Exploring the Synergistic Association Between Oral Health Status and Oral Health Literacy Among College Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Oral health is often viewed as a significant component for an indication of good general health or for good well-being together with a decent quality of life. Health literacy is considered a crucial factor in improvising a good life or excellent health. Oral health literacy (OHL) is the ability necessary for people to identify the factors that lead to poor oral health, learn and put into practice the essentials of effective oral self-care behaviors, and communicate with oral healthcare professionals in order to schedule appointments, put their names on waiting lists for dental care, and locate the dentist's office. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate students' oral health, their OHL, to determine the relationship between their oral health status and OHL, and finally to suggest preventive measures for the benefit of public health. MATERIALS AND METHOD: At Teerthanker Mahaveer University, a cross-sectional study involving 1500 participants, ages 18 to 25, was conducted on students studying nursing, physiotherapy, paramedicine, engineering, and law. Their informed consent was obtained. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-99) was used to gauge OHL levels, and the WHO's 1997 Oral Health Survey was used for their clinical evaluation. RESULTS: The mean REALD score was significantly higher in nursing students (88.32±6.46), followed by physiotherapy college (82.46±9.11), paramedical college (70.54±10.95), law college (46.52±7.74), and least in engineering college (38.80±10.65). The difference in the REALD score based on college was statistically significant. Along with this, the REALD score showed a correlation with gender and location too. Except for fluorosis, all the clinical parameters of dental caries, gingival bleeding, and pockets, loss of attachment, dental fluorosis, and dental enamel were associated with OHL. CONCLUSION: The results of the current study showed a relationship between educational attainment, clinical parameters examined, and OHL, leading to the conclusion that higher OHL is related to better oral health. So, we can conclude that maintaining good oral health requires OHL.

Modifications of behavior management strategies pre- and post-covid-19 scenario: A survey among pediatric dentists.

Background: COVID-19 presented a unique scenario among children, specifically all over the world. The children had decrease outdoors activities and learning times, increased use of electronic gadgets and changes in sleep patterns. These altered behavior patterns of children directly influenced their behavior in the dental operatory. This coupled with the stringent protocols of COVID-19, made the behavior management of children a tedious task. However, as they say that necessity is the mother of all inventions, the pediatric dentist took this time to evaluate newer methods of behavior management and modified old strategies with newer modifications. Aim: The main aim of this study was to observe the modifications in behavior management strategies among pediatric dentists in the post-COVID-19 era while managing the child in dental operatory. Materials and Methods: Four hundred pediatric dentists were mailed a questionnaire consisting of 24 open and closed-ended questions consisting of personal data, professional information, and questions regarding various behavior management techniques used by them in pre- and post-COVID-19 era. Data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 26.0, IBM, and a comparison of frequencies of categories of variables with groups was made using Chi-Square test and McNemar test. Results: The results showed that there were statistically highly significant changes in behavior management strategies pre- and post-COVID-19 scenario with P < 0.01. Conclusion: Conventional techniques like Tell-Show-Do were popular in both pre- and post-COVID-19 times with minor modifications in approach, but conscious sedation and distraction techniques were evaluated to have gained more popularity in the post-COVID-19 times along with exploration of new novel techniques.

A rare occurrence of nonsyndromic focal microdontia of primary teeth with hypodontia of permanent teeth in a pediatric patient.

Dental anomalies in human dentition consist of a considerable variation in size, number, position, shape and structure of the tooth. Microdontia is defined as a condition in which teeth are abnormally smaller in size. Hypodontia is defined as developmental absence of 1-5 teeth excluding third molars. Simultaneous occurrence of multiple dental anomalies is most commonly seen in patients with some abnormality or syndrome; it can also occur in nonsyndromic patients. This case report describes about an unusual simultaneous occurrence of dental anomalies such as localized microdontia of primary teeth and hypodontia in a nonsyndromic 10-year-old male patient. Simultaneous occurrence of multiple dental anomalies in a nonsyndromic patient is rare. As the treatment of such cases involves multiple phases, identification and proper timely management is important to help the patient lead a better quality life.