Female Genital Mutilation (International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation Editorial Comment)

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation Editorial Comment by Dr. Ravneet Malh

Prevalence of Oral Leukoplakia among Small Scale Factory Workers of Panchkula District, Haryana, India: A Descriptive Study

INTRODUCTION: Leukoplakia is described as a non scrappable whitish lesion and finds its prevalence high in the south Asian continent.AIM: To assess the prevalence of leukoplakia among small scale factory workers of district Panchkula, Haryana, IndiaMATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried among 522 small scale factory workers in district Panchkula, Haryana, India. The diagnosis of presence of oral leukoplakia was evaluated and documented by the two examiners, using ADA type III examination and using the WHO standard recording form for oral mucosal diseases with clinical diagnosis based on the criteria as provided by the WHO and modified by Axell. Descriptive statistics were applied to describe the results.RESULTS: The study subjects had male predominance(73.9%). The mean age was reported as 56±5.2, and the prevalence of oral leukoplakia was seen among 7.1% (37) of the total population. Of the 37 people diagnosed, homogeneous leukoplakia was seen in 22 (59.5%)workers, while non-homogeneous leukoplakia was seen among 15 (40.5%) workers with buccal mucosa (18, 48.7%) as the most frequent site for occurrence of leukoplakia.CONCLUSION: Public health education programs are advised among the small scale workers of Panchkula district so as to prevent the high occurrence of leukoplakia and other tobacco related lesions among them

Evidence Based Decision Making: A Review

In today’s era, many of the decisions are based upon gut feeling, intuition, or instinct rather than relied on actual scientific data and facts. It’s important and essential to do the needful based on facts and not feelings for the best possible outcomes. Evidence based decision making in the field of healthcare describes the integration of basic rules of evidence as they evolve into implementation in daily practices. In dentistry, the principles of evidence-based decision making as well as a very common clinical dilemma to make a decision on whether to save and preserve the natural tooth or to extract and replace it with an implant or any sort of prosthesis is often experienced by a clinician easily. The need of evidence plays a very important role in making decisions. It helps provide a better outcome which will result in fewer casualties

Ageing and Health– A Review

Dental care is vital to maintain natural teeth and enhance the quality of life for elderly people. Preserving good oral health starts early in life by developing healthy lifestyles, practicing appropriate self-care, and regularly using oral health services when available. The overall objective of dental therapy is to preserve dentition by preventing the progression of dental diseases. It should be integrated into overall health management of all geriatric patients and its maintenance is crucial to stability and functional health of the tissues. This review is intended to provide brief layout on diseases seen in older population, so as to render a professional service

A Survey to Estimate the Prevalence of Tooth Loss and Denture Wearers in Subjects of Different Age Groups of South Coastal Karnataka Region

INTRODUCTION: Advancement in age brings into countless new health problems along with the exacerbation of existing ones. Dental awareness has led to decrease in edentulousness in elderly people. The reasons of tooth loss also differs in different age groups.AIM & OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of tooth loss and denture wearers in various age groups along with the evaluation of the reasons for tooth loss.MATERIALS & METHOD: This questionnaire based study was conducted in the patients visiting the department of Prosthodontics Crown and Bridge & Implantology. Subjects were interviewed and examined clinically by a single examiner. A representative convenience sample of 150 patients in age groups of 40-50, 50-60 and 60-70 years were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were applied and the Chi-square test was used to analyse the findings using SPSS version 17.0.RESULTS: Tooth loss was found to be maximum in age group of 60-70 years and almost 64% wore complete dentures. The patients in age group of 40-50 years had maximum percentage of natural teeth (60%). The poor periodontal support was the main cause of tooth loss in almost 74% patients in age group of 60-70 years. Caries was the predominant cause of tooth loss in age group of 40-50 years.CONCLUSION: Prevalence of tooth loss and denture wearers is maximum in bigger age groups. Loss of periodontal support is the main cause of tooth loss as age advances while caries being the major cause in young individuals

Atraumatic Restorative Treatment: Review and a Case Report

Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), which was introduced as field trials, have gained popularity among clinicians for their ease, minimal use of instrumentation and hence can be done in remote areas with little or no resources and can be used in patients with special needs, anxious and apprehensive patients in the dental setting. The present paper presents a case of modified ART (ARTm) with full patient satisfaction after a 3 month follow up, with a review of the same and the differences between ART and ARTm

Incidence of Impacted Mandibular Third Molars with Their Pattern and Associated Complications in Nepalese Population

INTRODUCTION: Impaction may be defined as the failure of complete eruption into a normal functional position of one tooth within normal time due to lack of space in the dental arch, caused by obstruction by another tooth or development in an abnormal position.MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on 945 patients (males=591, females=354) aged between 18- 50 years of age who had mandibular third molars impacted. The difficulty index for mandibular third molar for angulation and depth was based on Winter’s classification (1926).RESULTS: The most common type of impaction seen was Mesio- angular with (32%) followed by horizontal 264 (27.8%), then followed by other types. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0CONCLUSION: Impacted third molars are a common observation in routine dental practice. The impaction rate of third molars is higher as compared to other teeth in the dentition. The high prevalence found in the present study, with more than half of these Nepalese adult patients having at least one impacted third molar

Utilization of Stem Cells in Dentistry: A Review

For centuries, scientists have known that certain animals can regenerate missing parts of their bodies. Humans actually share this ability with animals such as starfish which has the ability to regenerate lost arms and can grow an entire new limb. Researchers define stem cells as the clonogenic cells with the capability of self renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and also have the capabilities of generating complex tissues and various organs

Alternative medicinal interventions for oral diseases: Scoping review

Oral diseases hamper the overall systems of our body. People of all age groups and races of different geographic locations are affected by oral diseases which range from dental caries to oral cancer. Therefore, timely dental treatment is needed. Apart from conventional therapies, complementary alternative medicines are becoming popular nowadays. The aim of this scoping review is to compare the efficacy of alternative medicinal interventions with conventional therapies among the living subjects for treating oral diseases. A literature search was performed in PubMed Central and Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar up to 2017 to identify appropriate studies. Full text of original research articles, observational studies, in vivo studies, and randomized control trials were only included in the study. Our target finding was complementary alternative medicines for oral diseases. In the various articles available through the electronic database, 43 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for the review. Even though different studies explain different alternative treatment options, however, these studies show better efficiency for various oral diseases. Alternative medications with many beneficial properties are a good choice for the prevention or treatment of oral diseases without any side effects. In a developing country like India, where there are people who still cannot afford even their daily expenditure, alternative medicinal interventions will be a boon

Dentistry meets nature-role of herbs in periodontal care: A systematic review

Background: Natural products have been used for several years in folk medicine. Over the last decade herbal medications turned out to be a popular form of therapy throughout the world when used in prophylaxis and treatment of various diseases. Many side-effects associated with modern medicines have been averted by using herbal medicines, and thus they are safer to use. Objective: The aim was to evaluate the effect of herbs on the periodontal diseases. Data Source: A literature review was performed in PubMed Central and Cochrane library using MeSH Terms - herbal medicine, periodontitis, and dentistry. Materials and Methods: Of a total 368 titles appeared 39 were related to the research question. Further search criteria were applied to the articles, of which 13 articles fulfilled the criteria and were selected for the review. Five articles that were hand searched were also included. Results and Conclusion: In the available literature, it was found that the low toxicity of herbs encourage further investigation that leads to a better understanding of alternative medicine for prevention of plaque formation and strengthening of the gums, as well as in reducing the incidence of periodontal infections