Oral health knowledge in pre-school children: a survey among parents in central Italy

Background: The aim of this survey was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of parents about potential oral health risk factors and correct management of oral hygiene of their preschool children. Material and Methods: The participation to the survey was proposed to all parents of 3-5 year aged children attending a kindergarten in Campobasso. A self-administered questionnaire was completed to obtain information regarding demographic and education variables, knowledge about caries and its transmission, infant feeding practice, maternal oral health during pregnancy, parents and children’s oral hygiene habits and risk behaviors (e.g., sharing cutlery, tasting of baby food, nightly using of baby bottles or pacifier), oral health prevention and role of school. Results: Overall, the parents of 101 children consented to fill the questionnaire. Data analysis showed that only 24% of respondents was aware of the potential vertical transmissibility of cariogenic bacteria through contaminated saliva. It is still a common trend from61% of parents tasting food of their child. On 101 children, 30% used pacifier and 17% used baby bottle with milk during night and among these children 41% for more than 2 years. Parents reported no toothbrushing for 57% of the children in their first 3 years of life. Conclusions: From this survey, independently on parents education, it emerges as still nowadays parents are not fully trained and informed about the management of their child’s oral hygiene and as it’s necessary a parental oral health promoting program to control children oral health risk status, starting from school

Challenges in Dental Statistics: Survey Methodology Topics

This paper gathers some contributions concerning survey methodology in dental research, as discussed during the first Workshop of the SISMEC STATDENT working group on statistical methods and applications in dentistry, held in Ancona on the 28th September 2011. The first contribution deals with the European Global Oral Health Indicators Development (EGOHID) Project which proposed a comprehensive and standardized system of epidemiological tools (questionnaires and clinical forms) for national data collection on oral health in Europe. The second contribution regards the design and conduct of trials to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of toothbrushes and mouthrinses. Finally, a flexible and effective tool used to trace dental age reference charts tailored to Italian children was presented

Challenges in Dental Statistics: Survey Methodology Topics

This paper gathers some contributions concerning survey methodology in dental research, as discussed during the first Workshop of the SISMEC STATDENT working group on statistical methods and applications in dentistry, held in Ancona on the 28th September 2011. The first contribution deals with the European Global Oral Health Indicators Development (EGOHID) Project which proposed a comprehensive and standardized system of epidemiological tools (questionnaires and clinical forms) for national data collection on oral health in Europe. The second contribution regards the design and conduct of trials to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of toothbrushes and mouthrinses. Finally, a flexible and effective tool used to trace dental age reference charts tailored to Italian children was presented

Comparison of ICDAS, CAST, Nyvad’s Criteria, and WHO-DMFT for Caries Detection in a Sample of Italian Schoolchildren

Caries measurement methods vary considerably in terms of the stages of lesion considered making the comparison problematic among different surveys. In this cross-sectional study, four caries measurement methods, the WHO-DMFT, the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST), and the Nyvad Criteria were tested in a sample of children. Five-hundred 12-year old children (236 males and 264 females) were examined four times by four calibrated examiners. The calibration process showed that Cohen\u2019s Kappa exceeded the criterion of K = 0.75 and K = 0.80 for inter/intra-examiner agreement, respectively. In the survey, the total number of misclassification errors for the four methods amounted to 312 observations (67.94% regarding enamel lesions). The greatest difference among methods was shown by number of sound teeth (p < 0.01): WHO-DMFT n = 9505, 74.14%; ICDAS n = 2628, 20.49%; CAST n = 5053, 39.41%; and Nyvad Criteria n = 4117, 32.11%. At the level of dentinal Distinct/Active Cavity lesions, no statistically significant difference was observed (p = 0.40) between ICDAS (n = 1373, 10.71%), CAST (n = 1371, 0.69%), and Nyvad Criteria (n = 1720, 13.41%). In the severe caries levels, all methods were partially in agreement, while no accordance was found for the initial (enamel) lesions. A common language in caries detection is critical when different studies are compared

