Maternal Periodontitis and Low Birth Weight Babies

Introduction: Low birth weight in developing countries is primarily because of poor maternal health and nutrition. If maternal health plays such an important role in the child’s development, all the means of preventing problems among the pregnant women is of utmost importance. Aim: This study was conducted to assess the relationship between maternal periodontitis and the weight of the baby after birth. Materials and methods: The subjects in the present longitudinalstudy were chosen from the outpatients of Gynecology Department of the People’s Hospital over a period of 1 month. The periodontal status was assessed based on community periodontal index (CPI) and loss of attachment (LOA). Results: All the participants demonstrated periodontal pockets with more than half the population (56%) presenting shallow pockets (pockets of 4-5 mm). Conclusion: In the present study, periodontal status of the mother was significantly related to delivery of low birth weight babies. Thus it can be concluded that periodontitis may be associated with delivery of low birth weight babies

Indirect assessment of comprehensive care clinics course: Sixth year dental students perspective

BackgroundHealth care providers often lack a comprehensive approach towards treating patients. The comprehensive care clinics course model in dental curriculum is an integrated course which mainly focuses on the comprehensive oral health care of a patient. However, students have fear, apprehension and stress as the course involves significant amount of documentation, management and coordination with the patient.AimsThe aim of this study was to assess the students’ feedback on several aspects of the Comprehensive Care Clinics course from two academic year cohorts.MethodsThe present study is a questionnaire based study which has been conducted by collecting the data from two cohorts 2018-19 and 2019-20 final year students from the Dentistry program.ResultsThe respondents responded that the communication among the staff from various specialities in cohort 1 was excellent for 7.1 per cent, very good in 15.2 per cent, good for 14.7 per cent, fair for 6.5 per cent and poor for 1.6 per cent and in cohort 2 excellent for 6 per cent, very good for 12.5 per cent, good for 26.1 per cent, fair for 8.1 per cent and poor for 2.2 per cent.ConclusionThe study concludes that the students strongly agree that there was a shortage of allocated time for the course, the students disagree about the outcome of the result. The students have responded to have ease of laboratory access for the cases and they expressed to have a good satisfaction about the overall score for the course in all respects

Oral Health Acquaintance, Approach and Practices among Schoolteachers in Bhopal, Central India

Background: Education of oral health awareness to schoolchildren is important. School teachers can play a major role in imparting knowledge of the causes and prevention ofcommon oral diseases. A school-based program is most effective because children are approached at a time when their health habits are forming. Aims: This study was aimed to assess the acquaintance, approach and practices of schoolteachers toward oral hygiene and oral health in Bhopal city. Materials and methods: Present study is cross-sectional, questionnaire-based , stratified random sampling technique was smeared to obtain the desired sample size. Three hundred and five teachers were selected from 14 different schools of Bhopalcity. Results: Around 130 (83.9%) of the teachers of private schools alleged oral health plays an imperative role in general health but 82 (54.7%) of government schoolteachers only agree to foresaid fact regarding oral health and overall health (χ2 = 40.294, df = 3, p < 0.001). A total of 96 (61.9%) of the teachers in private and 44 (29.3%) of teachers in government schools used fluoridated toothpaste and 31 (20%) and 40 (26.7%) of the teachers used nonfluoridated toothpaste and the remaining were not concerned about the status of toothpaste, whether fluoridated or nonfluoridated (χ2 = 40.722, df = 5, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Teachers essentially need to be invigorated to improve their responsiveness on sound oral health information, approaches and behaviors. This will facilitate their role as school oral health education providers

Role of Dentists in Creating a Tobacco free Society

“Giving up smoking is easy I have done it a thousand times” is an adage that puts in perspective the difficulties in tobacco cessation. Tobacco is a global agent of death [1]. The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing around 6 million people a year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Nearly 80% of the more than 1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest [2]. Globally the toll of deaths due to tobacco is on a rise exponentially.</p

Tobacco cessation and counseling: A dentists′ perspective in Bhopal city, Madhya Pradesh

