The prevalence of malocclusion and its association with dental caries among 12-18-year-old disabled adolescents.

BACKGROUND: To assess the prevalence of malocclusion among 12-18-year-old disabled adolescents in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, by using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and to determine the association of malocclusion with dental caries. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 243 children with various mental disabilities with or without physical infirmities. The Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and the dentition status were recorded using the World Health Organization Oral Health Surveys - Basic Methods (1997) Pro-forma. The Decayed (D), Missing (M) and Filled (F) components of the DMF index were calculated using the Dentition Status and Treatment Need (DSTN). A Chi-square test, ANOVA, and t-test were used to derive inferential statistics. RESULTS: The mean DAI score ± standard deviation was 39.0 ± 12.3. A total of 123 (50.6%) participants (74 males and 49 females) had DAI scores of 36 and above, which indicated a handicapping malocclusion requiring mandatory orthodontic treatment. Sixty-nine (28.4%) adolescents (36 males and 33 females) had DAI scores between 31 and 35, which indicated severe malocclusion, for which orthodontic intervention was desirable. Incisal segment crowding (84.8%) was the most common aspect of the malocclusion. The mean DMFT score was 4.36 ± 3.81, and 82.8% of the participants had a DMFT score > 0. There was no statistically significant correlation between the mean DAI and DMFT scores (r = 0.090, p = 0.15). Only 16 (6.6%) of the adolescents had minor or no anomaly not needing orthodontic treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of malocclusion and dental caries was found to be high. However, there was no positive correlation between the severity of malocclusion and dental caries among the surveyed disabled adolescents.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to healthcare ethics among medical and dental postgraduate students in south India.

BACKGROUND: Conventional medical training offers students little help in resolving the ethical dilemmas they will encounter as healthcare professionals. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to assess the knowledge of, practices in and attitudes to healthcare ethics among postgraduate medical and dental students. METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was carried out at two medical and dental schools in south India. A total of 209 medical and dental students were contacted and at least three were selected from each subspecialty of medicine and dentistry.One hundred and ninety-nine consented to participate and 7 72 returned the questionnaire (response rate 83%). The questionnaire,which was a 35-item pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire,included both closed and open-ended questions. The proposal for the study was approved by the institutional review board (IRB)and the permission of the respective heads of department was obtained. Written consent was obtained from each participant.The returned questionnaires were analysed using SPSS version 7 7 .5. Descriptive analysis was carried out for all the data. The attitudes of the postgraduates of different courses towards practical ethical problems were compared using a Chi square test. RESULTS: Medical and dental postgraduates had obtained their knowledge of bioethics from "other sources such as the Internet,newspapers, etc~ followed by their "undergraduate training" and"experience at work': Nearly 68% of the postgraduates had not undergone any bioethics training. Nearly 98% of the medical postgraduates, as compared to 79% of the dental postgraduates,knew that their institution had an ethics committee. There was a difference between the medical and dental students in terms of their attitude to and knowledge of healthcare ethics, with the former having a superior knowledge of the subject and a better attitude. CONCLUSIONS: The medical and dental postgraduates come across ethical issues during their training, but are not equipped to resolve the ethical dilemmas they encounter. The dental postgraduates have less of an appreciation of healthcare ethics than their medical counterparts. The incorporation of a bioethics curriculum in the initial period of the postgraduate programme would be beneficial.

Oral health survey of 6-12-year-old children with disabilities attending special schools in Chennai, India.

BACKGROUND: The dental literature is replete with reports on the oral health surveys of normal children. Relatively few data exist for the oral conditions of mentally challenged children and adolescents with multiple disabilities in India. AIM: To assess the oral hygiene practices and treatment needs among 6-12-year-old disabled children attending special schools in Chennai, India, between 2007 and 2008. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study data were collected using WHO criteria, a questionnaire (for the parents/guardians) regarding demographic data and oral hygiene practices, medical record review, and clinical examination. RESULTS: Among 402 disabled children, majority of the children brushed their teeth once daily (89.7%) and with assistance from the caregiver (64.4%). The utilisation of the dental services was minimal (extractions 14.4%, oral prophylaxis 1.7%, and restorations 1.7%). There was significant difference between residents and non-residents for the mean dft/DMFT. The periodontal health was comparatively better among the residents of the institutions than the non-residents (P < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that various variables were significantly associated with dft/DMFT and Community Periodontal Index (CPI). CONCLUSION: This study gives sufficient evidence to suggest that the oral health status of this disabled population was poor and there was an increased unmet dental treatment needs.

Coping styles and its association with sources of stress in undergraduate medical students.

CONTEXT: The two ubiquitous factors that have been identified in medical courses to underlie mental health are stress and different coping styles adopted to combat stress. AIM: To find the association between coping styles and stress in undergraduate medical students. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A medical college in Central Kerala. A cross-sectional study design was adopted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Source and Severity of Stress Scale, Medical Student Version, was used to assess the source and nature of stress. Brief Cope was used to find out the coping styles adopted. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and SAS. Chi-square analysis was used to find the association between coping styles and stress domains and with the overall stress score. RESULTS: There is a significant positive association between overall stress score and coping styles (P=0.001) of 'Negative cope', 'Blame', and 'Humor'. 'Positive cope' and 'Religion' has significant positive association with 'Academics' (P=0.047) and 'self Expectations' (P=0.009). 'Blame' (P<0.001) has very high significant positive association with 'Academics', 'self expectation', and 'Relationships'. Very high significant positive association is further found between 'Humor' (P<0.001) and 'self expectations', 'Living conditions', and 'Health and Value conflict'. 'substance Use' is positively associated in high significance to 'Health and Value conflict' (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of the study emphasizes the need for stress management techniques in the medical school.