Three-year survival of single- and two-surface ART restorations in a high-caries child population

The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival of single- and two-surface atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) restorations in the primary and permanent dentitions of children from a high-caries population, in a field setting. The study was conducted in the rainforest of Suriname, South America. ART restorations, made by four Dutch dentists, were evaluated after 6 months, 1, 2, and 3 years. Four hundred seventy-five ART restorations were placed in the primary dentition and 54 in first permanent molars of 194 children (mean age 6.09 ± 0.48 years). Three-year cumulative survivals of single- and two-surface ART restorations in the primary dentition were 43.4 and 12.2%, respectively. Main failure characteristics were gross marginal defects and total or partial losses. Three-year cumulative survival for single-surface ART restorations in the permanent dentition was 29.6%. Main failure characteristics were secondary caries and gross marginal defects. An operator effect was found only for two-surface restorations. The results show extremely low survival rates for single- and two-surface ART restorations in the primary and permanent dentitions. The variable success for ART may initiate further discussion about alternative treatment strategies, especially in those situations where choices have to be made with respect to a well-balanced, cost-effective package of basic oral health care

Untreated severe dental decay: a neglected determinant of low Body Mass Index in 12-year-old Filipino children

Contains fulltext : 98500.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Dental decay is the most common childhood disease worldwide and most of the decay remains untreated. In the Philippines caries levels are among the highest in the South East Asian region. Elementary school children suffer from high prevalence of stunting and underweight.The present study aimed to investigate the association between untreated dental decay and Body Mass Index (BMI) among 12-year-old Filipino children. METHODS: Data collection was part of the National Oral Health Survey, a representative cross-sectional study of 1951 11-13-year-old school children using a modified, stratified cluster sampling design based on population classifications of the Philippine National Statistics Office. Caries was scored according to WHO criteria (1997) and odontogenic infections using the PUFA index. Anthropometric measures were performed by trained nurses. Some socio-economic determinants were included as potential confounding factors. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of caries (DMFT + dmft > 0) was 82.3% (95%CI; 80.6%-84.0%). The overall prevalence of odontogenic infections due to caries (PUFA + pufa > 0) was 55.7% (95% CI; 53.5%-57.9%) The BMI of 27.1% (95%CI; 25.1%-29.1%) of children was below normal, 1% (95%CI; 0.5%-1.4%) had a BMI above normal. The regression coefficient between BMI and caries was highly significant (p 0) as compared to those without odontogenic infections had an increased risk of a below normal BMI (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.19-1.80). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first-ever representative survey showing a significant association between caries and BMI and particularly between odontogenic infections and below normal BMI. An expanded model of hypothesised associations is presented that includes progressed forms of dental decay as a significant, yet largely neglected determinant of poor child development

Body mass index and dental caries in children and adolescents : a systematic review of literature published 2004 to 2011

The objectiveThe authors undertook an updated systematic review of the relationship between body mass index and dental caries in children and adolescents.MethodThe authors searched Medline, ISI, Cochrane, Scopus, Global Health and CINAHL databases and conducted lateral searches from reference lists for papers published from 2004 to 2011, inclusive. All empirical papers that tested associations between body mass index and dental caries in child and adolescent populations (aged 0 to 18 years) were included.ResultsDental caries is associated with both high and low body mass index.ConclusionA non-linear association between body mass index and dental caries may account for inconsistent findings in previous research. We recommend future research investigate the nature of the association between body mass index and dental caries in samples that include a full range of body mass index scores, and explore how factors such as socioeconomic status mediate the association between body mass index and dental caries.<br /