Introduction: Dental team has high potential to help smokers to better oral/general health but to achieve this; they need to be clear about their role. Considering the importance of tobacco cessation, the authors carried out this study aimed at assessing the role, knowledge, current practices, different barriers, and tools to overcome the same as perceived by dentists in Bhopal city. Materials and Methods: A self-administered structured, coded questionnaire was distributed to 200 private practitioners and the teaching staff in all the dental colleges in Bhopal city. Results: Out of 200 dentists to whom questionnaire was administered, 168 responded within a week′s time resulting in a high response rate of 84%. A total of 97% of the dentists agreed that it is the duty of every dentist to advice patients about tobacco cessation. A total of 58% strongly agree that formal training will be an effective tool to provide the guidelines to dentists in tobacco cessation and counseling. Conclusion: Monitoring of effective planning and execution of these programs by appropriate authorities at regular intervals is vital for successful achievement of the goal of "Tobacco Free Society.

Delayed replantation of an avulsed maxillary premolar with open apex: A 24 months follow-up case report

Avulsion of permanent teeth is most serious of all dental injuries and accounts for 1-16% of all traumatic injuries, of which maxillary incisors are most commonly involved. However, in this report a rare case of isolated avulsed immature premolar has been described. The patient had reported more than 3 hours after the trauma with a tooth stored in dry condition and soil contamination. The prognosis depends on measures taken at the place of accident or the time immediately after avulsion. Replantation is the treatment of choice, but cannot always be performed immediately. An appropriate emergency management and treatment plan is important for good prognosis. In this report stepwise management of an avulsed immature maxillary premolar with extended period of dry storage has been described followed up for a period of 2 yrs

Compound odontoma associated with an unerupted rotated and dilacerated maxillary central incisor

Odontomas are benign tumors containing various component tissues of teeth. They usually remain asymptomatic and are diagnosed on routine radiographs. Clinically, they are often associated with delayed eruption or impaction of permanent teeth and retained primary teeth. A case of compound odontoma in association with an unerupted, rotated and dilacerated maxillary permanent right central incisor in a 12-year-old boy is reported. Such combination is rare, making it an interesting case for reporting. We have also discussed the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of such a condition

Maturogenesis by revascularization in an infected immature permanent tooth

Root canal treatment in teeth with incomplete root formation is a challenge. A case of maturogenesis in an immature infected tooth along with probable factors needed for success is discussed. Although clinical and radiographic evidence points to healing and root development, the long-term prognosis and the behavior of tissue occupying the canal space needs further investigation before the procedure can be adopted into routine clinical practice

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices on COVID-19 among Patients Attending a Private Dental College in Jeddah

Introduction: The close proximity to the patient’s oropharyngeal region and also involved aerosol production presents a potential high risk for the transmission of disease across patients and dental health practitioners. This requires dentists and patients to be aware of the risks of contracting coronavirus from the patient’s perspective when they seek dental treatment. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of the patients toward the dental visits during the pandemic crisis. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted in IBN Sina National College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 6th July, 2020 to 24th July 2020. All the patients who had visited the dental clinics attached to the dental college were sent online google docs form with a consent through WhatsApp. Questions were divided into 2 sections, one section related to demographic data of participants like age, gender, education level, frequency of dental visits and the other section related to patients’ perspective with regards to the coronavirus infection in the dental set up. The results were analysed using SPSS version 23. Results: The questionnaire was sent to all the patients online and all of them had responded to the survey. Majority of the patients {1757 (80.9%)} have knowledge about the COVID-19 disease signs, symptoms, transmission and complications. Among these respondents 6.6% (144) had routinely visited a dentist, 8.8% (192) had sometimes visited a dentist and only 0.3% (7) visited a dentist only once and they generally try to avoid visiting a dentist. Conclusion: At a clinical level, education is limited only to the patients who approach the dentists. At a community level, government, dental colleges and dentists have to take several measures in educating the public in equipping them with health promotional materials. Community-based online programs should be planned and implemented by different levels of administration