Managing dental caries in children in Turkey - a discussion paper

Contains fulltext : 79879.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: This paper describes the oral healthcare system and disease situation amongst children in Turkey. Considering the high prevalence and severity of dental caries, a proposal for improvement of oral health in this population group is formulated. DISCUSSION: A virtual absence of palliative, preventive and restorative care characterises juvenile oral healthcare in Turkey. Consequently, carious cavities remain untreated, which may lead to pain, discomfort and functional limitation and, further, may impact negatively upon general health and cognitive development. As a first step to controlling dental caries, a national health programme including promotional, preventive and minimal intervention approaches for managing dental caries is proposed. The pros and cons of community-oriented caries-preventive measures are discussed. Daily tooth brushing with fluoridated toothpaste at home, in mother- and child-care centres, kindergartens, and schools is highlighted. SUMMARY: The dental profession, government, university officials and other stakeholders need to meet and determine how best the oral health of children in Turkey can be improved. The present proposed plan is considered a starting point

Perceived dental anxiety among schoolchildren treated through three caries removal approaches

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the investigation was to test the differences in the perceived level of dental anxiety among children treated restoratively using the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) approach, the traditional restorative (TRA) approach and ART aided with a chemomechanical caries removal gel (ART plus). METHODS: The study subjects were 6-7-year-old children. TRA was compared to ART in a clinical setting after children had seen a dentist twice (Group A), ART was compared to 'ART plus' in a clinical setting after children had seen a dentist once (Group B) and ART was applied outside the clinic on school premises (Group C). The treatments were carried out in Class II cavitated dentine lesion in primary molars. Dental anxiety was measured using the Venham Picture Test (VPT). Three-way analysis of variances and interaction was applied to test for treatment approach, gender and operator effects on the mean VPT scores. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference (p=0.80) observed between the mean VPT scores for the traditional approach and those for the ART approach and between ART with and without a chemomechanical caries removal gel (p=0.07). Children in Group A had lower mean VPT scores than children in Group B (p=0.02) and Group C (

Managing dental caries against the backdrop of COVID-19:approaches to reduce aerosol generation

Contains fulltext : 225331.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe limitation and closure of dental practices in many countries. Outside of the acute (peak) phases of the disease, dentistry has begun to be practised again. However, there is emerging evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted via airborne routes, carrying implications for dental procedures that produce aerosol. At the time of writing, additional precautions are required when a procedure considered to generate aerosol is undertaken.This paper aims to present evidence-based treatments that remove or reduce the generation of aerosols during the management of carious lesions. It maps aerosol generating procedures (AGPs), where possible, to alternative non-AGPs or low AGPs. This risk reduction approach overcomes the less favourable outcomes associated with temporary solutions or extraction-only approaches. Even if this risk reduction approach for aerosol generation becomes unnecessary in the future, these procedures are not only suitable but desirable for use as part of general dental care post-COVID-19

MANAGEMENT OF DENTAL TRAUMA OF LAST YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS ATTENDING TWO MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN IZMIR

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, İzmir'deki 2 tıp fakültesinin son sınıf öğrencilerinin dentaltravmalar ve özellikle diş avulsiyonları ile ilgili yaklaşımını değerlendirmektir.Gereç ve yöntem: Çalışmada, İzmir ilindeki iki tıp fakültesinden (Ege ve Dokuz EylülÜniversitesi) 152 son sınıf öğrencisi yer almıştır. 10 soruluk anket formları okulyönetimi tarafından dağıtılmıştır.Bulgular: Öğrencilerin %88,2'si dental travma ile ilgili eğitimin önemli olduğunubelirtmiştir. %45,4 oranındaki öğrenciler hastayı diş hekimine sevk edeceğinibelirtirken %21,7'lik bölüm ise avulse olmuş dişi reimplante etmeyi tercih etmişlerdir.Avulse olmuş dişin taşınması sırasında öğrencilerin %43,4'ü steril salin solüsyonutercih ederken, %20,4'lük bölüm ise ıslak gazlı bezde dişin taşınmasını önermişlerdir.Öğrencilerin %69,7'si bu konu hakkında sahip oldukları bilgi düzeyini yeterlibulmazken %67,1 oranındaki öğrenciler ise bilgilerini geliştirmeye istekli olduklarınıbelirtmiştirSonuç: İzmir'deki iki tıp fakültesine devam eden son sınıf öğrencilerinin ağız ve diştravmaları konusundaki bilgilerinin yetersiz olduğu ve tıp öğrencilerinin bu konudadaha kapsamlı bir eğitim almalarının faydalı olacağı sonucuna varılmıştır.Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the management of lastyear medical students attending 2 medical schools in Izmir, about primary treatment ofdental trauma with special attention to tooth avulsion.Material and method: The study population consisted 152 last grade students of 2medical schools (Ege and Dokuz Eylül University) in İzmir. A questionnaire with 10questions was distributed by the help of the schools' administrations.Results: 88.2% of the students stated that it was important to be educated on dentaltrauma. Only 21.7% of the students choose to reimplant an avulsed tooth whereas45.4% suggested sending the patient to a dentist. 43.4% of the students preferred sterilesaline solution for transporting an avulsed tooth and 20.4% suggested to use a wet gauze for transportation. 69.7% of the medical students were not satisfied about theirknowledge level about the subject and 67.1% were willing to improve their knowledgeand ability in diagnosis and primary treatment of dental trauma.Conclusion: It is reported that the knowledge level on dental trauma of last grademedicine students attending 2 universities in Izmir was not satisfying and it would behelpful to improve the knowledge by a denser education programs on the subject formedicine students

