Background: Parental awareness and attitude toward dental knowledge and cultural beliefs have a significant role in preserving the children\'s oral health. On the other hand, the dental situation could be quite overwhelming without behavioral management techniques (BMTs). Thus, this study aimed to measure the level of parental awareness and knowledge about the first dental visit and acceptance level of different BMTs in South Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online self-administered questionnaire via Google Form, and shared through social media from March to April\' 2021. A convenient non-probability sampling technique was employed. Results: Out of 343, most of the participants in this study were females (75.8%) aged between 36-45 years (43.1%) and 98.5% of them were Saudi. Further, most of them had bachelor\'s degree (61.8%). Most of the participants brought their kids for first dental visit in second year of their lives (46.6%), and distraction technique was the most preferred way of BMT (90.1%) used. Conclusion: Most of participants believed that first dental visit should take place in the second year of their child\'s life, even without existing pain or problem, and the first dental experience is important in determining child\'s future dental attitude.

Purpose: To comparatively evaluate the fracture resistance of re-attached tooth fragments stored in dry, saline, pasteurised bovine milk, egg white and coconut water for 24 hours.Material and Methods: 50 permanent maxillary central and lateral incisors were cut perpendicular to the long axis with a diamond disk.Immediately after fracturing, the fractured fragments were stored in appropriate storage medium for 24 hours and the remaining tooth structure along with blocks were stored again in distilled water until re-attachment.Each fragment was rinsed under distilled water for 5 seconds to remove any remaining storage media.The fragments were re-attached, thermocycled and subjected to fracture strength test using universal testing machine at 0.6 mm min -1 .Results: The mean value for fracture resistance of teeth samples stored in dry medium was found to be 24.3N, for teeth samples stored in saline medium was found to be 95.4N, for teeth samples stored in egg white medium was found to be 50.8N, for teeth samples stored in milk medium was found to be 53.3N and for teeth samples stored in coconut water medium was found to be 74 N. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that storage of tooth fragments in saline demonstrated the highest fracture resistance, followed in the order by coconut water (a new storage medium used in this study), milk and egg white, which showed significantly higher fracture resistance in comparison to the samples kept dry.

Context: In-vitro studies of microleakage are an initial screening method to assess the maximum theoretical loss of sealing ability in-vivo. Aims: Our objective was to determine and compare microleakage patterns of conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC) and resin-modified GIC (RMGIC) for band cementation. Methods: Forty caries-free second primary molars were randomly divided into two groups of 20 teeth each. Preformed molar bands in the two groups were cemented to enamel with one of two types of cement: Conventional GIC (Fuji I, GC Corporation; Tokyo, Japan) and RMGIC (Fuji Plus, GC Corporation; Tokyo, Japan). A dye penetration method was used for microleakage evaluation. Microleakage was determined by a stereomicroscope for the cement-band and cement-enamel interfaces. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was performed with Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: The mean microleakage value for conventional GIC (Fuji I) at cement-band and cement-enamel interfaces was 2.41 mm and 2.15 mm, respectively. The mean microleakage value for RMGIC (Fuji Plus) at cement-band and cement-enamel interfaces was 0.44 mm and 0.46 mm, respectively. Compared to conventional GIC, RMGIC showed less microleakage at both cement-band and cement-enamel interfaces. P < 0.001 and it was statistically highly significant. Conclusions: Bands cemented with RMGIC had significantly less microleakage between the cement-band and cement-enamel interfaces than conventional GIC

