Prevalence Of Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation In Six To Eight Year-Olds In Two Rural Divisions In Kenya

Objective: To determine the prevalence of molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) and any associated causes of MIH in children from two rural divisions in Kenya. Design: Prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: Seventeen primary schools in Matungulu and Kangundo divisions of Machakos district in Kenya. Subjects: All six to eight year-olds in the seventeen primary schools. Results: A total of 3,591 children (55.6% males and 44.4% females) were examined for MIH. All the children were from a low socio-economic community with little access to proper medical/dental health care. The prevalence of MIH was 13.73%, with a female to male ratio of 3:1. Conclusion: The prevalence of MIH of 13.73% was high in the study population and was probably associated with the poor health conditions that the children went through during the most venerable period of between birth and age three years. East African Medical Journal Vol. 85 (10) 2008: pp. 514-52

Dilemma of managing multi-surface dental caries in the primary dentition using the atraumatic restorative treatment: Renaissance or dimming hope

Background: A lot of research work has been carried out to determine the effectiveness of using atraumatic restorative treatment (ART ) in the management of dental caries, but there are still unresolved issues surrounding the use of the technique particularly in very large carious lesions.Objective: To determine the current survival rates of multi-surface ART restorations placed in the primary dentition and any consequences to the restored tooth after premature loss of the restoration.Study selection: Using a set of specific key words, a Pubmed/Medline search was carried out to retrieve all publications on ART restorations placed in primary teeth in the period January 2000 to December 2011. Only publications whose studies had multi-surface ART restorations as an item of study were retrieved and relevant data extracted.Data synthesis: Twelve studies contained in 12 publications fulfilled the selection criteria and were included in the study. The selected publications were analysed by the author to establish the study follow-up period and the survival rate of the multi-surface ART restorations for the different follow-up periods. Further information was adduced on any other effects of restoration on the tooth after premature loss of the restoration.Results: The search findings indicated that the survival rate for most of the multi-surface restorations were generally very low. Further, there were indications that even after the premature loss of the ART restorations, most of the affected teeth survived for the period of the study with a number of them having shown no signs of secondary caries or associated dental abscessees.Conclusion: While the survival rates of multi-surface ART restorations in the studies documented in the review were low, the ART restorations appeared to provide some beneficial effects to the retention-longevity of the restored tooth even after their premature loss

Exploring the intricacies of contemporary Phd research process

The process leading to a PhD degree award has evolved over a period of many years to become what it is today. There are important considerations and emphasis continually being placed by the degree awarding authorities on the PhD research process leading to this award. The authors of this communication wish to highlight some of the basic knowledge and current ingredients needed in articulating and writing of a research proposal for a good thesis that forms a major part of this award. Specifically, the communication provides an appraisal of the existing proposal writing knowledge, available research opportunities and suggestions on the improvement and mastery of good research proposal writing that would result in a good PhD thesis

Knowledge of dental academics about the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country online survey.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting all aspects of life in all countries. We assessed COVID-19 knowledge and associated factors among dental academics in 26 countries. METHODS: We invited dental academics to participate in a cross-sectional, multi-country, online survey from March to April 2020. The survey collected data on knowledge of COVID-19 regarding the mode of transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, protection, and dental treatment precautions as well as participants' background variables. Multilevel linear models were used to assess the association between dental academics' knowledge of COVID-19 and individual level (personal and professional) and country-level (number of COVID-19 cases/ million population) factors accounting for random variation among countries. RESULTS: Two thousand forty-five academics participated in the survey (response rate 14.3%, with 54.7% female and 67% younger than 46 years of age). The mean (SD) knowledge percent score was 73.2 (11.2) %, and the score of knowledge of symptoms was significantly lower than the score of knowledge of diagnostic methods (53.1 and 85.4%, P <  0.0001). Knowledge score was significantly higher among those living with a partner/spouse than among those living alone (regression coefficient (B) = 0.48); higher among those with PhD degrees than among those with Bachelor of Dental Science degrees (B = 0.48); higher among those seeing 21 to 30 patients daily than among those seeing no patients (B = 0.65); and higher among those from countries with a higher number of COVID-19 cases/million population (B = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: Dental academics had poorer knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms than of COVID-19 diagnostic methods. Living arrangements, academic degrees, patient load, and magnitude of the epidemic in the country were associated with COVD-19 knowledge among dental academics. Training of dental academics on COVID-19 can be designed using these findings to recruit those with the greatest need

Survival of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) sealants and restorations: a meta-analysis

The purpose of this study is to perform a systematic investigation plus meta-analysis into survival of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) sealants and restorations using high-viscosity glass ionomers and to compare the results with those from the 2005 ART meta-analysis. Until February 2010, four databases were searched. Two hundred four publications were found, and 66 reported on ART restorations or sealant survival. Based on five exclusion criteria, two independent reviewers selected the 29 publications that accounted for the meta-analysis. Confidence intervals (CI) and or standard errors were calculated and the heterogeneity variance of the survival rates was estimated. Location (school/clinic) was an independent variable. The survival rates of single-surface and multiple-surface ART restorations in primary teeth over the first 2 years were 93% (CI, 91–94%) and 62% (CI, 51–73%), respectively; for single-surface ART restorations in permanent teeth over the first 3 and 5 years it was 85% (CI, 77–91%) and 80% (CI, 76–83%), respectively and for multiple-surface ART restorations in permanent teeth over 1 year it was 86% (CI, 59–98%). The mean annual dentine lesion incidence rate, in pits and fissures previously sealed using ART, over the first 3 years was 1%. No location effect and no differences between the 2005 and 2010 survival rates of ART restorations and sealants were observed. The short-term survival rates of single-surface ART restorations in primary and permanent teeth, and the caries-preventive effect of ART sealants were high. Clinical relevance: ART can safely be used in single-surface cavities in both primary and permanent teeth. ART sealants have a high caries preventive effect

Perceived Preparedness of Dental Academic Institutions to Cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Survey

Dental academic institutions are affected by COVID-19. We assessed the perceived COVID-19 preparedness of these institutions and the characteristics of institutions with greater perceived preparedness. An international cross-sectional survey of dental academics was conducted from March to August 2020 to assess academics’ and institutional attributes, perceived preparedness, and availability of infection prevention and control (IPC) equipment. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified perceived preparedness components. Multilevel linear regression analysis assessed the association between perceived preparedness and fixed effect factors (academics’ and institutions’ attributes) with countries as random effect variable. Of the 1820 dental academics from 28 countries, 78.4% worked in public institutions and 75.2% reported temporary closure. PCA showed five components: clinic apparel, measures before and after patient care, institutional policies, and availability of IPC equipment. Significantly less perceived preparedness was reported in lower-middle income (LMICs) (B = −1.31, p = 0.006) and upper-middle income (UMICs) (B = −0.98, p = 0.02) countries than in high-income countries (HICs), in teaching only (B = −0.55, p &lt; 0.0001) and in research only (B = −1.22, p = 0.003) than teaching and research institutions and in institutions receiving ≤100 patients daily than those receiving &gt;100 patients (B = −0.38, p &lt; 0.0001). More perceived preparedness was reported by academics with administrative roles (B = 0.59, p &lt; 0.0001). Academics from low-income countries (LICs) and LMICs reported less availability of clinic apparel, IPC equipment, measures before patient care, and institutional policies but more measures during patient care. There was greater perceived preparedness in HICs and institutions with greater involvement in teaching, research, and patient care