Child physical abuse: knowledge of dental students in Hamburg, Germany.

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at evaluating the levels of knowledge of child abuse among students attending the School of Dental and Oral Medicine at the University of Hamburg- Eppendorf, Germany. METHODS: This cross-sectional study utilized a self-administered and structured questionnaire, consisting of 23 multiple-choice questions; the questionnaire focused on rating the students' knowledge of and ability to diagnose child abuse. Each question was analysed with simple descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The students (181) were aware of their legal and ethical responsibilities towards the children and their parents. More than two-thirds (69.6%) responded positively when asked whether a dentist should be legally responsible to report cases of child abuse brought to their attention. The majority of the students (96.1%) agreed that dentists had an ethical duty to report such cases. However, the students were unable to define or describe the signs, symptoms, and social indicators of child abuse. Approximately 93.4% of the students lacked basic training related to child abuse, while 95.7% of them indicated that there was insufficient training in issues related to child abuse. CONCLUSIONS: There is a general lack of information regarding child abuse among dentistry students. The majority of the students showed interest in the topic of child abuse and neglect, but were unable to clearly identify the signs and symptoms. More lectures and workshops relating to child abuse should be available to all dentists to reinforce their knowledge as well as to strengthen their confidence when confronted with suspected cases of child abuse.

Changes in the epidemiology and aetiology of dental traumatic injuries in permanent teeth in children before and after German unification.

AIM: To evaluate the longitudinal occurrence of traumatic dental injuries in permanent teeth comparing recent data from 2014 to 2016 in Greifswald after German unification with a historic sample from socialist times (1974-1989). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, traumatic dental injury parameters as type, date, location, and cause of injury as well as tooth affected were extracted from the trauma records of patients from 1974 to 1989 and 2014-2016. RESULTS: The descriptive analysis of 444 teeth in 245 patients revealed that the recent and historic samples had a very similar pattern of dental trauma (201/243 teeth in 117/128 patients, respectively): Maxillary permanent central incisors were affected in 70.7% and 68.3%, respectively. Enamel-dentine fractures were the most prevalent fracture injury in both recent and historic samples (64% and 43.1%, respectively) followed by enamel fractures (20.7% and 36.9%, respectively). Subluxations were the most common luxation traumatic dental injury (44.7%) followed by lateral luxation (39.8%) as reported in the historic sample while in the recent sample subluxation constituted 42.9% of luxation injuries followed by concussion (36.2%). CONCLUSION: This study detected a very stable pattern of dental traumatic injuries over 40 years, even after the change from a socialistic society to a market economy.

Evidence-based cariology in clinical and public health practice as part of the European Core Curriculum in Cariology.

This paper is part of a series of papers contributing towards a European Core Curriculum in Cariology for undergraduate dental students. The European Core Curriculum in Cariology is the outcome of a process starting in 2006 and culminating in a joint workshop of the European Organization for Caries Research together with the Association for Dental Education in Europe, which was held in Berlin from 27 to 30 June 2010. The scope of this paper is to present the evidence-based cariology in clinical and public health section of the European Core Curriculum in Cariology. This section was developed on the basis of international consensus on the current and future educational needs in the fields of cariology and disorders of dental hard tissues. The paper will deal with the core skills of evidence-based dental practice within the undergraduate curriculum underpinning the dual facets of clinical cariology (relating particularly to individuals) and public health cariology (relating particularly to groups/societies). Core competencies in evidence-based dentistry, which are generic to the undergraduate curriculum as a whole and not only cariology, are integral to lifelong learning skills within dentistry. As the clinical cariology competencies in assessment and management of caries for the individual patient are dealt with within other sections of the European Core Curriculum in Cariology, only a few relevant examples will be presented here, but for Public Health Cariology, the competencies will be explored within this document and their relationship to the principles of evidence-based dentistry discussed.

Fluorosis, caries and oral hygiene in schoolchildren on the Ombili Foundation in Namibia.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to analyse caries prevalence and fluorosis as well as oral hygiene habits in schoolchildren in north Namibia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 2004, 120 pupils (1st to 8th grade, mean age: 12.3 ± 2.8 years) of the Ombili Primary School were examined by one calibrated clinician for caries (DMFT) according to the World Health Organization criteria, oral hygiene (API) and fluorosis (Dean's index), categorised according to the four different farms where they lived. In addition, samples of drinking water were obtained from the wells of the farms and analysed for quality and mineral content. RESULTS: The pupils at the different farms showed very different caries prevalence (range: 17% to 50% caries-free children) and mean DMFT values (0.96 to 2.67). Oral hygiene measures were not common (60.8% none) or inefficient (mean proximal plaque index: 89.5%) and did not differ greatly between the different farms. The fluoride concentration in drinking water varied considerably (0.28 to 1.06 mg/l). The prevalence of dental fluorosis in all schoolchildren was 65.8%, the Community Fluorosis Index (CFI) was 1.41 and it differed clearly for pupils from the four farms (CFI: 0.5 to 1.65). The DMFT index showed a statistically significant correlation with the fluoride concentration of the drinking water (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, fluoride concentration in drinking water should be monitored in the future. In parallel, a caries-preventive programme should be developed, as high concentrations of fluoride in drinking water alone do not result in acceptable caries levels.

Epidemiology and aetiology of malocclusion among Syrian paediatric patients.

AIM: The knowledge of the distribution and causes of malocclusion in early childhood can prevent such malocclusions and their consequences and possibly to reduce complex orthodontic treatment. METHODS: All children (n = 234; 116 male, 118 female, age 2-16) who presented with occlusal or functional problems at the Department of Paediatric Dentistry at Damascus University (1995-1999) were classified according to the type and causes of malocclusion and the subsequent orthodontic treatment. RESULTS: 57.3% of the malocclusions affected the anterior-posterior plane, 12.4% the vertical, and 35.9% the transverse. Most of the malocclusions had causes which could be modified by preventive or interceptive efforts: thumb sucking (5.12%), infantile swallowing (3.84%), mouth breathing (0.85%), tongue thrusting (1.7%), delayed exfoliation of a primary tooth (3.41%), premature loss of a primary tooth (9.82%), delayed eruption of a permanent tooth (2.13%), or an impacted tooth (6.41%). The subsequent early orthodontic treatment consisted of space maintainers (26%), removable (40.9%), functional (11.9%), or fixed appliances (21.2%). CONCLUSION: These data stress the importance of early orthodontic diagnosis in paediatric practice. Malocclusion in this Syrian sample could be treated to a great extent with preventive or interceptive orthodontics, which required only simple appliances and techniques.