Association between black stains and early childhood caries - A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the association between black stains and early childhood caries. METHODS: Seven electronic databases and hand search were carried out using keywords on black stains and early childhood caries. Articles published in English from January 1947 to January 2020 were included. A total of 38,686 articles were retrieved, and 38,645 duplicate and irrelevant records were removed. Among the 41 articles obtained, 21 articles were excluded after screening the title and abstracts. Fifteen articles were excluded after analyzing the full text. Finally, five articles with cross-sectional study designs were included in this review. Quality analysis was carried out using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale. RESULTS: All the five articles included in this review had a low risk of bias. Two articles showed a significant negative association and one article showed a significant positive association between black stains and early childhood caries. CONCLUSION: Cross-sectional design and heterogeneity of the included articles provide an ambiguous opinion on the association between black stains and early childhood caries. More of longitudinal studies following rigid methodology is needed to establish the association between black stains and early childhood caries.

Effect of sesame oil, ozonated sesame oil, and chlorhexidine mouthwash on oral health status of adolescents: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

CONTEXT: Oil pulling procedure involves swishing of oil in the mouth for various oral health benefits. AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sesame oil (SO), ozonated SO (OSO), and chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthwash on the oral health status of adolescents. STUDY SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Parallel multi-arm double-blinded randomized trial was done in a Government higher secondary school. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 75 adolescents aged 12-14 years with decay-missing-filled index ≤3 were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 25): Group I (SO), Group II (OSO), and Group III (CHX mouthwash). Baseline (T1) Debris Index (DI-S), Calculus Index (CI-S), Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S), Plaque Index (PI), and salivary Streptococcus mutans count were recorded. All the groups were subjected to intervention with the respective mouth rinses for 15 days. The index scores and the salivary S. mutans count were reassessed after 15 days (T2) and 1 month (T3), and the results were statistically analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows. The statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test were used to test the normality of the data. The Friedman test and Wilcoxon-signed rank test were carried out for intragroup comparison. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-test were employed to analyze inter-group comparison. RESULTS: All the groups showed statistically significant reduction in DI-S, CI-S, OHI-S, PI, and S. mutans count after 15 days. CONCLUSION: Oil pulling therapy using SO and OSO showed a significant improvement in oral hygiene.

Effect of nonfluoridated remineralizing agents on initial enamel carious lesions: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Although fluoride enables remineralization, presence of calcium and phosphate ions is necessary to promote the process. So, various nonfluoridated remineralizing agents have been emerging to treat the noncavitated carious lesions. AIM: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the clinical effectiveness of nonfluoridated remineralizing agents on initial enamel carious lesions. METHODS: Seven electronic databases were searched using the key words. In total, 158 human clinical trials were retrieved in the search from January 1950 to October 2016. Seventy-one repeated articles were excluded. Among the 87 articles obtained, 53 articles were eliminated after reading the title and abstracts. After assessing the full text, 28 articles were excluded. Three more studies were included from the cross references of the articles chosen. RESULTS: All the nine trials included assessed the clinical effectiveness of casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP ACP). They showed a positive effect of CPP ACP on the remineralization of white spot lesions. CONCLUSION: The use of CPP ACP resulted in significant reduction of the white spot lesion size measured using visual examination methods. This systematic review indicated a lack of reliable evidence supporting the clinical effectiveness of other commercially available nonfluoridated remineralizing agents.

Evaluation of remineralisation potential of experimental nano hydroxyapatite pastes using scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis: an in-vitro trial.

AIM: To analyse the remineralisation potential of experimental nano hydroxyapatite (nHAP) paste on artificial caries lesions using scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). METHODS: Sixty-five enamel specimens were randomly divided into 4 test groups (n = 15): 1% commercially available nHAP paste (CnHAP) group, 1% experimental nHAP paste (EnHAP) group, 10% EnHAP group, casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) group and control group (n = 5). Artificial carious lesions were induced in all the specimens and treated with respective paste twice daily for 14 days. The specimens were subjected to EDX analysis at baseline, after demineralisation and after remineralisation. The surface characteristics of the remineralised enamel specimens were evaluated by SEM. RESULTS: All the test groups showed significant change in calcium and phosphorus weight percentage (wt%) after remineralisation. The 10 % EnHAP showed higher mean value of calcium and phosphorus wt% followed by 1% CnHAP, 1% EnHAP and CPP-ACP. After remineralisation, both 10% EnHAP and CPP-ACP showed favourable enamel surface changes in SEM analysis. CONCLUSION: Commercially available and experimental nHAP have the potential to remineralise artificially induced carious lesions.