Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Severity of Periodontal Disease.

BACKGROUND: Oral diseases are among the most common diseases which could not dissociate from general conditions with regards to impacts on quality of life (QoL). The present study is aimed to assess the impact of the severity of periodontal disease on oral health QoL using oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL)-UK questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The OHQoL-UK questionnaire consists of 16 variables within four domains made up of symptoms, psychological, social dimensions, and physical dimensions. Summing up the responses produce overall OHQoL-UK scores ranging from 16 to 80. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's reliability coefficient. Each patient underwent a periodontal examination including periodontal attachment levels with Williams' periodontal probe as part of his or her routine assessment by one clinician collaborating on the study. RESULTS: Within 200 patients participating in this study, 51% were < diploma, 32% were < bachelor's degree, and 17% were bachelor's degree and higher. Patients with higher educational level have a higher mean QoL score (P = 0.0001) which was statistically significant in regard to all aspects. CONCLUSION: The mean QoL score was significantly lower in patients with severe periodontitis when compared to patients with mild periodontitis, patients with better academic qualification have higher mean QoL score. According to the effect of severity of periodontal condition and educational level on QoL, required intervention should be done for treatment to improve QoL as a result.

Prevalence of Dental Anxiety Level in 6- to 12-Year- Old South Indian Children.

BACKGROUND: Dental anxiety is one of the prime reasons for discouraging children to receive dental treatment. Measurement of the dental anxiety is very useful to know the prevalence level among 6- to 12-year-old children. Thus, the aim of the study was to determine the dental anxiety among 6- to 12-year-old children using Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) score. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 400 south Indian children in the age group of 6-12 years who had visited Dental College and Hospital were recruited in the study. Dental anxiety was measured before dental treatment using MDAS. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon signed rank test. RESULTS: Of the 400 children, 240 (61.5%) had severe dental anxiety, 92 (23%) had mild anxiety, and 78 (17%) had no anxiety. Females had higher anxiety level compared to males. Many study subjects answered that local anesthesia (LA) injection was considered most fearful. Dental anxiety was highest in smaller age groups. CONCLUSION: In our research, high percentage of children had dental anxiety, so counseling before dental visits is very important to reduce the dental anxiety among these 6- to 12-year-old children.

Evaluation of Levels of Proinflammatory Chemokines MIP-1α and MIP-1ß in Gingival Crevicular Fluid of Primary, Mixed and Permanent Dentition.

AIM: This study aims to find out the proinflammatory chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and MIP-1ß levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of primary, mixed, and permanent dentitions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: GCF of 160 individuals (4-15 years of age) was collected by the extracrevicular method. They were categorized into four groups (40 per each group). Group I: subjects with primary dentition (4-5 years of age), Group II: 40 subjects in early transition period (6-8 years), Group III: 40 individuals in the late transition period (9-11 years), and Group IV: 40 individuals with permanent dentition (12-15 years). MIP-lα and MIP-1ß levels were determined in the samples of GCF by ELISA method. Data were analyzed by software SPSS Version 20 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY: USA). RESULTS: MIP-1α and MIP-1ß were detected in all samples. The highest mean MIP-1α and MIP-1ß concentrations in GCF were detected in the early transition period, while the lowest concentrations were seen in primary dentition group. The chemokine levels were higher in girls than in boys in Group III. There was a substantial rise of MIP-1α and MIP-1ß levels during eruption. CONCLUSIONS: Since levels of MIP-1α and MIP-1ß in GCF are positively associated with tooth eruption, they may perhaps be deemed as novel biomarkers in the eruption process.

Esthetic Clasp Cast Partial Denture.

Denture esthetics as defined by Glossary of prosthodontics terms the effect produced by a dental prosthesis that affects the beauty and attractiveness of the person. [1] Removable partial dentures (RPDs) are the widely accepted and treatment of choice for most cases as it is both effective and affordable. Partially edentulous treatment planning includes both esthetics and masticatory function. A prosthesis that is highly esthetic will improve patient's motivation and acceptance. It is a very wrong notion to expect that patients will tolerate unesthetic partial dentures because good masticatory capability has been achieved. Esthetics plays a vital role in the success of partial dentures, and the length and mobility of the patient's lips play a significant role in achieving it. [2] Patients with short lips or highly mobile lips pose problems as esthetics are compromised because most clasp arms, denture borders, and other components will show when the patient smiles or speaks. [3] RPDs can easily look artificial; hence, special emphasis should aim toward restoring function, phonetics, esthetics with a long-term benefits which requires meticulous attention during fabrication. This case reports is an esthetic clasp designed for a cast partial denture for a young girl for esthetic and function.

Dawn of a New Age Fissure Sealant? A Study Evaluating the Clinical Performance of Embrace WetBond and ART Sealants: Results from a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the clinical performance of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) sealant versus Embrace WetBond sealant in terms of retention and fissure caries prevention among a section of school children in the southern Indian state of Karnataka (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02716558). MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining consent from the parents and screening the children against the inclusion cum exclusion criteria, 90 school children whose mandibular first molars were caries free and with a well-defined pit and fissure system were recruited for this spilt mouth trial. The respective molars were allocated either to the ART sealant or the embrace group after the randomization process. The sealants were applied according to the manufacturer's instructions and followed up at the end of 3rd, 6th, and 12th month, respectively. The outcome measures assessed were the retention and the caries preventive effects of the materials. RESULTS: At the end of the 6th month, about one-fourth of the sealants in either group remained totally intact, without evidence of caries. No significant differences were seen between the sealants either in terms of retention or caries preventive benefits at the end of 12 months. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The chi-squared test was used to check differences in proportions. The significance value was set at <0.05. Kappa test was performed to assess the intraexaminer reproducibility with respect to retention and caries status. CONCLUSION: The moisture-tolerant resin sealant could not replicate the physical properties usually associated with conventional resin sealants. The usage of ART sealants was deemed to be less cumbersome in an outreach setting as observed in this trial.

Effect of micro-additions of carbon nanotubes to polymethylmethacrylate on reduction in polymerization shrinkage.

PURPOSE: Carbon nanotubes are used in dentistry, although there are no adequate scientific data to support their use in acrylic resins. The polymerization shrinkage that occurs with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) resins is well known. This study compared the polymerization shrinkage of denture base acrylic resin with and without micro-additions of carbon nanotubes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two materials were used, PMMA resin and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Four groups were established of 10 specimens each according to the weight percent of carbon nanotubes dispersed and disintegrated in the monomer: group I (0.5% of carbon nanotubes in monomer), II (0.25%), III (0.125%), and IV (control group, 0%). The polymerization shrinkage of acrylic resin for each group was evaluated based on the distance between the reference points in wax (before polymerization) and in acrylic (after polymerization), measured using a traveling microscope. The data were submitted to Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA for comparison among the groups, and the results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The Kruskal-Wallis test detected that the different percentages of carbon nanotubes incorporated in the monomer showed significant differences, and the mean ranks of polymerization shrinkage (%) showed differences among all the groups (group IV = 0.126, III = 0.037, II = 0.017, I = 0.006). Hence, the order of severity of polymerization shrinkage was 0% > 0.125% > 0.25% > 0.5% for the amount of carbon nanotubes incorporated in methylmethacrylate. CONCLUSION: The present study was done to prove polymerization shrinkage in PMMA resins with micro-additions of carbon nanotubes. The results clearly show reduction in polymerization shrinkage when carbon nanotubes are incorporated into the PMMA resin.