Assessment of Pediatricians' Knowledge, Practices, and Attitudes on Oral Health/Care in Children in the Last Decade: A Systematic Scoping Review and Critical Reflection.

Pediatricians are primary health care professionals who supervise the growth and development and treat infants and children during the first years of life. Thus, they should possess knowledge regarding oral health care, to provide anticipatory guidance, as well as dental education to parents in order to make appropriate clinical decisions. For many years, several surveys have been performed worldwide to assess the pediatricians' knowledge, awareness, and experience regarding oral health care and prevention. This work aimed to scope the existing literature and summarize the most relevant evidence about knowledge, practices, and attitudes on oral health/care among pediatricians worldwide. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source were explored. Under a structured PCC question and eligibility criteria, for relevant clinical trials and observational studies, published during the last decade. Titles and abstracts were screened. Full-text articles were critically reviewed for bias risk and a data charting table was constructed. A total of 44 references were initially identified, and 37 titles remained for abstract screening after removing duplicates; then, 27 potential full-text articles were carefully reviewed. Finally, 25 relevant and most informative studies were included. The selected studies were conducted in India, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Paraguay, Europe, Australia, Qatar, Iran, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, and the USA. Through included surveys, researchers have reported different levels of knowledge, practice involvement, and attitude on children's oral health among pediatricians. In general, unsatisfactory knowledge of oral health was reported. The main impediments for a better professional involvement or practice include inappropriate education, poor auto-confidence, and lack of time. So, it has been suggested that some oral health training or clinical guidelines should be included in the current medical curricula.

Powered Toothbrushes: An Opportunity for Biofilm and Gingival Inflammation Control.

The present review aimed at a broad investigation on the potential of powered as compared to manual toothbrushes in different aspects of clinical dentistry. Studies evaluating plaque and gingival inflammatory parameters were included, as well as those that investigated adverse effects. Emphasis was given separately to adults, youngsters, special-needs patients, and those under fixed orthodontic therapy. In general, comparisons favored powered toothbrushes. In summary, approximately 68% of the included studies, in terms of plaque/gingival inflammation in adults, presented better results for powered toothbrushes. In children and special-needs populations, approximately 40% of the included studies favored powered toothbrushes for plaque/gingival inflammation, and none favored manual ones. In orthodontic individuals, 50% of the studies also demonstrated a better effect of powered toothbrushes on plaque and gingival inflammation. All included studies that assessed adverse events did not demonstrate a difference in these effects when comparing manual vs. powered toothbrushes. It is concluded that the use of powered toothbrushes is an opportunity to enhance patterns of plaque control and associated gingival inflammation.

Case Report in Clinical Pediatric Dentistry: How to Review, Organize and Prepare a Manuscript.

A case report is a useful type of publication to describe information on unusual clinical diseases or syndromes, new management techniques, potential risk factors/oral disease associations, and uncommon side effects or responses to traditional dental treatments. In the practice of Dentistry and Medicine, the publication of case reports has the purpose of sharing new clinical experiences and knowledge with interested colleagues. Case reports in the field of Evidence-Based Pediatric Dentistry convey unique contributions to the clinical practice and help improve the process of clinical decision making in the form of a brief written communication. Additionally, case reports are potential resources of new hypotheses for more complex methodological designs in clinical research studies and are one of the best ways to get started in scholarly writing. The purposes of the present report were to comment on the role, relevance, and main limitations of case reports in Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, to describe the reasons for writing a case report and some recommendations for critically reviewing a published case report, and finally, to provide the fundamentals of preparing a case report, and finally, to provide the fundamentals of preparing a case report manuscript in a structured manner.

Communicating with the New Generations. The Challenge for Pediatric Dentists.

Most of the children and parents are virtuous and will give us plenty of reasons to enjoy what we do. Unfortunately, we all know that something is somehow wrong with these new generations. Parents and children sometimes place Pediatric dentists in a dilemma. The social structure changes every few years causing a burden on how to deal with these families. For this reason, dentists might decide to sedate or go to the operating room when these children might be potentially good dental patients. Deciding this course of action, does not allow us to bond with them. Bonding with children must be worked and nurtured. This is part of what pediatric dentists are trained for. This manuscript will illustrate the major changes seen with the new generations of parents and children and how it affects us the way we work in our offices. We will show the importance of bonding with parents and children, moving beyond the biological aspects and venturing into the psycho-socio and cultural issues. Knowing our children and adolescents will allow us to detect potential physical or emotional hazardous behavior.

