Common Oral Health Problems Research Articles

Influence of Mothers’ Dental Anxiety and Perception of Child’s OHRQoL Towards Utilization of Dental Services − A Questionnaire Study

Introduction: Dental caries is one of the most common oral health problems in childhood. As a child depends entirely on the parents, its dental visit could be influenced by various psychosocial factors such as parental perceptions of the child’s oral health and maternal anxiety. Aim: To assess the influence of children’s clinical condition, mothers’ dental anxiety and their use of dental services, maternal perception of child’s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) on the child’s utilization of dental services. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 600 mothers of children between 2 and 5 years of age. The questionnaire included the background characteristics, mothers and child’s dental visit, mothers’ dental anxiety using Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale and maternal perceptions of the child’s OHRQoL using Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale. Clinical examination for assessing the dental caries among the children was performed. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.1 software. Results: Using the final model of Poisson regression analysis with robust variance and forward stepwise procedure, it was found that the age of mother, the age of child, the income of the family, poor OHRQoL, the presence of caries and pain in child significantly influenced the visit of the child to dentist (P ≤ 0.05). No statistically significant association was found between the anxiety of mother and the child’s visit. Conclusion: Lack of maternal knowledge, low socio-economic reasons and maternal perception of child’s oral health could be the important reasons for a child’s less number of dental visits.

Prevalence and possible predictors of the occurence of denture stomatitis in patients older than 60 years

Background/Aim. Denture stomatitis (DS) is one of the most common oral health problems among elderly population with removable dentures. Despite the high prevalence, etiology of the disease is not completely understood. It appears to be multifactorial, with a predominance of local factors. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors that contribute to the development of DS in upper removable denture wearers. Methods. This clinical study comprised three groups of subjects with upper removable dentures: the DS group, and the positive and negative control groups. Swab samples were taken from the tongue and palatal mucosa for microbiological examination. Data of denture age, dentures night wearing, unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR) and saliva pH values were evaluated for all the participants. Results. The prevalence of DS was found to be 26.5%. Significantly higher values of overnight wearing (p = 0.000) and the mean age of dentures (p = 0.022) were found in the DS group compared to the controls. In relation to the positive mycological finding, a borderline significance difference among the groups was confirmed (p = 0.053). No significant association was found between DS and gender, age, the type of dentures, USFR, pH of saliva and bacteria findings. The patients who wore dentures at night had 26 times more chances to get DS compared to the patients who did not wear them overnight. Conclusion. This study confirms similar characteristics of DS prevalence in elderly population of Vojvodina compared to European. Continuous (overnight) wearing of dentures is considered to be major direct risk factor for DS development, while secondary role is attributed to denture age and oral Candida infection.

Prevalence of Dental Caries and Traumatic Dental Injuries among 6- to 12-year-old Children in Bhopal City, India.

IntroductionDental caries and trauma are the most common oral health problems for many decades. There is need for prevalence data to analyze the nature of the problems and to take necessary steps in improving public health.Aim and objectivesTo assess the prevalence of dental caries and traumatic dental injuries among schoolchildren of age 6 to 12 years in Bhopal city.Settings and designCross-sectional study design was selected. Universal sampling method was followed in this study.Materials and methodsA total of 1,204 children were examined. The distribution of samples was done based on age, gender, residing area, and type of school.Statistical analysisData were collected and statistically evaluated under chi-square test and analysis of variance.ResultsThe overall caries experience (73.17%) was found to be higher than that of traumatic injury experience (20.9%). There was age-related correlation between age and decay, missing, and filled teeth score.ConclusionSince most injuries occur at home or at school, educating the individual is the key that will have a great impact on the prognosis of traumatic injuries. Also good food habits need to be instilled in children from a tender age with the help of parents, which is the ultimate solution to fight caries.How to cite this articleMaran S, Shashikiran ND, Ahirwar P, Maran P, Kannojiya PR, Niranjan B. Prevalence of Dental Caries and Traumatic Dental Injuries among 6- to 12-year-old Children in Bhopal City, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017; 10(2): 172-176.

Dentine Hypersensitivity: Review of a Common Oral Health Problem

Dentine hypersensitivity remains an enigma. Although, it is known to usually present with sharp, short pain caused by one or more external stimuli, it is often inadequately understood. Controversies therefore abound concerning the appropriate terminology for the condition, variations in prevalence, and what is most important to the patients suffering from the condition - a treatment that provides immediate relief with long lasting effect. Available interventions using desensitizing agents provide only temporary relief. The interest of dental practitioners and researchers in dentine hypersensitivity remains very high as it is still a common complaint among patients globally. The myriad array of treatments available and claims of efficacy has not lessened the clinician’s dilemma. As a guide and update for clinicians, the aim of this paper is to review the published literature and provide current opinion on the prevalence, aetiology, mechanism, clinical features, treatment as well as the concept of oral health related quality of life among patients with dentine hypersensitivity. A manual and PubMed literature search was conducted using the keywords: dentine hypersensitivity, tooth sensitivity, cervical dentine hypersensitivity, root dentine hypersensitivity in combination with the words prevalence, epidemiology, diagnosis, mechanism, aetiology, clinical features, treatment, oral health or quality of life. The recently developed treatment agents appear promising but will require more randomized clinical trials. Dentine hypersensitivity remains a common condition with significant effect on daily life. The incorporation of a measure of oral health related quality of life is recommended as one of the outcome measures for new treatment modalities.

