Oral Health Status of Patients with Mental Disorders in Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric disorders are known to be a risk factor for the development of different oral health problems especially for dental caries and periodontal diseases. In spite of this fact, no study has been conducted to reveal its magnitude in Ethiopia. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the oral health status of psychiatric patients at Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH), Psychiatric Clinic. METHODS: A hospital based cross- sectional study was used from January to May 2011. A total of 240 participants were included in the study. Dental examination was done to measure indices of oral health: decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index and community periodontal index (CPI). Oral examination was performed using mirror, probe and explorer by experienced dental doctors. A simple random sampling technique was implemented to collect data. ANOVA test, binary logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses were done using SPSS 16.0 statistical software. RESULTS: The mean DMFT score among the psychiatric patients was 1.94 ± 2.12 (mean ± SD) with 1.28 ± 1.69, 0.51 ± 1.19 and 0.14 ± 0.48 (mean ± SD) for decayed, missed and filled teeth respectively. Only about 24% of the psychiatric patients had a healthy CPI score. Incorrect tooth brushing technique was significantly associated with a DMFT score greater than 2 (AOR = 3.58; 95% CI: 1.65, 7.79). The habit of sweet intake was also associated with dental caries (AOR = 2.91; 95% CI: 1.43, 5.95). Similarly, patients with a smoking habit also demonstrated statistically significant association with dental caries (AOR = 18.98; 95% CI: 5.06, 71.24). CONCLUSION: The oral health status of the psychiatric patients was poor. Thus, health education about oral hygiene should be given for psychiatric patients so they can avoid the frequent intake of sweets, smoking and learn correct tooth brushing technique

Salivary changes and dental caries as potential oral markers of autoimmune salivary gland dysfunction in primary Sjögren's syndrome

BACKGROUND: the classification criteria for primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) include a number of oral components. In this study we evaluated if salivary flow and composition as well as dental caries are oral markers of disease severity in pSS. METHODS: in 20 patients fulfilling the American-European Consensus criteria for pSS and 20 age-matched healthy controls whole and parotid saliva flow rates and composition, measures of oral dryness, scores of decayed, missing and filled tooth surfaces (DMFS), periodontal indices, oral hygiene, and dietary habits were examined. RESULTS: in pSS, salivary flow rates, pH, and buffer capacities were lower, and DMFS, salivary sodium and chloride concentrations higher than in the healthy controls. DMFS also correlated inversely to salivary flow rates and positively to oral dryness. Apart from slightly increased gingival index, and more frequent dental visits in pSS, the periodontal condition, oral hygiene or sugar intake did not differ between these two groups. In pSS, findings were correlated to labial salivary gland focus score (FS) and presence of serum-autoantibodies to SSA/SSB (AB). The patients having both presence of AB and the highest FS (>2) also had the highest salivary sodium and chloride concentrations, the lowest salivary phosphate concentrations, lowest salivary flow rates, and highest DMFS compared to those with normal salivary concentrations of sodium and chloride at a given flow rate. CONCLUSION: the salivary changes observed in some pSS patients reflect impaired ductal salt reabsorption, but unaffected acinar transport mechanisms, despite low salivary secretion. Our results suggest that changes in salivary flow and composition as well as dental caries may serve as potential markers of the extent of autoimmune-mediated salivary gland dysfunction in pSS. The study also indicates that the ductal epithelium is functionally affected in some pSS patients, which calls for future pathophysiological studies on the mechanisms underlying this impaired salt reabsorption

