome: Parents' views on dental care in Flanders (Belgium).

AIM: Evaluate the views and knowledge, regarding dental care, of parents who have a child with Down syndrome (DS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Parents of children with DS were invited to fill in a questionnaire. They were recruited by the Flemish Organization for DS, from schools for children with special needs and by four multidisciplinary medical DS teams at four University Hospitals. STATISTICS: Chi-square tests were used to test the correlation between different variables. Results were assessed in the 95% confidence interval with p<0.05. RESULTS: Mean age of the children was 10.1 years old (SD: 5.3). Oral health was indicated as rather good by 53% of the parents. Of the children, 66% went to a dentist within the last six months. Most of the children (64%) received a dental examination. In 53% of the cases, parents visited the same dentist for their child with DS as their other child(ren) without DS. Eighty-three percent of the parents are pleased with their dentist. They expect the dentist to be kind and reassuring. Children aged 10 years or younger get significantly more help with tooth brushing (79%) than children older than 10 years (36%). However 20% of the parents never received any oral hygiene instructions for their child with DS. CONCLUSION: Prevention is the most frequent service provided by the dentist. Parents seem to be pleased with the dentist who treats their child with DS.

[29 cases of malaria introduced into New Caledonia from 1992 to 1995]. / A propos de 29 cas de paludisme importé en Nouvelle-Calédonie de 1992 à 1995.

Although located in a tropical zone of the South Pacific, the island of New Caledonia is malaria-free. This retrospective study of imported malaria was conducted jointly by the Pasteur Institute of New Caledonia and the Gaston Bourret Territorial Hospital between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 1995. A total of 29 patients were hospitalized for malaria. Most contracted the disease in Vanuatu. Plasmodium vivax was involved more often than Plasmodium falciparum (22 vs. 11). No case was severe, complicated, or fatal. In most cases treatment consisted of quinine followed by mefloquine. The median duration of hospitalization was 5.7 days. Since the annual incidence of imported malaria is significantly higher in New Caledonia than in France, the authors propose that a Travelers Information Center should be set up in New Caledonia to improve prophylaxis against malaria.