OBJECTIVE:In children, manual dexterity poses a problem with the use of manual tooth brushes (MB), resulting in inefficient plaque removal. Recently, novel chewable brushes (CB) have been introduced which could overcome this problem but are less researched in children. The objective of this study is to assess and compare the plaque removal effectiveness of CB with that of MB. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 60 patients aged 8 to 10 years were enrolled in a single-blinded randomized clinical trial. At baseline, disclosing solution was applied and the Turesky modification of the Quigley-Hein index (TQHI) plaque index and Loe and Silness gingival index were recorded. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups as group I (MB) and group II (CB) and they were instructed to use their respective brushes for a period of 1 week. For statistical comparison, the difference (prebrushing minus postbrushing) in average scores was calculated. Data were evaluated by the independent t test and paired t test, with p < 0.05. RESULTS:The overall plaque scores reduced from 1.71 ± 0.4 to 0.79 ± 0.24 when using CB and from 1.64 ± 0.64 to 1.13 ± 0.47 when using MBs. On lingual tooth surfaces, CB showed a plaque reduction of 38.70 ± 11.04 to 12.60 ± 4.79 compared to less reduction from 37.43 ± 14.26 to 28.73 ± 11.37 for MB. The overall gingival scores were also reduced from 0.33 ± 0.51 to 0.09 ± 0.07 when using CB and from 0.30 ± 0.33 to 0.19 ± 0.23 when using MB. Differences in scores between the two brushes were statistically significant (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION:It was concluded that the experimental CB was able to remove a significant amount of plaque, particularly on the lingual surfaces, and reduced gingival index scores, thereby improving oral hygiene and gingival health status. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE:Kayalvizhi G, Radha S, et al. Comparative Evaluation of Plaque Removal Effectiveness of Manual and Chewable Toothbrushes in Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2019;12(2):107-110.

AIM:The aim of this study is to assess the variations in the levels of Streptococcus mutans in saliva before and after short-term daily intake of the probiotic lozenge. To estimate the prevalence of S. mutans serotypes e, f, and k and its variations in salivary levels before and after short-term daily intake of the probiotic lozenge.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted among 60 children of 6-12 years old, who were given lozenge twice daily containing probiotic bacteria twice daily, one in the morning and another in the evening after brushing for 1 month. The placebo lozenge group also followed the same protocol. A pre- and post-quantitative analysis of S. mutans and serotypes e, f, and k level were done in the saliva of both experiment and control groups.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:The data thus collected were statistically evaluated using repeated measures of ANOVA, followed by post hoc test and independent t-test.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:When compared with baseline, a significant reduction of S. mutans was seen after 1 month intervention and 6 months follow-up. The prevalence of serotype e was found to be 5% and serotype k was found to be 12%, whereas none of the samples carried serotype f. Future long-term research with a larger sample size is required to determine the prevalence of S. mutans serotype and longer evaluation period is required to assess the preventive role against caries development.

Background: Dental caries is a multifactorial disease in which microorganisms play an important role. Recently, herbs have been tried as mouthrinses to combat the side effects of chemical mouthrinses. The anticaries efficacy of Sodium fluoride, Tulsi leaf, and Black myrobalans fruit extracts on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) have been reported in the literature, but no comparative study has been done yet. Aim: This study aims to observe the change in the pH of saliva and to assess the efficacy of the herbal rinses-Tulsi and Black myrobalans on S. mutans count while comparing it with Sodium fluoride mouthrinse. Methods: Herbal ethanolic extracts of Tulsi (4%) and Black myrobalans (2.5%) were prepared as mouthrinses and compared with sodium fluoride mouthrinse (0.05%). Sixty high caries risk patients were selected and allocated randomly into three groups [n = 20], categorized as Group A-Sodium fluoride mouthrinse, Group B-Tulsi mouthrinse, and Group C-Black myrobalans mouthrinse. They were instructed to rinse their mouth with their assigned mouthrinses for 7 days. Salivary samples were collected and sent to the laboratory at baseline, 1 h postrinsing and after 7th day of rinsing for determining the salivary pH and S. mutans count. The increase in pH and reduction of S. mutans were determined. The values obtained were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: There was a significant increase in the salivary pH and reduction in S. mutans count after rinsing in all the three groups. Increase in salivary pH was more in the Sodium fluoride mouthrinse when compared to the experimental herbal groups (Group B and Group C). While S. mutans counts reduced more with Tulsi mouthrinse at 1 h postrinsing and after the 7th day of rinsing more reduction was seen in Black myrobalans mouthrinse group. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that herbal mouthrinses could be tried as an adjunctive anticaries agent against dental caries causing microorganisms.

