Effect of oral health behavior and demographic variables on gingival health in 11-16-year-old school children in Chandigarh, India: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: The aims of the present study were to assess the prevalence and pattern of gingival bleeding on probing (BOP) and to evaluate the effect of oral health behavior and demographic determinants on gingival health in 11-16-year-old school children in Chandigarh, India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, using stratified random sampling, was conducted across two age groups, 11-13 years and 14-16 years, and two socioeconomic strata: upper and lower. The World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Health Questionnaire for Children was used to record the data, and the WHO Community Periodontal Index (modified) was used to assess gingival BOP. RESULTS: Among all the 2294 children examined, an estimated 54.2% had gingival BOP. The odds of BOP were also higher in the younger age group (odds ratio [OR]: 1.261, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.068-1.487, P = 0.006), higher for boys (OR: 1.200, 95% CI: 1.017-1.416, P = 0.031), and lower in the upper strata (OR: 0.805, 95% CI: 0.682-0.951, P = 0.011). Gingival BOP was 58.5% in the mandibular and 41.5% in the maxillary arch (P < 0.0001); χ2 -test found tooth cleaning frequency to be a significant contributing factor for gingival BOP (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: An inverse co-relation of gingival BOP with age, socioeconomic status, and a higher prevalence in boys was observed, necessitating periodic preventive dental education, particularly focusing on the target group. Additionally, early screening and prompt treatment to intercept the disease is advocated.

Perception of Indian Dental Surgeons regarding Molar Incisor Hypomineralization.

AIM: To determine the perception of Indian dental professionals about prevalence, severity, and etiological factors of molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online survey was mailed to dental professionals encompassing various questions regarding etiology, diagnosis, prevalence, and management of MIH. RESULTS: More than 90% of the respondents encounter teeth with hypomineralization in their practice, with less than half of them encountering such teeth on a monthly basis. Among these more than one-third find it difficult to manage one or the other aspect of MIH. The etiology was found to be varying as per the respondents. CONCLUSION: Molar incisor hypomineralization is a common condition encountered by dental professionals with no apparent consensus regarding the anticipated prevalence, severity, and etiology of this condition. Knowledge of clinicians' level of perception could be an incentive for pediatric dentists to become more acquainted with MIH by conducting research into its different aspects.How to cite this article: Upadhyay S, Kumar G, Dhillon JK, Gill NC. Perception of Indian Dental Surgeons regarding Molar Incisor Hypomineralization. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(2):116-121.

An investigation of accessory canals in primary molars - an analytical study.

AIM: To evaluate the number, anatomical morphology and patency of accessory canals in the furcation of carious primary molar teeth and to ascertain whether these anatomic variations contribute to endodontic infection. DESIGN: The accessory canals were observed under radiovisiography or RVG (Phase 1), scanning electron microscopy or SEM (Phase 2) and light microscopy (Phase 3). RESULTS: The prevalence of accessory canals was 34.3% with a mean ± SD of 0.73 ± 0.980 in Phase 1, 73.3% with a mean ± SD of 3.07 ± 3.151 in Phase 2 and 64.3% with a mean ± SD of 1.68 ± 2.405 in Phase 3. The results observed were Phase 1 vs Phase 2<0.001 (highly significant), Phase 1 vs Phase 3 0.110 (ns) and Phase 2 vs Phase 3<0.001 (highly significant) employing Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The canals were predominantly oval in shape and ranged from 1 µ to 225 µ in diameter. Only 7% canals were observed to be patent. CONCLUSIONS: Accessory canals may not be the primary cause of transmission of infection in the inter-radicular area of primary molars. Other factors enhancing permeability of the pulpal floor may be of more significance and need evaluation on a larger scale.

Deciphering the system of a systematic review.

All clinical decisions and research essentially begins with the review of pre-existing literature. It helps to make our clinical decisions based on an overview of all the literature concerning the particular clinical problem. This requires a lot of time and effort, which is becoming scarce in this day and age. Literature reviews shorten the time by offering relevant evidence in a concise form. However, narrative reviews might not be objective and unbiased. This drawback is overcome by systematic reviews. There is still some apprehension regarding undertaking systematic reviews due to lack of information. This article is an attempt to explain the concept of systematic reviews and methods used for conducting the same, which will be helpful in day-to- day clinical practice as well as research.

Contribution of Indian pediatric dentists to scientific literature during 2002-2012: a bibliometric analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Bibliometric analysis of publications is necessary to enable clinicians to make evidence based sound clinical decisions. It will also help policy makers & institutions to frame their decisions and policies so as to improve the quality of dental research in India. AIM: The purpose of this study is to identify publication output as well as descriptively and quantitatively characterize the contribution of Indian pediatric dentists to scientific literature through publication trend analysis from 2002 to 2012. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross sectional analytical study. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A bibliometric analysis of publications by Indian pediatric dentists during 2002 to 2012 was performed on data collected from PubMed - MEDLINE database. Only the first author's affiliations were considered and the publications were categorized according to the following variables: year of publication, number of authors, state of origin, type of article, reach of journal and country of publication. RESULTS: There were 817 articles by Indian pediatric dentists during the study period. Of all the articles 399 (48.8%) were original research, 377(46.1%) were case reports and 41 (5.0%) were reviews. The inter-annual variation between the reach, country of publication of the journal and type of articles is presented. The growth trend analysis was performed and predictions are presented. CONCLUSION: There has been an increase in the number of publications by Indian pediatric dentists and most of the published work comprises of original research. The potential use of this data is discussed.

Concrescent triplets involving primary anterior teeth.

Odontogenesis is a complex process wherein more than 200 genes are known to play a significant role in tooth development. An imbalance can lead to an abnormality in the number, size, shape or structure of the developing tooth/teeth. The presence of an extra dental lamina forms a supernumerary tooth. The supernumerary teeth are of two types: A rudimentary tooth where the supernumerary tooth does not resemble any tooth in the normal series or a supplemental tooth in which this anomalous tooth resembles one in the normal series. It is also very rare to encounter triple teeth in primary dentition. The union of these teeth may be through fusion, gemination, concrescence or a combination of fusion and gemination. Presented is a rare case of concrescence involving maxillary deciduous incisors and a supplemental tooth in a 7-year-old boy. The differential diagnosis, etiology, and complications of primary anterior triple teeth are discussed.

Sturge - Weber syndrome: A case report.

Sturge-Weber angiomatosis is a rare, nonhereditary developmental condition characterized by a hamartomatous vascular proliferation involving the tissues of brain and face. A report of a case with facial port wine stains, gingival overgrowth, and dilated ocular vessels is described.