Dental Caries: A Review

Dental caries, a chronic disease is unique among human and is one of the most common important global oral health problems in the world today. It is the destruction of dental hard acellular tissue by acidic by-products from the bacterial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates especially sucrose. It progresses slowly in most of the people which results from an ecological imbalance in the equilibrium between tooth minerals and oral biofilms which is characterised by microbial activity, resulting in fluctuations in plaque pH due to bacterial acid production, buffering action from saliva and the surrounding tooth structure. The microbial community of caries is diverse and contains many facultatively and obligately-anaerobic bacteria. S. mutans is the most primary associated with it. Dental caries can affect the human in various ways i.e. presence of tooth pain, infection or dysfunction of the stomatognathic system can limit the necessary ingestion of energetic foods, affecting the growth in children and adults as well as their learning, communication skills and recreational activities. Moreover, oral and pharyngeal cancers and oral tissue lesions are also significant health concern. Cavernous sinus thrombosis and Ludwig angina can be life-threatening. Due to this, treatment is needed for dental diseases which cost is normally high and is not feasible for all community due to limited resources such as time, person and money. Therefore, prevention is more affordable. Personal hygiene cares and dietary modification should be recommended.

Assessment of pharmacists' oral health advice to clients without prescription using “By Proxy” method

Background: In India, people commonly approach pharmacies rather than health professionals for their common ailments including oral health problems. Aim: To assess the type of medication and advice to clients without prescription provided for common oral health problems by pharmacists in Davangere city. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in which ten simulated clients visited pharmacy outlets and presented with different oral problems to the pharmacists. The response of the pharmacists was recorded and analyzed. Results: Pharmacists mostly dispensed antibiotics (44.4%), antipyretics (33.4%), mouth wash (60%), and Vitamin B complex (66.6%) for tooth ache, tooth ache with fever, bad breath, and ulcer. Seven pharmacists refused to provide medications without prescription from a dentist. Twenty six (42.6%) pharmacists recommended the subjects to visit a dentist, whereas 35 (57.4%) did not. Conclusion: Pharmacists provided medications to the simulated clients who came without prescription from a dentist. More than half of them did not recommend the clients to visit a dentist.

Economic Models of Preventive Dentistry for Australian Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

To identify economic evaluation models and parameters that could be replicated or adapted to construct a generic model to assess cost-effectiveness of and prioritise a wide range of community-based oral disease prevention programmes in an Australian context. The literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, ERIC, PsycINFO, CINHAL (EBSCOhost), EMBASE (Ovid), CRD, DARE, NHSEED, HTA, all databases in the Cochrane library, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases from their inception to November 2012. Thirty-three articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review (7 were Australian studies, 26 articles were international). Existing models focused primarily on dental caries. Periodontal disease, another common oral health problem, was lacking. Among caries prevention studies, there was an absence of clear evidence showing continuous benefits from primary through to permanent dentition and the long-term effects of oral health promotion. No generic model was identified from previous studies that could be immediately adopted or adapted for our purposes of simulating and prioritising a diverse range of oral health interventions for Australian children and adolescents. Nevertheless, data sources specified in the existing Australian-based models will be useful for developing a generic model for such purposes.

Does Clinical Staging and Histological Grading Show Parallelism In Oral Submucous Fibrosis? A Retrospective Study from an Indian City

Objectives: Oral submucous fibrosis is a common oral health problem in India. This study was conducted to correlate the histopathological diagnosis with habits and clinical findings in patients suffering from oral submucous fibrosis (OSF). Methods: The study group comprised of randomly included 40 patients. A comparison between clinical staging (a method used to find out the stage of disease using tests which include physical examination) and histopathological grading (grading is a measure of the cell appearance in pathology) was done in each case. Fisher’s exact test was done to obtain statistical analysis. Results: Among 15 cases of clinically diagnosed stage I lesions, 4 (10%) were grade I, 6 (15%) were grade II and 5 (12.5%) were grade III. Among 23 cases of stage II lesions 6 (15%) were diagnosed as grade I, 7 (17.5%) as grade II, 7 (17.5%) as grade III and 3 (7.5%) as grade IV. Among 2 cases of stage III both were diagnosed as grade II respectively. Conclusions: There was no correlation between clinical staging and histopathological grading of oral submucous fibrosis. The test results were statistically not significant. (p=0.635) This may be due to difference in severity and extent of fibrosis in different parts of the oral mucosa.