INTRODUCTION:One among the various reasons for root canal failure in endodontics is the leakage of an intracanal medicament due to improper coronal sealing.AIM:To assess the coronal leakage of two intracanal medicaments sealed with two different temporary filling materials.MATERIALS AND METHODS:An in-vitro study was done on 55 teeth where they were divided into three groups with two root canal medicaments namely calcium hydroxide + 0.2% chlorhexidine solution, triple antibiotic paste, and a control group. These three groups were restored temporarily with MD Temp and IRM, and these samples were checked for coronal leakage after 30 days.RESULTS:The group, triple antibiotic paste with IRM stayed for more number of days without leakage with the mean of 24.5 days, followed by group triple antibiotic paste with MD Temp. The least coronal leakage was seen in group MD Temp without Intracanal medicament with the mean of eight and half days followed by group IRM without Intracanal medicament. When comparing the two temporary filling materials without any medicament, there was no significant difference between the same. When comparing within MD Temp group, the least microleakage was seen with Triple antibiotic paste with MD Temp. In the IRM group, the least microleakage was seen with Triple antibiotic paste with IRM.CONCLUSION:Triple antibiotic paste was found to be the most promising intracanal medicament with an appropriate seal.CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:The best intracanal medicament, which is triple antibiotic paste in the present study could prevent microorganism leakage and inhibit bacterial growth.How to cite this article: Balaji S, Kumar K, Venkatesan R, Krishnamoorthy S, Manoharan V, Marimuthu S. Assessment of Coronal Leakage with Two Intracanal Medicaments After Exposure to Human Saliva-An In Vitro Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent., 2018;11(5):406-411.

INTRODUCTION:Dental caries is an infectious disease with Streptococcus mutans as the main cariogenic bacteria. Children with early S. mutans colonization have a higher risk of developing dental caries than those with later colonization. Therefore, prevention or delay of S. mutans colonization may be advantageous for the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC).AIM:To evaluate and compare the effectiveness of xylitol and placebo wipes on S. mutans count in 19- to 35-month-old children.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Forty-four children were randomly selected from a daycare center and divided into two groups. Allocation concealment was done and both (placebo and xylitol) wipes were distributed to their parents. Instructions were given regarding their use, to be used twice daily for 2 weeks and the S. mutans levels in the saliva were enumerated before and after wipes usage. The collected data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using paired and unpaired t-tests.RESULTS:A clinically significant decrease in the S. mutans count was observed in the xylitol wipes group than the placebo wipes group. Intergroup comparison results were found to be statistically insignificant.CONCLUSION:Xylitol wipes usage could serve as a useful adjunct in reducing the cariogenic bacteria, especially S. mutans, and thus can be considered as an adjunct oral hygiene tool for caries prevention in young childrenHow to cite this article: Kayalvizhi G, Nivedha D, Sajeev R, Prathima GS, Suganya M, Ramesh V. Evaluating the Efficacy of Xylitol Wipes on Cariogenic Bacteria in 19- to 35-month-old Children: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(1):13-17.

AIM:The aim of the study is to determine how rural children view children with visible incisor fracture.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Class 7 (aged 11-12 years) and class 10 (aged 14-15 years) schoolchildren (the participants) were invited to make a social judgment about the color photograph of two children (the subjects). Participants were randomly allocated either (i) pictures of children without incisor fracture or (ii) pictures of the same children whose photographs had been digitally modified to visible incisor fracture. Using a child-centered questionnaire, participants rated subjects using a four-point Likert scale for three negative and six positive attributes. Total attribute scores were tested for significant differences, according to whether the subject had visible incisor fracture or not, using multivariate analysis of variance (p < 0.05).RESULTS:Both class 7 and 10 children rated subjects with visible incisor fracture more negatively than the subjects without incisor fracture. Female participants of class 10 have rated the male subject with incisor fracture significantly negatively (p < 0.01) than male subject without incisor fracture. How to cite this article: Venkatesan R, Naveen M, Teja R, Paulindraraj S, Vallabhaneni SK, Arumugam SB. Psychosocial Effects of Fractured Anterior Teeth among Rural Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2016;9(2):128-130.