Resin replica in enamel deproteinization and its effect on acid etching.

PURPOSE: The goal of this in vitro study was to identify the topographical features of deproteinized (NaOCl) and etched with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) enamel surface, compared to phosphoric acid surface alone with a Resin Replica model. MATERIALS: Ten extracted lower first and second permanent molars were polished with pumice and water, and then divided into 3 equal buccal sections having similar physical and chemical properties. The enamel surfaces of each group were subjected to the following treatments: Group A: Acid Etching with H3PO4 37% for 15 seconds. Group B: Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) 5.25% for 60 seconds followed by Acid Etching with H3PO4 37% for 15 seconds. Group C; No treatment (control). All the samples were treated as follow: Adhesive and resin were applied to all groups after A, B and C treatment were performed; Then enamel/dentin decalcification and deproteinization and topographic SEM Resin Replica assessment were used to identify resin tags enamel surface quality penetration. RESULTS: Showed that group B reached an area of 7.52 mm of the total surface, with a 5.68 mm2 (73%) resin tag penetration equivalent type I and II etching pattern, 1.71 mm2 (26%) equivalent to type III etching pattern and 0.07 mm2 (1%) unaffected surface. Followed by group A with 7.48 mm2 of the total surface, with a 3.47 mm2 (46 %)resin tag penetration equivalent to type I and II etching pattern, 3.30 mm2 (45%)equivalent to type III etching pattern and 0.71 mm2, and (9%) unaffected surface. Group C did not show any resin tag penetration. A significant statistical diference (P < 0.001) existed between groups A and B in resin quality penetration, leading to the conclusion that when the enamel is deproteinizated with 5.25% NaOCl for 1 minute prior H3PO4, the surface and topographical features of the replica resin penetration surface increases significantly with type I-II etching pattern.

14 year follow-up for a severe electrical burn to mouth and lip: case report.

INTRODUCTION: Electrical burns range from 4 to 7% of the total burn accidents and many of them affect primarily children biting on a live wire. Great confusion exists in the literature about the proper management of electrical burns to the mouth in the acute and late phases. CASE REPORT: 14 year results are shown in a severe electrical burn sustained in a 1 year 2 months old girl, involving 90% of the lips and commissures, tongue, alveolar ridges and teeth (primary central incisors and permanent dental germs). Two weeks after she was out of danger, an active splint expansion device was built and used for 8 months to prevent secondary microstomia. Later a new active splint device was used for a year after lip plastic surgery. At age 13, orthopedics and orthodontics were accomplished with a lip tattoo completed at age 15. CONCLUSION: No matter how good the final esthetic and occlusal results are, prevention is always the best option.

Enamel deproteinization and its effect on acid etching: an in vitro study.

PURPOSE: The goal of this in vitro study was to identify the topographical features of the enamel surface deproteinized and etched with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) compared to phosphoric acid alone. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Ten extracted lower first and second permanent molars were polished with pumice and water, and then divided into 4 equal buccal sections having similar physical and chemical properties. The enamel surfaces of each group were subjected to the following treatments: Group A: Acid Etching with H3PO4 37% for 15 seconds. Group AH1: Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) 5.25% for 30 seconds followed by Acid Etching with H3PO4 37% for 15 seconds. Group AH2; Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl) 5.25% for 60 seconds followed by Acid Etching with H3PO4 37% for 15 seconds. Results showed that group AH2 etching technique reached an area of 76.6 mm2 of the total surface, with a 71.8 mm2 (94.47%), type 1 and 2 etching pattern, followed by group AH1 with 55.9 mm2 out of 75.12 mm2 (74.1%), and finally group A with only 36.8 mm2 (48.83%) out of an area of 72.7 mm2. A significant statistical difference (P < 0.05) existed between all groups, leading to the conclusion that enamel deproteinization with 5.25% NaOCl for 1 minute before H3PO4, etching increases the enamel conditioning surface as well as the quality of the etching pattern.

Controlled slicing in the management of congenitally missing second premolars.

This report describes a simple method of allowing permanent first molars to drift mesially in patients with congenitally missing second premolars, thus facilitating future orthodontic treatment. Controlled slicing of the deciduous second molar between the ages of 8 and 9 years produced a bodily controlled mesial movement of the permanent first molar in less than 1 year with no or minor rotations or inclination. These results are compared with controlled slicing in 10- to 11-year-olds and with treatment involving extraction alone.