CORRELATION BETWEEN BMI, DENTAL CARIES AND SALIVARY BUFFER CAPACITY IN A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN FROM MURES COUNTY, ROMANIA

Both dental caries and malnutrition in children are serious public health problems with diet as a common risk factor. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between dental caries, Body Mass Index (BMI) and salivary buffer capacity in children. Materials and Method: The first part of the study was conducted on 144 children, aged between 6 and 12 years, examined in the Pediatric Dentistry Department of UMF Tirgu Mures. Nutritional status was assessed using BMI in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation. The sample was divided into four groups based on BMI: underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese for age. Dental caries were evaluated using the DMFT (Decayed Missing Filled Teeth) index for permanent dentition and dmft (decayed missing filled teeth) for deciduous dentition. Salivary buffer capacity was recorded with CRT Buffer Strips from Ivoclar Vivadent. Results: The mean age of the sample was 9.11 ± 0.19 years, the mean dmft was 2.58 ± 0.26 and mean DMFT 1.76 ± 0.2. The underweight group presented a significantly higher dmft index compared to the other groups. A negative correlation between the salivary buffer capacity and the caries index was found. Conclusions: Because the results of this preliminary study show a higher caries incidence in underweight children, the relationship between dental caries and malnutrition should be further investigated. Dentists and physicians treating children should consider malnutrition as a risk factor for dental caries

CORRELATION BETWEEN BMI, DENTAL CARIES AND SALIVARY BUFFER CAPACITY IN A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN FROM MURES COUNTY, ROMANIA

Both dental caries and malnutrition in children are serious public health problems with diet as a common risk factor. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between dental caries, Body Mass Index (BMI) and salivary buffer capacity in children. Materials and Method: The first part of the study was conducted on 144 children, aged between 6 and 12 years, examined in the Pediatric Dentistry Department of UMF Tirgu Mures. Nutritional status was assessed using BMI in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation. The sample was divided into four groups based on BMI: underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese for age. Dental caries were evaluated using the DMFT (Decayed Missing Filled Teeth) index for permanent dentition and dmft (decayed missing filled teeth) for deciduous dentition. Salivary buffer capacity was recorded with CRT Buffer Strips from Ivoclar Vivadent. Results: The mean age of the sample was 9.11 ± 0.19 years, the mean dmft was 2.58 ± 0.26 and mean DMFT 1.76 ± 0.2. The underweight group presented a significantly higher dmft index compared to the other groups. A negative correlation between the salivary buffer capacity and the caries index was found. Conclusions: Because the results of this preliminary study show a higher caries incidence in underweight children, the relationship between dental caries and malnutrition should be further investigated. Dentists and physicians treating children should consider malnutrition as a risk factor for dental caries

Essential Oils as Alternatives for Root-Canal Treatment and Infection Control Against Enterococcus faecalis—A Preliminary Study

Since natural alternatives are needed in dentistry for the treatment of root canal, where the standard irrigant is NaOCl with significant toxicity, the aim of the study was to assess the antibacterial properties of non-chemical root-canal irrigants (aqueous extracts of oregano, thyme, lemongrass, melaleuca and clove essential oils) against Enterococcus faecalis. For this, aqueous extracts of each essential oil (AqEO) were prepared. A solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) was used as a positive standard against which the antimicrobial effects of AqEO could be reported. The root canals of seven teeth were inoculated with 20 µL of Enterococcus faecalis ATCC29212 inoculum and incubated overnight at 37 °C. All the teeth canals were instrumented and were irrigated with the corresponding AqEO, NaOCl and saline solution, then rinsed with saline. Bacteriological samples for each canal post-instrumentation were collected with sterile paper points which were inoculated on culture media. A second processing followed the same methodology but involved only irrigation and no instrumentation. Using instrumentation, thyme and clove completely inhibited Enterococcus faecalis growth. Without instrumentation, clove and oregano AqEOs completely reduced the bacterial load as seen in direct inoculation, but bacterial growth was observed in all the samples after enrichment, except for NaOCl. Nevertheless, the turbidity of the enrichment media was lower for the samples irrigated with AqEOs than for control. In conclusion, AqEOs of thyme, oregano and clove showed a promising antibacterial effect, especially when teeth instrumentation was performed

Therapeutic Possibilities in Case of Mandibular Prognothism

Introduction: Mandibular prognothism is a serious dento-maxillary anomaly with multifactorial etiology and complex therapeutic options characterized by insufficient development of the maxilla in the sagittal direction relative to the normal development of the mandible. Aim of study: The authors have proposed to study the possibilities of mandibular prognothism correction by maxillary expansion using two types of stress breakers, performing measurements on orthodontic pre and posttreatment samples the maxillary transverse distances (IP, IM, palate depth). Material and method: Our study was performed in a group of 35 patients aged between 12 14 years old (18 young female patients and 17 young male patients) suffering from mandibular prognothism, who previously did not undergo any orthodontic treatment and durimg the treatment wore two different types of stress breakers (the first group wore Huet classical stress breaker and the other group wore Leone spider stress breakers). The jaw width index was calculated (IP, IM, and palate depth) by monitoring the degree of correction of the lateral crossbite and degree of maxillary expansion before treatment, then 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after the treatment was started. Results and discussions: The application of stress breaker is the technique of opening the midpalatal suture by attaining a transversal expansion. The suture undergoes the intervention in the state of fibrous joint. The patient should activate the appliance by turning the screw once a day (slow expansion). In the first three months after initiating the treatment we attained a 3 mm expansion at the premolar level and 4.5 mm at the molar level by using classical stress breaker and 3.5 respectively 4.5 mm by using spider stress breaker. Subsequent to one year treatment we could observe that the diameters were slightly increased and after two year of fixed treatment we noticed partial receding (loss of 1mm at the premolar level) in both group of patients. Conclusions: Intermaxillary disjunction is an effective method in mandibular prognothism provided that the patient is discovered at the beginning of dentition, when sutures are active (12 -14 years in young females and 14-16 years in young males). The two types of stress breakers work similarly, but correction is faster in case of a spider stress breaker, because of a stronger screw positioned posteriorly

A Radiograhic Study of the Third Molar Inclusion

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of inclusion of lower and upper third molar in the population of Mures county