INTRODUCTION:Dental setting plays an important role in child's behavior and cooperation to the planned dental treatment. Adding attractive colours to the dental environment and by incorporating colourful equipments can make the child feel good and be at ease. This study tries to convey the relationship between colours and dental anxiety among children.AIM:To evaluate the colour preference to emotions in relation to children's age, gender and anxiety level.MATERIALS AND METHODS:A total of 382 children aged 6-12 years were randomly selected from schools in and around Puducherry. Modified dental anxiety scale was recorded by a calibrated examiner. Each question was scored from one (not anxious) to five (extremely anxious); such that the total score ranges from 5 to 25, wherein a score of 15 or more was considered to be anxious. Based on this, children were divided into anxious and non-anxious groups. All the children were provided with eight different coloured crayon pencils and were asked to shade two cartoon emoticons indicating happiness and sadness with their preferred colour. Values were tabulated and statistically analyzed to evaluate the association between the variables using Z test, Chi-square, Chi-square goodness of fit and odds ratio. (p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant).RESULTS:Among 382 children, 77% (294) were graded as anxious and 23% (88) as non- anxious. For positive emotion (happiness), 31.2% (119) children preferred blue followed by pink 29.3% (112). For negative emotion (sadness), 52.1% (199) of children preferred black and 46.9% (179) preferred red. Association between colour and emotion was highly significant (p= 0.005).CONCLUSION:From the colours preferred by the children in our study, it can be concluded that colours like blue and pink in the dental set-up could enhance a positive attitude while black and red could develop a negative outlook in their mind.

Background: Several methods relying on dental calcification of the teeth, up to the second molar, are used for evaluation of age in childhood. The objective of this research was to evaluate the reliability and validity of Demirjian’s and Cameriere’s radiographic methods of dental age estimation in Puducherry population aged between 9 and 13 years. Aim : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of Demirjian and Cameriere methods for dental age estimation in order to obtain a more reliable and reproducible age estimation method as an aid in forensic odontology. Settings and Design: The sample was comprised of 200 digital OPG of children in and around Puducherry (90 female and 110 male) aged 9 to 13 years. Method: Demirjian & Cameriere method, both are assessed by the dental maturity of seven left mandibular teeth. The mean age error and absolute age error for both the methods were calculated and the difference between the estimated dental age and chronological age were compared with the paired t – test Results: The Demirjian method tends to overestimate (1.10 years) the chronological age of participants and Cameriere method underestimated (-0.31 years) the chronological age. On gender comparison, boys and girls showed overestimation by 0.99 years and 1.22 years for Demirjian methods respectively, while underestimation by -0.30 years and -0.33 years for boys and girls respectively was observed with Cameriere method. Conclusions: Cameriere method of dental age estimation is more accurate than Demirjian method for estimating the age among 9 – 13 year old in Puducherry population. Key-words: Forensic dentistry, Panoramic radiograph, Tooth mineralisation

Objectives: One of the reasons for an important global concern i.e., antibiotic resistance is the pattern of antibiotic prescription by doctors. Knowledge regarding essential medicines and the rational use of medicines by doctors is important to combat drug resistance. This study was designed to study the knowledge of dental surgeons in south India regarding antibiotics required for various dental infections and also to assess the various factors that affect their prescription. Materials and Methods: A total 700 private dentists were randomly selected and questionnaires were sent by post or electronic media. The replies were collected and the response to each question was analyzed and expressed as absolute frequencies. Results: Over 80% of the dental surgeons correctly recognized the need to prescribe antibiotics when there was evidence of systemic spread, but over half of the dentists prescribed antibiotics even when a localized fluctuant swelling, for which antibiotics are not required. Also, 20-30% of dentists prescribed antibiotics unnecessarily for conditions such as chronic marginal gingivitis and acute pulpitis. Very importantly we found that there were many dentists' prescriptions that were affected by non-clinical factors, such as, patients' expectation of a prescription, work pressure, lack of time, and uncertainty in diagnosis to name a few. Conclusion: The results show that knowledge and antibiotic prescription pattern among dental surgeons is suboptimal. It is very important to provide continuing dental education in this aspect, to combat the threat of drug resistance.