Volume 25 – Issue 3 (July – September 2016)

OBJECTIVES:

• To determine the frequency of root caries among patients visiting dental clinic of the Aga Khan University Hospital.
• To determine the association of root caries with gender, xerostomia, smoking, betel nut and sugar intake.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital. Patients above 30 years of age who visited dental clinics with gum recession or root surface caries with or without root filling were included. Information was gained on age, sex, brushing habits, malocclusion, use of systemic medications, xerostomia etc. Intraoral examination was done on all teeth excluding third molars. The variables of interest were the frequency of root surfaces exposed (RE), root surface carious (RC) and root surface already restored (RR). The unit of analysis for root surface caries was the individual tooth.

RESULTS:

A total of 4080 root surfaces of 40 subjects (25 males and 15 females) were examined. Mean age was 55.6 years (±11.4 SD). About 805 (19.7%) surfaces were found to be exposed. Around 137 (3.35%) surfaces were carious and only 18 (0.44%) were restored. Eighteen subjects had root caries on less than 2 surfaces; fourteen subjects had root caries on 3-5 surfaces and there were eight subjects with more than 5 carious surfaces. Most common type of gum recession found was Miller’s Class III (60%). Xerostomia was observed in 16 (40%) subjects. Diabetes, hypertension and other co-morbids were observed in 17 subjects. Chi square test (or Fisher exact test) was applied to determine association of RE and RC with other variables. The level of significance was kept at 0.05.

CONCLUSIONS:

The most common gum recession pattern observed in our study was deep and wide (Miller’s Class III). One fifth of the subjects had extensive RC (> 5 surfaces). RE was found to be associated with age and use of betel nuts (p< 0.01) while RC was seen more in females and was associated with high sugar intake (p=0.02).

KEYWORDS:

Root caries, gum recession, root surfaces exposure.

INTRODUCTION:

Dental anxiety is a highly prevalent condition affecting approximately 30% of the population. The mental health of university students is an area of increasing worldwide concern as this population has been shown to be particularly prone to depression, anxiety and stress.

OBJECTIVE:

To establish clustered categories of anxiety related emotions among dental students and also observe gender (male, female) distribution with respect to the predicted categories of anxiety.

METHODOLOGY:

Cross sectional observational study was conducted among a sample of 200 with almost equal number of male and female students. Corah’s Dental Anxiety Questionnaire (DASS 21) was used, which is a self-reported questionnaire consisting of 21 questions related to anxiety. Statistical analysis was performed on Stata 11.0 using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).

RESULTS:

This factor analysis suggests that there is a room for improvement in DASS-21 by defining a spectrum of anxiety. Significant distribution in anxiety factors 3 (Nervousness), 4 (Panicky) and 6 (Touchiness) with respect to gender (males and females). Enhancing education, awareness, improving teaching methods and training of dental procedures might help alleviate anxiety.

KEYWORDS:

Anxiety, Dental Students, DASS21, Gender.

BACKGROUND:

Periodontal diseases are more prevalent in developing countries than in developed countries. According to a WHO report, despite all good efforts oral health problems still persist among underprivileged communities. Gadap is a rural, under privileged community of Karachi, Pakistan where paucity of oral and general health facilities prevails. This study has been carried out to explore periodontal status in the Gadap – an area of low socioeconomic population and to establish association of age and gender with BPE scores.

RESULTS:

The sample size was 1253 subjects including 64.9% males and 35.1 % females. There were no significant association between gender and BPE score. Males had higher percentages of code 1 and 2 (Gingivitis) and code 3 and 4 (Periodontitis 10.1%). Females had gingivitis (28.8%) and periodontitis (5%). Results show significance between the age and the BPE scores. Percentage of healthy individuals (code 0) without any pocket formation, bleeding or calculus is 5%. The other prominent finding (code 1 and 2) that is presence of calculus and pockets of less than 3.5mm in 80% of the subjects suggesting gingivitis. Subjects affected with periodontitis are 15%. According to specific age higher cases of gingivitis (48.1%) are reported between 18-30 years and periodontitis (4.62%) are reported between 31-40years.

CONCLUSION:

Prevalence of periodontal diseases among young population of 18 – 30 years age group is very high.

KEYWORDS:

Prevalence of Periodontal diseases, Periodontal profiles, Basic periodontal examination.

BACKGROUND:

To determine different risk factors of dental caries and periodontal disease among subjects visiting dental hospital, Multan, Pakistan.

METHODOLOGY:

A cross-sectional study was conducted at dental hospital, Multan, Pakistan from March, 2014 to August, 2014. A questionnaire was distributed among adult patients visiting the hospital. The chi-square test was used to determine the association of risk factors such as age, gender, smoking, brushing habits etc. with caries and periodontal disease.