Clinical success of fluoride-releasing fissure sealant in permanent first molars: 5-year retrospective study

Background/Aim: It is important to prevent caries on permanent first molars. Fissure sealants are very effective in protecting fissures from caries. The study aimed to determine the clinical success of fluoride-releasing fissure sealants in permanent first molars in the long term. Material and Methods: 64 children with 256 healthy erupted first permanent molars and followed for 5 years, comprised the study. Children who received a fluoride-releasing fissure sealant and came regularly to controls throughout 5 years were evaluated by retention rate and development of new caries and compared with a control group. Results: The complete retention rate of fluoride-releasing fissure sealants was 48.5% and 10.7 % of the sealed teeth had caries after 5 years. 25% of the teeth without fissure sealant were decayed after five years. There was no significant difference between the rate of retention of fissure sealants and the frequency of tooth brushing after 1 year. There was no significant difference between the rate of retention of fissure sealants and oral hygiene status of children after 1 year. Conclusions: The fluoride-releasing fissure sealants were effective for the prevention of caries on pit and fissures of permanent molars and long-term clinical success was satisfying

Reading notation with Gestalt perception principles: Gestalt algı ilkeleri ile notasyon okuma

Based on the idea that Gestalt psychology is ‘more than all the components that make up it’, the emphasis is on the similarities of the brain's functioning during perception, as in reading text. Just as the brain perceives similar letters as holistic rather than one by one, it can be predicted that this happens during the musician's reading score. Parallel to Gestalt auditory perception research, musicians are thought to benefit from Gestalt perception principles, without consciousness, in the first reading (sight-reading) of notes and later in practice. However, conscious perception of these principles by musicians may be considered to contribute positively during and after their sight-reading. The aim of this study is to explain various Gestalt perception principles which are supposed to be related to music and to reveal examples of these principles on notation reading. The data obtained from the qualitative research methods through literature review were explained with six basic laws, “Figure–Ground”, “Proximity”, “Similarity”, “Symmetry”, “Simplicity” and “Continuity”. In the creation of the samples, the principles of visual perception and the motif, sentence period structures and analyzes, tonic - dominant sentence expressions, tempo and nuance terms that are also included in the auditory perception in music have been related, and it has been attached importance to its concretization with visual perception. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file.   Özet Gestalt psikolojinin, ‘bütün, kendisini oluşturan parçaların bir araya gelmesinden daha fazlasıdır’ düşüncesi ile yola çıkarak, tıpkı metin okumada olduğu gibi, nota okumada da beynin algılama esnasındaki işleyişlerinin benzerliklerine vurgu yapılmaktadır. Nasıl ki, beyin birbirine benzer harfleri tek tek okumak yerine bütüncül olarak algılamaktaysa, söz konusu bu durumun müzisyenlerin nota okuma sırasında da gerçekleşmekte olduğu öngörülebilir. Gestalt işitsel algı araştırmalarına paralel olarak, müzisyenlerin nota ilk okuma (deşifre) ve daha sonraki pratiklerinde, Gestalt algı ilkelerinden, bilincinde olmaksızın, faydalandıkları düşünülmektedir. Bununla birlikte müzisyenler tarafından bu ilkelerin bilinçli olarak algılanması, onların deşifre yapmaları sırasında ve sonraki performanslarında, olumlu yönde katkı sağlayabileceği düşünülebilir. Bu araştırma, müzik ile ilişkili olabileceği varsayılan çeşitli Gestalt algı ilkelerini açıklayarak, bu ilkelerin notasyon okuma üzerindeki örneklerini ortaya koyma amacını taşımaktadır. Nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden literatür taraması yoluyla elde edilen veriler Gestalt algı ilkelerinden “Şekil–Zemin”, “Yakınlık”, “Benzerlik”, “Simetri” “Basitlik” ve “Süreklilik” olmak üzere altı temel yasa ile açıklanmış, notasyon üzerinde örneklendirilmiştir. Örneklerin oluşturulmasında, görsel algı ilkeleri ile müzikteki işitsel algıda da yer alan motif, cümle dönem yapıları ve analizleri, tonik – dominant cümle ifadeleri, tempo ve nüans terimleri ilişkilendirilmiş, görsel algı ile somutlaştırılmasına önem verilmiştir

