Evaluation of mothers’ awareness about early childhood caries in Yasuj, Iran, 2015-2016

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a multifactorial disease and several factors are implicated in its establishment. Considering the numerous problems those children with ECC face and the important role of parents in preventing them, the aim of this study was to evaluate the mothers’ awareness about ECC in Yasuj, Iran. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study. The study population included 384 mothers of children below 6 years, who were randomly selected from the children referring to 4 urban health care centers. The data were collected using a 30-item questionnaire to assess mothers’ awareness about definition, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of ECC. The face and content validities of the questionnaire were confirmed by pediatric dentists and experts in questionnaire design. Its reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.73. Descriptive (mean, standard deviation, frequency) and analytic statistics (Spearman correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of children was 2.45 ± 1.46 years while the mean age of mothers was 29.71 ± 5.04 years. Almost half of the mothers had high school education, while others had higher degrees. Mothers’ awareness about ECC was poor in 20.8% of the cases, moderate in 62.2% of the cases, and good in 16.9% of the cases. It was observed that mother’s awareness about ECC had statistically significant direct relationships with both mother’s age and education. Based on multivariate linear regression, mother’s age (β = 0.17, P = 0.0001) and their education (β = 0.20, P = 0.0001) had significantly direct relation with mother’s awareness, too. CONCLUSION: Considering the undesirable ECC awareness level in the majority of Yasujian mothers and its association with mothers’ educations, the implementation of interventions to increase mothers’ awareness seems essential in this regard. KEYWORDS: Dental Caries; Awareness; Mother

Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the short-form child perceptions questionnaire 11–14-year-old children (CPQ11–14)

Abstract Background The Child Perception questionnaire 11–14 (CPQ 11–14) is an efficient tool for assessment of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This questionnaire has been briefed to 16 items (CPQ11–14 ISF-16) to facilitate its employment. The purpose the present study was to translate CPQ11–14 ISF-16 to Persian language, culturally adapt, and initially evaluate its among adolescent population. Material and method The questionnaire has been translated to Persian, then back-translated to English, and finally underwent cultural adaptation and pretesting assessment. It was then filled out by 318 participents (175 grils and 143 boys), with the age of 11 to 14 years resident in Shiraz, Iran. The Persian version of CPQ11–14 ISF-16 along with the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) and two suggested global questions were administered among participants to assess its criterion validity. Results The factor analysis extracted two domains and the factor loading of domains ranged from 0.423 to 0.837. Persian version of CPQ11–14 ISF-16 presented high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.854), and showed excellent criterion validity with PIDAQ (rho = 0.731, p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant positive moderate correlation between CPQ11–14 ISF-16 and its factors 1 and 2 and two global questions (first global question: rho = 0.439, p < 0.001; second global question: rho = 0.457, p = 0.035). Conclusion The Persian version of CPQ11–14 ISF-16 has optimal validity and reliability in a general population of 11–14-year-old Persian children

Evaluation of mothers’ awareness about early childhood caries in Yasuj, Iran, 2015-2016

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a multifactorial disease and several factors are implicated in its establishment. Considering the numerous problems those children with ECC face and the important role of parents in preventing them, the aim of this study was to evaluate the mothers’ awareness about ECC in Yasuj, Iran. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study. The study population included 384 mothers of children below 6 years, who were randomly selected from the children referring to 4 urban healthcare centers. The data were collected using a 30-item questionnaire to assess mothers’ awareness about definition, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of ECC. The face and content validities of the questionnaire were confirmed by pediatric dentists and experts in questionnaire design. Its reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.73. Descriptive (mean, standard deviation, frequency) and analytic statistics (Spearman correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of children was 2.45 ± 1.46 years while the mean age of mothers was 29.71 ± 5.04 years. Almost half of the mothers had high school education, while others had higher degrees. Mothers’ awareness about ECC was poor in 20.8% of the cases, moderate in 62.2% of the cases, and good in 16.9% of the cases. It was observed that mother’s awareness about ECC had statistically significant direct relationships with both mother’s age and education. Based on multivariate linear regression, mother’s age (β = 0.17, P = 0.0001) and their education (β = 0.20, P = 0.0001) had significantly direct relation with mother’s awareness, too. CONCLUSION: Considering the undesirable ECC awareness level in the majority of Yasujian mothers and its association with mothers’ educations, the implementation of interventions to increase mothers’ awareness seems essential in this regard

Effect of Surface Treatment on Enamel Cracks after Orthodontic Bracket Debonding: Er,Cr:YSGG Laser-Etching versus Acid-Etching

Objectives: This study sought to compare enamel cracks after orthodontic bracket debonding in the surfaces prepared with erbium, chromium: yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser and the conventional acid-etching technique. Materials and Methods: This in-vitro experimental study was conducted on 60 sound human premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes. The teeth were randomly divided into two groups (n=30). The teeth in group A were etched with 37% phosphoric acid gel, while the teeth in group B were subjected to Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation (gold handpiece, MZ8 tip, 50Hz, 4.5W, 60µs, 80% water and 60% air). Orthodontic brackets were bonded to the enamel surfaces and were then debonded in both groups. The samples were inspected under a stereomicroscope at ×38 magnification to assess the number and length of enamel cracks before bonding and after debonding. Independent-samples t-test was used to compare the frequency of enamel cracks in the two groups. Levene’s test was applied to assess the equality of variances. Results: No significant difference was noted in the frequency or length of enamel cracks between the two groups after debonding (P>0.05). Conclusions: Despite the same results of the frequency and length of enamel cracks in the two groups and by considering the side effects of acid-etching (demineralization and formation of white spot lesions), Er,Cr:YSGG laser may be used as an alternative to acid-etching for enamel surface preparation prior to bracket bonding.