Large eddy simulations of solitons colliding with intrusions

The dynamics of lock-release Intrusive Gravity Currents (IGCs) generating Internal Solitary Waves (ISWs) are investigated by three-dimensional large eddy simulations. We set the numerical, laboratory-scale domain in order to release a uniform fluid in multi-layer, stratified ambient, exciting pycnocline displacements. By adopting different initial settings, we analyzed the influence of the ambient stratification on both IGCs and ISWs features. We present the main flow dynamics and the time evolution of IGC and ISW front and trough positions, respectively. During the simulations, the ISW is allowed to reach the vertical wall at the end of the domain, and it undergoes reflection. We then analyzed the interaction between the IGC and the reflected ISW: the wave is observed to accelerate as it is pushed upwards by the intrusion, which, in turns, flows below the ISW, decelerating. By analyzing instantaneous velocity fields and flow rates, we found that during this interaction, the ISW increases its celerity in response of the reduced area available for its propagation, partially occupied by the intrusion, and because the velocity field in the IGC interface surroundings acts to facilitate the ISW passage

Mixing in lock-release gravity currents propagating up a slope

Lock-exchange gravity currents propagating up a slope are investigated by large eddy simulations, focusing on the entrainment and mixing processes occurring between the dense current and the ambient fluid. Relevant parameters, such as the aspect ratio of the initial volume of dense fluid in the lock R, the angle between the bottom boundary and the horizontal direction \u3b8 and the depth aspect ratio \u3c6, are varied. The numerical results are compared with laboratory experiments and a good agreement is found. Entrainment and mixing in a lock-release gravity current are studied using different entrainment parameters and an energy budget method. The entrainment is found to depend on both Froude, Fr, and Reynolds, Re, numbers. In addition, the dependence of both entrainment and mixing on the parameters varied is discussed. The entrainment decreases with increasing steepness of the bottom and R. Irreversible mixing is not affected by the varied parameters during the slumping phase, while during the successive phases of motion, it is found to decrease with the increase of \u3b8 and R. Low entrainment and mixing occur for \u3c6 <

Bone marrow-derived cells can acquire cardiac stem cells properties in damaged heart

Experimental data suggest that cell-based therapies may be useful for cardiac regeneration following ischaemic heart disease. Bone marrow (BM) cells have been reported to contribute to tissue repair after myocardial infarction (MI) by a variety of humoural and cellular mechanisms. However, there is no direct evidence, so far, that BM cells can generate cardiac stem cells (CSCs). To investigate whether BM cells contribute to repopulate the Kit+ CSCs pool, we transplanted BM cells from transgenic mice, expressing green fluorescent protein under the control of Kit regulatory elements, into wild-type irradiated recipients. Following haematological reconstitution and MI, CSCs were cultured from cardiac explants to generate 'cardiospheres', a microtissue normally originating in vitro from CSCs. These were all green fluorescent (i.e. BM derived) and contained cells capable of initiating differentiation into cells expressing the cardiac marker Nkx2.5. These findings indicate that, at least in conditions of local acute cardiac damage, BM cells can home into the heart and give rise to cells that share properties of resident Kit+ CSCs

The Influence of Dental Occlusion on Spectrophotometric Tooth Color Determinations

Background: Shade matching is a significant treatment step and a challenge for the clinical team with potentially high costs for color correction. Currently, in the United States, the majority of private dental practitioners use visual color matching, but a recent study has reported a high rate of mistakes of subjective color determination among graduate dentists. Objective: The aim of this retrospective study is to analyze whether a change in the oral background due to dental occlusion can influence tooth color determination. Methods: Volunteer dental students underwent spectrophotometric color assessment using the SpectroShade device. Two measurements were carried out (with the individuals’ occlusion closed and with the occlusion open) on 43 upper central and 58 lateral incisors. Association between colorimetric variables L*, a*, b* and ΔE00 and tooth width, length and tobacco usage were examined. Results: Slight changes in the CIELAB values between closed and open occlusions were found for both the gingival and the central sections as for the overall tooth area, with mean ΔL*=-1.24, Δa*=-1.77, Δb*=-1.42 and ΔE00=1,84. A larger difference was detected in the incisal area, with mean ΔL*=-2.99, Δa*=-1.76, Δb*=-2.83 and ΔE00=3.65. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study showed that dental occlusion does not play a significant role in tooth color matching determinations, even though attention to avoid overbite due to a maximum intercuspation should be made