A Comparison of Parental Satisfaction in the Quality of their Child's Orthodontic Treatment by Orthodontists and Pedodontists.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to evaluate satisfaction of the parents of children who have undergone orthodontic treatment provided by their orthodontists and pediatric dentists in their private practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 412 parents were interviewed with the help of a questionnaire containing information such as demographic part, experience of braces, motives for orthodontic treatment, complications faced during the procedure and reasoning for satisfaction. Student's t-test was applied to analyze the results. The level of significance was set at P = 0.05. RESULTS: A higher level of satisfaction was seen in parents of children treated by pedodontists (mean score of satisfaction = 0.752) when compared with those treated by orthodontists (mean score of satisfaction = 0.631) which was statistically significant. Parents of girl patients showed a higher mean score of satisfaction (1.021) when compared with those of boy patients (0.321), which was also statistically significant. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the pedodontists performed orthodontic treatment to a similar standard as orthodontists, in fact they proved to be better in terms of patient care and behavior management as the parental satisfaction in the quality of orthodontic care was more with pediatric dentists than with orthodontists in this study.

In vitro antifungal activity of two tissue conditioners combined with nystatin, miconazole and fluconazole against Candida albicans.

AIM: To determine and compare antifungal activity of two tissue conditioners combined with nystatin, miconazole and fluconazole against Candida albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two tissue conditioners Viscogel and GC Soft combined with nystatin, miconazole and fluconazole were tested against Candida albicans using agar core inhibition diameter assay. One-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's post-hoc test was used to test the intergroup difference. p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Maximum inhibition was seen in the fluconazole groups followed by miconazole and the least inhibition was seen in case of nystatin group. CONCLUSION: Tissue conditioners when mixed with antifungal agents showed satisfactory inhibition of Candida albicans. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Incorporation of antifungal drugs into tissue conditioners shows good inhibition of C. albicans and can be recommended for clinical use.

Microbial colonization and their relation with potential cofactors in patients with denture stomatitis.

AIM: To determine microbial prevalence in the mucous membrane and prosthesis of denture wearers with and without denture stomatitis and to study its relationship with potential clinical cofactors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Saliva was collected from 200 patients (100 female and 100 male) wearing dental prosthesis for measurement of pH. Oral samples of the mucous membrane and of dentures were taken with sterile swab for microbiological analysis. Medical and dietary history of the subjects was recorded. Chi-square test and analysis of varience were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Diabetes, hypertension and high carbohydrate ingestion was observed in majority of patients. The pH average in saliva was of 5.1. The presence of C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutans in the mucous membrane was of 55.4, 56.4 and 63.6% respectively. C. albicans was isolated in 69.7% from the prosthesis, whereas S. aureus and S. mutans were isolated in 45.3%. The isolation of C.albicans was more frequent in patients with denture stomatitis. CONCLUSION: C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutans frequently colonize the oral mucous of denture wearers. This is more frequently observed in patients with denture stomatitis. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Denture stomatitis is associated to Candida albicans, different bacteria and other cofactors, such as salivary pH, carbohydrate ingestion, systemic illnesses and medication.