The relationship between obesity and dental caries according to life style factors in schoolchildren: a case-control study.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between obesity and dental caries in terms of life-style habits and socio-economic status in Turkish school children.Materials and methods: This case-control study was undertaken with 178 children aged 6-11 years in a Turkish government children's hospital. The case group consisted of 86 obese children who were categorized in ≥95 percentile according to the BMI. The control group consisted of 90 non-obese children that would not raise any doubts about the teeth disease. Data of demographic features and life-style habits were obtained by a questionnaire at the dental examination. Caries experience was measured with DMFT and dmft indices.Results: No difference was found between obesity and caries prevalence in primary dentition (p = .957); however, there was a statistically significant association in the permanent dentition (p = .002). Also, no differences were found in children with healthy natural teeth between the study groups according to education level, family income and food consumption during TV viewing in primary dentition (p = .297; p = .652; p = .023).Conclusions: It can be concluded that obesity appears to be not a possible risk factor for dental caries in primary dentition, but would be a probable endangerment in the permanent dentition.

Long-term Dental Anomalies after Pediatric Cancer Treatment in Children

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of dental anomalies (DAs) (microdontia, hypodontia, hyperdontia, enamel defect, root malformation) in pediatric cancer patients at the ages <5 years and between 5 and 7 years, and understand their relationship with the received therapy. Materials and Methods: Pediatric patients who were diagnosed with cancer and treated before the age of 7 years were investigated in a case- control design. The study included 93 pediatric patients whose ages at diagnosis were between 9 months and 7 years and whose treatments were completed before 5-8 years. Group A consisted of patients in the age range of 9 months to 4 years and Group B consisted of patients in the age range of 5-7 years. Seventy-two siblings with compatible dental age ranges were included in the control group. For both groups, intraoral examinations were performed and panoramic radiographs were taken. Results: Among the 93 pediatric patients, the mean age was 9.54±1.25 (range: 8-13 years) and 48 (51.6%) patients were male. The most common diagnosis was hematologic malignancy with a rate of 65.5%. At least one DA was detected in 7 (9.7%) individuals of the control group and in 78 (83.9%) of the patient group. While the patients in the study group had all kinds of DAs, those in the control group had only enamel defects. The rates of microdontia (p=0.077) and hypodontia (p=0.058) were detected to be significantly higher in Group A than in Group B. Root malformation was more common in patients receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy than in those receiving only chemotherapy (p=0.006). Conclusion: In this study it was found that the pediatric patients who received cancer treatment before the age of 7 years constituted a high-risk group for DAs. The frequencies of microdontia and hypodontia were increased even more when the patient was treated for cancer before 5 years of age.

Is there a relationship between maternal periodontitis and pre-term birth? A prospective hospital-based case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to verify the existence of an association between maternal periodontal disease and pre-term delivery in an unselected population of post-partum Turkish women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 100 women who gave birth in either a special or a government maternity hospital. The case group consisted of 50 mothers who had delivered an infant before 37 weeks' gestation and weighed under 2500 g. The control group included 50 mothers who had given birth to an infant with a birth weight of more than 2500 g and a gestational age of ≥37 weeks. Data of mothers and infants were collected using medical registers and questionnaires. Clinical periodontal examinations were carried out in six sites on every tooth in the mother's mouth. A participant who presented at least four teeth with one or more sites with a PPD ≥4 mm and CAL ≥3 mm at the same site was considered to have periodontal disease. Statistical methods included parametric and non-parametric tests and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the cases and controls with regard to periodontal disease and pre-term delivery (OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 0.54-4.06). CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that maternal periodontitis was not a possible risk factor for pre-term delivery. Further studies with additional clinical trials are needed to explore the possible relationship between periodontal disease and pre-term birth.

Effect of Carisolv on the human dental pulp: a histological study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate histopathologically after 1 week and 1 month the effect of Carisolv on exposed human pulp after a contact period of 10 min in comparison to sterile saline solution. METHODS: Class V cavities were prepared in 40 human first premolars, and the pulp chambers were perforated. The pulp tissue was either exposed to Carisolv or sterile saline solution for 10 min, covered with Teflon and restored with compomer filling material. After observation periods of 1 week and 1 month, the teeth were extracted and examined by light microscopy. RESULTS: Histological evaluation revealed similar pulpal response which consisted of a slight inflammation in both groups after 1 week. The only difference was localized haemorrhage in controls while no haemorrhage was observed in the test group which may show the haemostatic effect of Carisolv. After 1 month the test teeth displayed a very mild inflammation adjacent to the perforation area while haemorrhage disappeared in the controls. In general, pulps showed structural integrity in both groups. Statistical analysis showed no difference between the test and the control groups in both test periods. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that Carisolv is biocompatible with human pulp tissue and may have a haemostatic effect.