Attitudes of Saudi Arabian mothers towards the digit-sucking habit in children.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to report on the attitudes of Saudi mothers towards the digit-sucking habit in their children and their attempts to stop this fixation. DESIGN: The research took the form of a cross-sectional study. METHODS: Data was collected from a sample of 50 Saudi mothers whose children currently had a digit-sucking habit. One investigator used a specially designed questionnaire to interview all the mothers. RESULTS: The results showed that 48% of mothers did not like to see the habit at any age, and no mother accepted the habit after the age of 4 years. Most mothers (86%) tried to stop their children digit-sucking. Sixty-six per cent of the present sample had noticed the adverse effect of this fixation on their child's occlusion, and this was given as the main reason for their attempts to stop the habit. The most common method used by Saudi mothers to stop their children sucking their digits was the application of a bitter tasting lotion to the fingers (66%). Although 48% of mothers had sought advice about digit-sucking from dentists and paediatricians (30% and 18%, respectively), 60% of the dentists and all of paediatricians had made no suggestions about any solutions. CONCLUSION: No mother accepted the habit in their children after the age of 4 years. The majority of mothers had noticed the adverse effect of the digit-sucking fixation. Non-invasive procedures were most commonly used by Saudi mothers attempting to stop this habit in their children.

The effects of in-office reconditioning on the morphology of slots and bases of stainless steel brackets and on the shear/peel bond strength.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of five in-office bracket reconditioning methods on: (i) bracket slot width and interwing gap measurements; (ii) the appearance of the bracket bases under scanning electron microscope (SEM), and; (iii) shear/peel bond strength (SPBS). SETTING: Ex vivo study. METHOD: One hundred and twenty-five brackets were initially bonded and were divided into five experimental groups and reconditioning by the following methods: (i) adhesive grinding using green stone (Gp II); (ii) sandblasting (Gp III); (iii) direct flaming (Gp IV); (iv) using the BigJane machine (Gp V), and; (v) application of Buchman method (Gp VI). OUTCOMES: Distortion of the brackets. Scanning electron microscopy of three representative specimens from each group. The remaining brackets were rebonded, then shear/peel forces to failure were measured (SPBS). RESULTS: The ANOVA and multiple comparison test exhibited a statistical, but not clinical, significant increase in the bracket measurements of Group VI. There was a significant reduction (28%) in the SPBS of Group II. Under the SEM, the wire mesh structure was maintained; however, the amount of adhesive remnants greatly varied among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although none of the in-office reconditioning methods employed adversely affected the bracket base and/or the bracket measurements, reconditioning with a green stone was not effective. Sandblasting method and direct flaming are recommended because of simplicity and time-saving advantages.