Effect of Short-term Probiotic Yogurt Consumption on Caries Risk Factors in Infants

Aim:We aimed to evaluate the effect of short-term probiotic yogurt consumption on pH, buffering capacity, and Streptococcus Mutans, Lactobacilli and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels in saliva of 6-8 months old healthy infants.Materials and Methods:Twenty healthy infants and their mothers were enrolled in the study. They were randomly allocated into two groups as study and control. In the study group, probiotic yogurt (Bifidobacterium Longum BB536, Bifidobacterium Bifidum Bb12, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus HN001) was given to infants for 3 weeks whereas, in the control group, home-made yogurt was consumed. A dental saliva pH-Indicator strip (GC, Japan) was used for salivary pH measurements. Buffering capacity was determined using CRT buffer (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein). The counts of salivary mutans streptococci and lactobacilli were evaluated using CRT bacteria (Ivoclar Vivadent,Liechtenstein). ELISA was used for sIgA. Scores at baseline and three weeks after were statistically evaluated by Wilcoxon test using the IBM SPSS 20.0 program.Results:Salivary pH, IgA, S. mutans and lactobacilli values showed no significant change after 3 weeks of probiotic yogurt consumption, however there was a statistically significant increase in the buffering capacity of saliva (p=0.04).Conclusion:Short-term probiotic yogurt intervention in infants during the early stages of life might have benefits for oral health. Further studies with both short- and long-term use of probiotics must be implemented in infants to confirm the results and see the effects on other caries risk factors

Two years survival rate of class II composite resin restorations prepared by ART with and without a chemomechanical caries removal gel in primary molars

The aim was to test the null hypotheses that there is no difference: (1) in carious lesion development at the restoration margin between class II composite resin restorations in primary molars produced through the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) with and without a chemomechanical caries removal gel and (2) in the survival rate of class II composite resin restorations between two treatment groups after 2 years. Three hundred twenty-seven children with 568 class II cavitated lesions were included in a parallel mouth study design. Four operators placed resin composite (Filtek Z 250) restorations bonded with a self-etch adhesive (Adper prompt L pop). Two independent examiners evaluated the restorations after 0.5, 1, and 2 years using the modified Ryge criteria. The Kaplan–Meier survival method was applied to estimate survival percentages. A high proportion of restorations were lost during the study period. Therefore, the first hypothesis could not be tested. No statistically significant difference was observed between the cumulative survival percentages of restorations produced by the two treatment approaches over the 2-year period (ART, 54.1 ± 3.4%; ART with Carisolv™, 46.0 ± 3.4%). This hypothesis was accepted. ART with chemomechanical gel might not provide an added benefit increasing the survival percentages of ART class II composite resin restorations in primary teeth

Identifying a Window of Vulnerability during Fetal Development in a Maternal Iron Restriction Model

It is well acknowledged from observations in humans that iron deficiency during pregnancy can be associated with a number of developmental problems in the newborn and developing child. Due to the obvious limitations of human studies, the stage during gestation at which maternal iron deficiency causes an apparent impairment in the offspring remains elusive. In order to begin to understand the time window(s) during pregnancy that is/are especially susceptible to suboptimal iron levels, which may result in negative effects on the development of the fetus, we developed a rat model in which we were able to manipulate and monitor the dietary iron intake during specific stages of pregnancy and analyzed the developing fetuses. We established four different dietary-feeding protocols that were designed to render the fetuses iron deficient at different gestational stages. Based on a functional analysis that employed Auditory Brainstem Response measurements, we found that maternal iron restriction initiated prior to conception and during the first trimester were associated with profound changes in the developing fetus compared to iron restriction initiated later in pregnancy. We also showed that the presence of iron deficiency anemia, low body weight, and changes in core body temperature were not defining factors in the establishment of neural impairment in the rodent offspring