RESULTS:

Out of 366 patients, there were 186 (50.8 %) females and 180 (49.2%) males. It was observed that gender (p-value 0.14), education (p-value=0.13), income (p-value=0.39), age (p-value=0.17) and tooth paste use (p-value=0.55) have no association with the dental caries and periodontal disease. However, factors such as family history of dental diseases (p-value= 0.02), smoking (p-value <0.01), use of pan (p- value = 0.04), and duration of disease (p-value <0.01) were found to be significantly associated with caries and l disease.

CONCLUSION:

Family history, pan using, smoking, and dental duration are found to be significantly associated with caries and periodontal disease among patients visiting dental hospital of Multan, Pakistan.

KEYWORDS:

Dental caries, Periodontal disease, prevalence.

AIM:

This study was carried out to determine knowledge and attitude toward epilepsy among university dental students Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS:

This study was conducted fordental students at King Saud University by distributing questionnaires in English language that contain questions related to epilepsy on awareness, causes and treatment options, attitude toward persons with epilepsy and the sources of their information regarding this disease.

RESULTS:

From303 questionnaires were collected from the students, 98.3% of them had heard or read about epilepsy and 9.2% had a history of epileptic seizures. Most of the students72.6% reported accidents or trauma can cause epilepsy with significant difference in different academic level. Using medications as a treatment option for epilepsy was reported by majority of the students 84.5% followed by Holy Quran 64% .University teaching was the most common source of students’ information 88.8%. The negative attitudes were reported by the students include people with epilepsy should not get married or having children 7.6%, 5.9% respectively while 13.9% reported that the children with epilepsy should attend schools for disabilities and only 33.7% of the students agreed to marry a person with epilepsy.

CONCLUSION:

The students had favorable awareness and knowledge about epilepsy, but they had some negative attitudes toward people with epilepsy which need to be improved by enhancing more information through emphasizing on education to improve their knowledge.

KEYWORDS:

Epilepsy, Dental university students, Knowledge, Attitudes, Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION:

Forensic odontology is the recognition discipline based upon the revealing of inimitable characteristics exists in each individual’s dental structures. The rationale of this research was to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of forensic odontology amongst dental graduates and post graduate students at DUHS.

METHODOLOGY:

This hospital based cross sectional study was executed at Dow University of Health Sciences. Over a 3 month period, from 1 August 2015 to 1 November 2015, questionnaires containing 18 questions were hand out to the dental professionals of all dental departments including Dr Ishrat Ul Ibad Khan Institute Of Oral Health Sciences, Dow International Dental College And Dow Dental College.

RESULT:

In this study, 83.7% participants had no formal training in the field of forensic odontology. 84.8% concurred that their present knowledge and awareness about forensic odontology is not adequate. 87% respondents agreed that dental records are useful in identifying the deceased and crime suspect, while 69.9% maintained their dental records, of which only 17.4% maintained dental records for more than 3 years while 53.3% maintained for less than 3 years. 54 % had no awareness how to identify bite mark.

CONCLUSION:

This study reveals that there was lack of knowledge and awareness of forensic odontology amongst the participants and very few of them had awareness regarding forensic odontology. Majority of the participants did not sustain records for longer time.

KEYWORDS:

Forensic Odontology, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice.

ABSTRACT:

Replacement of lost tooth surface and short clinical crown height is a common problem for restorative dentists. Multiple options including surgical crown lengthening, relative axial tooth movement, orthodontics, increasing the vertical dimension of occlusion and devitalisation of tooth are employed alone or in combination to create space for a durable and stable restoration. A variety of factors need to be assessed prior to such a decision making. This paper present an overview of the commonly used management options for the restoration of teeth with short clinical crown heights.

KEYWORDS:

Inter occlusal space, indirect restorations, worn down teeth.

ABSTRACT:

One of the biggest challenges in placing implants in the posterior maxilla is poor bone volume. Loss of posterior maxillary teeth results in volumetric resorption of the alveolar bone. Moreover, pneumatization of the maxillary sinus in absence of maxillary teeth further compromises the residual bone from the superior aspect. The continued bone volume loss sometimes becomes so extensive that maxillary sinus elevation becomes inevitable for any implant based reconstruction to be planned. Various techniques have been advocated in the literature for maxillary sinus elevation and bone augmentation. The following case report describes a conservative way of elevating the maxillary sinus from lateral approach using conventional instruments and subsequent full mouth rehabilitation of a patient.

KEYWORDS:

Sinus elevation; bone graft; dental implants; prosthodontic rehabilitation.