Gene expression of bacterial collagenolytic proteases in root caries

Objective: It is unknown whether bacteria play a role in the collagen matrix degradation that occurs during caries progression. Our aim was to characterize the expression level of genes involved in bacterial collagenolytic proteases in root biofilms with and without caries. Method: we collected samples from active cavitated root caries lesions (RC, n = 30) and from sound root surfaces (SRS, n = 10). Total microbial RNA was isolated and cDNA sequenced on the Illumina Hi-Seq2500. Reads were mapped to 162 oral bacterial reference genomes. Genes encoding putative bacterial collagenolytic proteases were identified. Normalization and differential expression analysis was performed on all metatranscriptomes (FDR8) but none in SRS were Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus [HMPREF0721_RS02020; HMPREF0721_RS04640], Scardovia inopinata [SCIP_RS02440] and Olsenella uli DSM7084 [OLSU_RS02990]. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the U32 proteases may be related to carious dentine. The contribution of a small number of species to dentine degradation should be further investigated. These proteases may have potential in future biotechnological and medical applications, serving as targets for the development of therapeutic agents

Análise de dados de reclamações em empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social: estudo no Programa de Arrendamento Residencial

O gerenciamento de reclamações é uma prática difundida em muitas emmpresas do setor de manufatura, a fim de proporcionar a melhoria da ualidade de produtos e serviços. No que tange à construção civil, bservam-se poucos estudos sobre a utilização desse tipo de gestão de empreendimentos, sendo poucas as empresas que percebem a utilidade das informações sobre reclamações. O presente trabalho apresenta uma análise de dados de reclamações de usuários de uma amostra de empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social, com o objetivo de investigar sua utilidade para a retroalimentação do processo de desenvolvimento do produto nesse segmento. Foram analisadas 6.956 reclamações de usuários de 42 empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social do Programa de Arrendamento Residencial, localizados no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. O trabalho envolveu um tratamento inicial dos dados de reclamações para a montagem de um banco de dados, seguido da aplicação de diversos testes estatísticos. As principais contribuições estão relacionadas com a utilidade dos dados de reclamações, incluindo a geração de indicadores que podem apoiar a tomada de decisão por parte de diferentes agentes envolvidos na produção habitacional, tais como projetistas, construtoras, agentes financiadores e empresas envolvidas na gestão da operação e manutenção. Os indicadores, se bem utilizados, podem contribuir para a melhoria de produtos e serviços que compreendem os empreendimentos habitacionais, possibilitando um aumento na satisfação dos usuários finais

Mutans streptococci in subgingival plaque of treated and untreated patients with periodontitis

Background: The etiology of root caries is thought to be identical to coronal caries, though root caries seem to be more complicated because of the higher susceptibility of exposed roots (dentin) by periodontal therapy to demineralization than intact enamel. This implies that mutans streptococci are the most likely pathogens in the development of root caries. Although it is known that both the numbers of mutans streptococci and the frequency of isolation in root caries lesions are negatively correlated with the distance from the gingival margin, the subgingival sulcus has not been considered a possible habitat for mutans streptococci. However, subgingival occurence of mutans streptococci in both untreated and treated periodontal patients has not been documented well in the literature. Objective: To investigate the presence and levels of mutans streptococci in the subgingival plaque of patients (n=154) in different stages of periodontal therapy. The subgingival sulcus may be a possible habitat for mutans streptococci. This localisation of mutans streptococci may be of importance in the development of root caries after periodontal surgery. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, subgingival plaque samples from 154 consecutive adult periodontitis patients were tested for presence and levels of mutans streptococci and putative periodontal pathogens by anaerobic cultures. These patients were divided into 3 groups based on their stage of periodontal treatment: (1) untreated patients; (2) patients after initial periodontal therapy only; (3) patients in the maintenance phase who not underwent periodontal surgery; (4) patients after periodontal surgery. Results: The prevalence of mutans streptococci in the 4 study groups varied from 82% in untreated patients to 94% in maintenance patients. The mean proportion of mutans streptococci was 6.65% in maintenance patients versus 1.86% in untreated patients (p=0.005) and 2.51% in patients after scaling and root planing (p=0.041). Conclusions: The subgingival area is a microbial habitat for mutans streptococci that may be of importance in the development of root caries in periodontitis patients