Early childhood feeding practices and dental caries in preschool children: a multi-centre birth cohort study

Extent: 7p.Background Dental caries (decay) is an international public health challenge, especially amongst young children. Early Childhood Caries is a rapidly progressing disease leading to severe pain, anxiety, sepsis and sleep loss, and is a major health problem particularly for disadvantaged populations. There is currently a lack of research exploring the interactions between risk and protective factors in the development of early childhood caries, in particular the effects of infant feeding practises. Methods/Design This is an observational cohort study and involves the recruitment of a birth cohort from disadvantaged communities in South Western Sydney. Mothers will be invited to join the study soon after the birth of their child at the time of the first home visit by Child and Family Health Nurses. Data on feeding practices and dental health behaviours will be gathered utilizing a telephone interview at 4, 8 and 12 months, and thereafter at 6 monthly intervals until the child is aged 5 years. Information collected will include a) initiation and duration of breastfeeding, b) introduction of solid food, c) intake of cariogenic and non-cariogenic foods, d) fluoride exposure, and e) oral hygiene practices. Children will have a dental and anthropometric examination at 2 and 5 years of age and the main outcome measures will be oral health quality of life, caries prevalence and caries incidence. Discussion This study will provide evidence of the association of early childhood feeding practices and the oral health of preschool children. In addition, information will be collected on breastfeeding practices and the oral health concerns of mothers living in disadvantaged areas in South Western Sydney.Amit Arora, Jane A Scott, Sameer Bhole, Loc Do, Eli Schwarz and Anthony S Blinkhor

Part-time clinical anesthesia practice: a review of the economic, quality, and safety issues

Many anesthesiologists would like to work part-time for various personal, financial, or other reasons. Many private anesthesia groups have no system in place for part-time practice to occur. The following list indicates some of the questions that arise when this topic is discussed. ; What is the minimum work level required of a part-time practitioner to remain competent? (For example, 1 or 2 days a week?) ; Is the part time clinician assigned more simple cases and fewer complex cases? If so, how does this impact his or her ability to take call? ; Is the clinical competence of a part-time practitioner reduced because he or she is part time? Even more fundamentally, how is competence in patient care defined? How is competence affected by what the part-timer does (eg, research, administration, stay at home with family) when not working clinically? ; How is the frequency of overnight call and in-house call distributed to the part-time person? ; How are health and retirements benefits apportioned to the part-time practitioner? ; Who qualifies in a group for part-time practice and why? ; Is there a limit on how long one can be on such a part-time track? How long can one take a break from practice before needing to consider some type of re-training? ; How many group members can be on the part-time track simultaneously? Does age matter? ; Surprisingly little is known about these issues. The goals of this article are to review the economic, quality, and safety issues surrounding part-time clinical anesthesia practice. Anesthesia groups need to be aware of the range of attitudes in the workplace regarding the increasing fraction of the anesthesia workforce that is part-time. Variability in how part-time practice is viewed affects issues such as perceived competence, job satisfaction, scheduling, and compensation of the part-time practitioner