Community service-based preventive dental education for elementary school-aged children.

OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of one-to-one preventive dental education provided by dental undergraduate students for improving elementary school-aged children's oral self-care skills, diet-related knowledge, and diet behavior was tested. METHODS: The sample consisted of 106 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years who attended the same school. Oral self-care skills were assessed by undergraduate dental students using a tooth-brushing assessment form, and diet knowledge and behaviors by means of a questionnaire. The effectiveness of education (two one-to-one sessions) was evaluated by measuring the post-educational changes in the children's oral self-care skills, diet knowledge, and behavior. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in the means (sd) of tooth-brushing skill scores (range: 0-18) from 6.2 (4.0) at the baseline to 8.4 (4.1) at the first and to 10.3 (3.0) at the second follow-up. Total tooth-brushing time (in seconds) significantly increased from 76.0 (59.1) at the baseline to 110.7 (74.3) at the first follow-up then decreased to 102.6 (73.1) at the second follow-up. The means (sd) of diet knowledge scores (range: 0-30) improved significantly from 18.5 (5.6) at the baseline to 23.0 (7.3) at the first and to 24.5 (4.0) at the second follow-ups. The means (sd) of weekly sugar intake scores (range: 0-18) significantly decreased from 4.9 (2.1) at the baseline to 3.1 (2.0) at the first follow-up and remained unchanged until the second follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: One-to-one dental education improved children's oral self-care skills, diet-related knowledge, and diet behavior. The post-educational improvements were maintained for 6 months in older children but not in the younger children.

Association of salivary physicochemical characteristics and peptide levels with dental caries in children.

AIM: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the association of physicochemical properties and antimicrobial peptide levels of saliva with caries activity in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The required volume of unstimulated saliva was collected from 41 children aged 3-12 years with no systemic diseases. Caries activity was calculated using DMFS and dmfs records for each participating child. Collected saliva samples were then examined for their flow rate, pH, and buffering capacity. The concentration of three peptides was assessed including LL-37, human neutrophil peptide (HNP) 1-3, and human beta-defensin (HBD)-3 through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation between caries activity score (CAS) and salivary variables was looked using the linear regression and Spearman's correlation method. The comparison of CAS means between high- and low-value groups of salivary items was performed using independent sample t-test while the association of CAS and salivary parameters in categorical scale was tested by Chi-square test. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found between the CAS means at low and high categories of each salivary physicochemical parameter and those of antimicrobial peptides. There was a negative correlation between HNP1-3 and CAS and also between HBD-3 and CAS, but these results were not statistically meaningful. High HNP1-3 concentration was noted in 67% of the low caries rate group and 29% of the high caries rate group, with a statistically significant difference between the low and high caries rate groups (P = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Salivary inherent factors are not dominant determinants in caries activity. The current results may suggest that α-defensins (HNP1-3) have a protective role against dental caries.

The use of pulse oximetry in evaluation of pulp vitality in immature permanent teeth.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The current methods of pulp vitality assessment, either electric or thermal, are of limited use in children. Recently, traumatized and immature teeth may not respond to such methods and because such methods require subjective responses, it may not provide accurate results particularly in children. Pulse oximetry, an atraumatic approach, is used to measure oxygen saturation in vascular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of pulse oximetry to evaluate pulp vitality status in immature permanent teeth. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study was conducted on 329 maxillary central and lateral incisors in children. The negative control group consisted of 10 root filled teeth. Systemic oxygen saturation was first measured on the thumb of the individual using a custom-made sensor. Oxygen saturation values of the teeth were then evaluated. The correlation between oxygen saturation measurement obtained from finger and tooth, and the correlation between oxygen saturation values and stage of root development were analyzed. A further comparison was made between the teeth with open and closed apex. RESULTS: Mean oxygen values recorded in the patient's finger were 97.17%, and mean oxygen values in the maxillary central and lateral incisors were 86.77% and 83/92%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between blood oxygen levels in the finger and in the teeth. (P > 0.05) There was a significant negative correlation between the stage of root development and the blood oxygen levels in the patients' teeth. (P < 0.05) Mean oxygen values in the teeth with open apex were significantly higher than the teeth with closed apex. (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Vital teeth provided consistent oxygen saturation readings, and non-vital teeth recorded no oxygen saturation values. During tooth development, the oxygen saturation values decreased. These findings confirm that the pulse oximetry is capable of detecting the pulpal blood flow and oxygen saturation.

Using implants for prosthodontic rehabilitation of a 4-year-old with ectodermal dysplasia.

Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is an inherited disorder that affects ectodermally derived organs, such as teeth. Pathogenesis is thought to involve an altered epithelium-mesenchymal interaction. ED patients have oligodontia (or sometimes anodontia) in addition to other abnormalities involving the skin, sweat glands, or hair. Many different subtypes have been introduced in the literature. This article describes the case of a 4-year-old patient who, after being diagnosed with ED, was put on a treatment plan that involved mandibular implants, reshaping of the maxillary primary central incisors, and prosthetic dental rehabilitation. Due to the child's rapid growth, both dentures were changed 9 months post-treatment. Two years post-treatment, the maxillary denture was changed again and the child was placed under close supervision.

Sequential supernumerary teeth development in a non-syndromic patient; report of a rare case.

Isolated impacted supernumerary teeth are quite rare, but they can be seen associated with several syndromes such as cleidocranial dysostosis or Gardner's syndrome. This article aims to discuss a case of sequential formation of supernumerary teeth with no other associated disease or syndrome. A 17-year-old Iranian male with 8 impacted supernumerary teeth was referred to the department of pediatric dental clinic at Shahid Beheshti Medical University in Tehran with a history of several impacted unerupted teeth. Repeated and periodical clinical and radiographic examinations revealed newly formed teeth buds in unusual dental ages. All extra teeth were associated with generalized enamel hypoplasia to some degree on their relative permanent adjacent teeth. The patient did not have any record of a systemic disease or any syndromic condition to relate his dental problem to. This rare condition involved repeated and continued formation of extra teeth out of the normal numbers and dental age evident in serial radiographs.

Stimulatory effect of low-level laser therapy on root development of rat molars: a preliminary study.

Several studies suggest a biomodulatory influence of low-level laser irradiation in the inflammatory and reparative processes of dental tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the stimulatory effect of 808-nm laser irradiation on root development of rat molars and also to evaluate the histological reaction of pulp and periapical tissues. Twenty-four 30-day-old Wistar male rats were randomly assigned to three-time and five-time laser therapy groups. After initial x-ray, using mammography equipment, laser energy was applied at a wavelength of 808 nm (2 J/cm(2), 100 mW, 20 s) to the midroot area of the lower molars of one side of mouth at repeated intervals of the 48 h. The animals were killed 1 day after the final treatment, and root length development of the experimental samples was compared to contra-lateral non-irradiated molars using mammography. The histological reaction of the pulp and periapical tissue was evaluated under light microscopy. Root development was more advanced in irradiated groups than in the non-irradiated controls (p < 0.001). No significant differences, however, could be found between the root development changes in the three-time and five-time laser therapy groups (p > 0.05). Histological findings showed that the occurrence of secondary cement formation was significantly higher in the irradiation groups compared to the controls (p = 0.003). However, there were no statistically significant differences for the frequencies of pulp hyperemia, periodontal ligament fiber organization, or lamina dura remodeling between the groups (p > 0.05). Under the conditions used in this study, 808-nm low-level laser accelerates the rat molar root development in the presence of favorable histological reactions.