Volume 25 – Issue 1 (Jan – Mar 2016)

ABSTRACT:

The Shortened Dental Arch (SDA) comprise of anterior and premolar teeth with missing posterior occlusal units. According to various literature resources the masticatory apparatus perform effectively in the presence of these teeth, however on the contrary other literary work states that the presence of molars is important for mastication. This is not necessarily the case as the evidence available to support this requirement is weak. As the SDA functions over time, occlusal instability has been noted. The treatment options for SDA vary among clinicians and are also based on patient’s personal choice and aesthetics. The aim of this review is to determine the oral functionality, masticatory efficiency, prosthodontic considerations, patient comfort and other treatment options available for the SDA patient. This was carried out through a review of the Medline and Cochrane Library databases Inclusion criteria included clinical or experimental trials and review documents published between 2005 and 2016.

KEYWORDS:

Shortened dental arch, oral functionality, masticatory apparatus, occlusal units.

INTRODUCTION:

Emergence of the tooth, in simpler term is (means) the appearance of tooth in oral cavity through the gingiva. Emergence of permanent teeth has been studied among different population and among different ethnic groups. Standards for tooth emergence should be derived from the population in which they are to be applied because factors related to tooth emergence of both deciduous and permanent dentitions may vary among various races.

METHODOLOGY:

The clinical dental examination of the children was carried out in Brahmin, Chhetri, Rai and Limbu communities residing in Sunsari district of Eastern Nepal. A total of eight hundred fifty seven healthy children of pure races were included in the study. Children were grouped age. Sex and community wise. The following age groups were considered: 3.5- 5years 6.5-8years, 9.5-11years and 15-16years.

RESULTS:

The study result shows that the permanent teeth emerge and mature earlier in Rai and Limbu compared to Brahmin and Chhetri.

CONCLUSION:

Our present study concludes that there is racial variation in emergence pattern of permanent teeth and there is need to conduct study on children of each and every ethnic communities.

KEYWORDS:

Emergence, permanent teeth, dentition, communities.

ABSTRACT:

Pulp is a vascular and vital part of a healthy tooth. Pulps of teeth with breached enamel become vulnerable to infections and succeeding necrosis if the lost tissue remains unreplaced. The dentists replace it using restorative materials which are not friendly to the pulp. Pulp protection measures are therefore necessary to be taken to save pulp vitality during a restorative procedure. Concepts about pulp protection have changed with time. Previously, pulp was considered under threat due to toxicity or heat conductivity of restorative materials. It is now believed that ingress of bacteria under a restoration causes pulp inflammation. The materials with enhanced sealing ability protect pulp very effectively. Contemporary pulp protection protocol were therefore, put forward 12-14 years ago. This study is designed to assess clinical execution of these protocols in Pakistani institutions of undergraduate dental education.

METHODS:

A meticulously designed questionnaire was circulated in various dental schools situated in various cities of Pakistan. Data collected was analyzed with the help of a biostatistician using SPSS version 18.

RESULTS:

If the remaining dentin thickness is more than 1.5 mm, there is no need to use any cement base or liner for pulp protection. 89 % of respondents do not care about dentin thickness before using liners / bases. Materials employed for cavity lining may be a cement, varnish or dentin adhesive. 70 % of them consider it essential to give cement lining under the restorations. A vast majority uses Calcium Hydroxide as base and 90 % of them cover the whole exposed dentin with it. Dentin sealer and Dentin adhesives are not used as pulp protecting agent respectively by 76 % and 63 % of participants of the study.

CONCLUSION:

Contemporary protocols for pulp protections are not being followed in the institutions which participated in the survey.

KEYWORDS:

Pulp protection, cavity liner & bases.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate perceptions about materials and methods available for post insertion denture care amongst removable denture wearers and to find out effect of education in adapting to correct methodology of cleaning the prosthesis.

INTRODUCTION:

Ignorance about maintenance of oral prosthesis leads to many oral health related problems. Adequate understanding of post insertion care is significant for the longevity and comfort of the prosthesis.

METHODS:

An aggregate of hundred patients were chosen using convenience sampling from the department of prosthodontics (OPD) of Dow Dental College and Dow international Dental College. Questionnaire was designed to evaluate objectives. Subjects were interviewed about age, gender, educational status, frequency, method of cleaning, soaking material and awareness about removal habits of denture before sleeping. The information acquired by this study was analyzed by utilizing SPSS programming version 16.0. Simple descriptive statistics was applied. Chi-Square test was applied to determine the association of education with cleaning methods test at p value<0.05.

RESULTS:

Majority of participants cleaned their dentures with tooth paste and brush (44%) while 62% clean them daily. Majority of subjects were removing their dentures (80%) before sleeping. Water was the most frequent (62%) soaking medium when denture was not in use. Adequate maintenance of dentures was significantly associated with level of education.

CONCLUSION:

The perceptions of study participants towards denture maintenance were adequate.

KEY WORDS:

Maintenance of denture, perceptions, prosthesis, cleaning of denture.

BACKGROUND:

Water-pipe smoking appears to be stimulated by unfolded assumptions of relatively safety compared to cigarettes, as well as the social nature of the activity. Commercial marketing, often with implicit or explicit safety related claims, may also be contributing to the spread of water-pipe smoking across the globe.

MATERIAL & METHODS:

Cross-sectional analytical study conducted among 13-19 years old students going to a private secondary school; were divided into two groups one who smoked water-pipe and the others who does not smoke. A structured and validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect base-line data related to the knowledge, attitude and practice of water-pipe tobacco smoking. It was then followed by clinical dental examination using Plaque, gingival, modified papillary bleeding and clinical attachment loss. Data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

RESULTS:

Among 320 subjects, 154 subjects were water pipe tobacco smokers while 166 subjects were non water pipe tobacco smoker. While, upon clinical examination of subjects only clinical attachment loss was found to be significant with the p-value of 0.000.

CONCLUSION:

Therefore, in aspect to periodontal health, water-pipe tobacco smoking does have an impact on the periodontal status. Suggesting that the disease progression occurs as episodic burst of activity with periods of remission.

KEYWORDS:

Water-pipe tobacco smoking; private secondary school; Karachi.

OBJECTIVES:

This quantitative study was designed to record the knowledge and association about dental erosion by patients attending OPD of Dow Dental College, Karachi and influences on their choice of acidic drinks resulting in dental health problems.

METHODOLOGY:

Dow Dental Patients aged 12-70 years were randomly selected and investigated. A questionnaire was administered to obtain information on knowledge of dietary habits and presence of esophageal related disease. The sample size calculated was 400 patients. Tooth wear was analyzed via visual oral examination by use of mouth mirror. SPSS 20.0 was used for interpretation of collected data. Level of significance and association among different variables was determined by use of Chi square test.

RESULTS:

In total 400 participated in the focused group and results suggested that choice of drink and esophageal related disease was found to be associated with dental erosion. Dental knowledge was confused regarding tooth erosion and its association with acidic drinks especially among younger age groups and females.

CONCLUSION:

Knowledge of patients (attending dow dental opd) regarding dental erosion and the effect of drinks and esophageal related disease was confused. The factors that influence drink choice appear to change with age and gender.

KEYWORDS:

Erosion, Fizzy drinks, Citrus fruits, GERD, Association, Knowledge