Parental self-perceived knowledge and attitudes toward emergency management of avulsed permanent teeth in Imphal: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Dental avulsion is one of the dental traumatic injuries commonly affecting children aged between 6 and 12 years. One of the major limitations in obtaining a successful outcome while treating dental avulsions is the lack of knowledge on its first aid management among parents. The present study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of parents in Imphal toward the emergency management of avulsed permanent tooth using a self-reported questionnaire method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was undertaken among 777 parents of 6-12-year-old children who were recruited through 2 private schools in Imphal. A questionnaire consisting of 14 closed-ended questions used to assess the parental knowledge and attitude on emergency management of avulsed permanent teeth was distributed to the respondents after obtaining official consent from the respective schools and informed consent from the respondents. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi-square test was used to assess the association between the results and the educational status, gender, and geographical location of the respondents. RESULTS: The study revealed that only a fraction of the respondents, i.e., 11.8% gave a positive response on attempting "self-replantation" and higher fractions (76.1%) of the respondents reported to have received no previous information on the emergency management of dental avulsion. CONCLUSION: About 96.1% of the respondents showed interest on acquiring knowledge on the emergency management of dental avulsion. This warrants the urgent need on educating the parents on the first aid emergency management of avulsed tooth.

Evaluation of knowledge and attitude of parents about the importance of maintaining primary dentition - A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries is very common in primary dentition because of improper oral hygiene and increased intake of sucrose. Grossly decayed primary teeth require extraction. The space created by extracted teeth should be replaced by primary dentition to avoid migration of adjacent teeth into the space and to prevent the eruption of permanent tooth. Different appliances are used to maintain the space post extraction of the primary tooth to preserve the space for the eruption of the permanent tooth in a sequential manner. AIM: Evaluate the attitude and knowledge of parents toward the importance of maintaining primary dentition in their children. METHODS: A survey was conducted among randomly selected 100 parents having children between the ages of 2 and 16 years from the general population of Chennai, India. A questionnaire was created was distributed. The data were later collected and statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: Hundred percent awareness was seen among parents regarding maintenance of oral hygiene in children. Only 65% parents reported visiting dentists only when the child complains of pain. Eighty-nine percent of the parents were aware of the harmful effects of thumb sucking habits. However, only a minimum percent parents thought that treating primary teeth was not very important as it would shed off. CONCLUSION: Even though parents were aware that primary teeth have to be managed properly, they were not aware of the various treatment modalities available for treating spaces after extraction of primary teeth and caries management. An increase in the knowledge will encourage parents to provide better oral health to their children.

Genotypic characterization of Streptococcus mutans in child-mother pair-A PCR based study.

OBJECTIVES: At present, there is lack of evidence in literature regarding the transmission of Streptococcus Mutans from a caries-free mother to child by genetic methods, so the present study aimed to identify the genetic characterization of Streptococcus Mutans strains isolated from caries-free and caries active children and their mother being caries-free in both the groups and also to identify the genetic patterns of Streptococcus Mutans between caries-free and caries-active individuals. METHODS: Twenty child-mother pair were selected and divided into 2 groups and the mothers being caries-free in both the groups. Saliva samples were collected using a sterile tube, followed by microbial culture of Streptococcus mutans, DNA isolation and PCR amplification. The molecular weights of each band were converted into a binary data and data were entered into SPSS software version 20.0 to generate similarity dendrograms. RESULTS: Amplified products of Streptococcus Mutans demonstrated a same genetic distance between the mother-child pair, indicative of a closely related species. Dendrogram interpretation represented a greater genetic polymorphism of Streptococcus Mutans between caries-free and caries-active children. CONCLUSIONS: Identical genetic distance between child-mother pair showed that, these Streptooccus Mutans were closely related and could have vertically transmitted from their mothers. Different genotypic pattern between caries-free and caries active subjects showed a genetic polymorphism among the Streptococcus Mutans strains.