ABSTRACT
Aim: The study investigates the correlation of dental caries status with body mass index (BMI) in school children of age 3 to 16 years. Background: Obesity is a rising global health epidemic. Dental caries has been the predominant disorder in modern society. Obesity and dental caries are major health problems with multifactorial characteristics and similar risk factors, such as diet, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating pattern, not enough sleep, and high amount of stress etc. Various studies have documented diverse outcomes linked to BMI and dental caries. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was implemented on 756 participants. Among the study participants, 475 (62.8%) were boys and 281 (37.2%) were girls. The decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index has been used to assess the prevalence of dental caries. Information of the study participant's height and weight was reported using a standardized measuring scale and weighing machine; after that, the BMI was measured. SPSS version 22 was used to analyze the data. Results: The mean DMFT of the study participants in normal-weight children was 2.3. There was a positive correlation between the dental caries status and BMI, with a significant value of 0.27. Conclusion: Diet counselling and regular dental check-ups should be prescribed to prevent dental caries from occurring and monitor children's healthy weight. Balanced nutrition needs to be provided to children by school authorities and parents.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new disease which has ruining and dismantling the harmony of people internationally, its development and spread, creates turmoil, nervousness and dread among worldwide. Aim: To evaluate seriousness of peritraumatic problems among southern Indian inhabitants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A referral sampling technique was continued until a sufficient sample size was reached, while this self-administered survey catches insights about depression, fears, psychological change, evasion cognitive change, and collectively quantifies the stress on a scale of 0-60. Expressive factual examinations were utilized to sum up clear cut information and inferential measurable investigations included Chi-square tests and Pearson's correlations were done. Results: The study included only those participants who understood English and had access to the internet. Inconsequential outcomes were found among gender in which both male and female members frequently showed apprehension and nervousness about COVID-19. 44.8% tried not to watch the news on COVID-19 as they were excessively frightened and make frenzy to family members. 90.9% of participants with lower education levels were more stressed over the thought of getting COVID-19 when showing manifestations related with the novel corona virus, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: The current assessment shows that almost all the study participants have felt restless, uncomfortable and terrified of watching the news whilst stressed over appearances related with COVID-19 due to their greater access to information.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To compare the caries experience between Azadirachta indica chewing stick users and toothbrush users among 35-44-year-old rural population in Southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This ex post facto research was conducted in the rural parts of two sub-administrative areas of a district in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sample size for the study was determined to be 400, with 200 subjects in each group. Subjects following indigenous oral hygiene methods were identified using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. After obtaining 200 subjects using A. indica chewing sticks, age, gender, and socioeconomic status matched controls using toothbrush were identified. American Dental Association type III examination was carried out to record caries experience (decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) Index) after obtaining informed consent and thus obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. RESULTS: It was observed that the caries experience was more in toothbrush users compared to subjects following indigenous methods (DMFT, 4.38 ± 1.93 vs. 3.54 ± 1.02). Similar results were obtained when the decay component of DMFT index was exclusively compared. No significant difference in the plaque scores and the mean number of filled, missing teeth was observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Though conclusive results cannot be drawn from this study about the positive influence of indigenous methods on caries experience, the results emphasize the cardinal need to more thoroughly understand the potential benefits of indigenous methods before dismissing them as retrogressive approaches.
