Effect of Reinforcement of Oral Health Education Message through Short Messaging Service in Mobile Phones: A Quasi-Experimental Trial.

Objective. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of reinforcement of oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) in mobile phones. Material and Methods. 400 subjects from two colleges (200 from each college) belonging to 18-20 years age group possessing mobile phones were randomly selected and baseline examination of oral hygiene and gingival status was carried out using Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) and Gingival Index (GI). Oral health education was provided to all the subjects. Oral health education message was reinforced through short messaging service (SMS) in mobile phones for the subjects belonging to the intervention group. There was no such reinforcement for the control group. Follow-up examinations were done at the end of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th month. After the 3rd month, subjects of the intervention group did not receive oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) and were followed up after next three months. Compiled data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 statistical software. Result. Mean OHI and GI scores in intervention group were significantly (p < 0.01) less than those of control group after the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th month. Conclusion. Reinforcement of oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) is effective media to improve oral health.

Mitigation of Fluorosis - A Review.

Fluoride is required for normal development and growth of the body. It is found in plentiful quantity in environment and fluoride content in drinking water is largest contributor to the daily fluoride intake. The behaviour of fluoride ions in the human organism can be regarded as that of "double-edged sword". Fluoride is beneficial in small amounts but toxic in large amounts. Excessive consumption of fluorides in various forms leads to development of fluorosis. Fluorosis is major health problem in 24 countries, including India, which lies in the geographical fluoride belt. Various technologies are being used to remove fluoride from water but still the problem has not been rooted out. The purpose of this paper is to review the available treatment modalities for fluorosis, available technologies for fluoride removal from water and ongoing fluorosis mitigation programs based on literature survey. Medline was the primary database used in the literature search. Other databases included: PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, WHO, Ebscohost, Science Direct, Google Search Engine, etc.