Prevalence and Pattern of Dentin Hypersensitivity in a Jordanian Population in Irbid City

Background: Dentin hypersensitivity, DH is a common oral health problem of multifactorial etiology affecting one or more teeth of many individuals on global bases. There is a growing awareness that DH has become an increasingly important condition that merits investigation from the diagnostic and problem-management perspectives. Few studies attempted to determine the size of the problem and investigate factors associated with DH amongst Jordanians. Objectives: Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of clinically assessed in addition to selfreported DH and evaluate the factors associated with it in a sample of Jordanian subpopulation. Methods: 1,478 subjects were recruited from teaching and public dental centers. They answered questions about known factors associated with DH. Oral examinations assessed DH in participants who reported DH in at least one of their teeth. The subjects quantified the severity of DH on 10-digits visual analogue scale. Chi-square tests were used to determine significant factors associated with DH (α=.05). Results: The prevalence of self-reported DH was 66.4%; and that of clinically diagnosed DH was 28.7%. DH was statistically significantly more in females than males; and occurred most in the age group (21-30). Mandibular central incisors were statistically significantly the most affected teeth. Heartburn, frequent vomiting, drinking acidic juices and soft drinks, bleaching, gingivitis, scaling, and orthodontic treatment were statistically significantly associated with DH. Conclusions: The Prevalence of DH in Jordanian subpopulation was 28.7%. Many factors including gender, acidic juices, soft drinks, bleaching, gingivitis, recent scaling and orthodontic treatment were significantly associated with DH, P<0.05.

Probiotics in Periodontics Good or Bad!!! A Review

Probiotics are non-pathogenic living micro-organisms which have been added to various foods because of their beneficial effects for human health. There has been a paradigm shift of treatment from specific bacterial elimination to altering bacterial ecology by probiotics. With the increase in the incidence of resistance to antibiotics, probiotics may be a promising area in research in periodontal therapy. They play a beneficial role in preventing common oral health problems such as dental carries, periodontal disease, fungal Infections (Candida) and halitosis. A complete understanding of the broad ecologic changes in the mouth is essential to assess their long term consequences of oral health and disease. The paper reviews the evidence for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for maintenance of oral health and for the prevention of periodontal disease.

The role of illness beliefs and coping in the adjustment to dentine hypersensitivity

Dentine hypersensitivity is a common oral health problem, however, there has been little research on how people cope with this condition. This study aimed to quantify the effects of illness beliefs and coping strategies on the health outcomes of individuals with dentine hypersensitivity. Participants were purposively sampled from students and staff in one large UK University and 101 self-diagnosed dentine hypersensitivity sufferers participated in the longitudinal study. Participants were required to complete questionnaires which assessed health anxiety, specific illness beliefs (control, consequences, illness coherence, timeline perspectives and emotional representations), coping strategies (passive and active coping) and oral health-related and health-related quality of life (OHRQoL and HRQoL) at baseline and 1 month follow-up. Over half of the participants (N = 56) experienced sensations in their teeth on a daily basis and the majority had experienced dentine hypersensitivity for at least 1 year (N = 87). Structural equation modelling indicated that predictors of OHRQoL and HRQoL impacts at follow-up were frequency of sensations, low levels of illness coherence, negative emotional representations, greater health anxiety and use of passive coping strategies at baseline. Illness beliefs and coping strategies predict oral and health-related quality of life outcomes in people with dentine hypersensitivity.

Dentine hypersensitivity – guidelines for the management of a common oral health problem

Dentine hypersensitivity (DHS) remains a worldwide under-reported and under-managed problem, despite making some dental treatments more stressful than necessary and having a negative impact on the patient's quality of life. This article is designed to build dental professionals' confidence and remove any confusion regarding the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of sensitive teeth caused by dentine hypersensitivity in those patients known to be at risk. There is a need for simple guidelines, which can be readily applied in general practice. However, it is also obvious that one strategy cannot suit all patients. This review describes a DHS management scheme for dental professionals that is linked to management strategies targeted at three different groups of patient. These patient groups are: 1) patients with gingival recession; 2) treatment patients with toothwear lesions; and 3) patients with periodontal disease and those receiving periodontal treatment. The authors also acknowledge the role of industry as well as dental professionals in a continuing role in educating the public on the topic of sensitive teeth. It is therefore important that educational activities and materials for both dental professionals and consumers use common terminology in order to reduce the possibility for confusion. This review article provides practical, evidence-based guidance on the management of dentine hypersensitivity for dental professionals covering diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Sensitivity associated with gingival recession, toothwear and periodontal disease and periodontal treatment are specifically addressed in the article.

Role of probiotics in oral health: A review of the literature

Probiotics are non-pathogenic living microorganisms used to prevent various medical conditions. They have been added in some food products because of their beneficial effect in health. They play a beneficial role in preventing common oral health problems such as dental caries, periodontal disease, fungal infections ( candida ) and halitosis.

Oral Health Problems And Causes Of Tooth Loss At The University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu-Nigeria

Context Several oral diseases and conditions are associated with tooth loss. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health problems seen at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in one year with the view to highlighting causes of tooth loss in this environment. Methods This study utilised data from the Record book of the Oral Diagnosis unit of the Dental clinic in UNTH, Enugu. Records of patients seen from January to December 2008 with complete information were included in the study. Data obtained were patient's age, gender, provisional diagnosis, teeth lost and reasons for the loss. The data were computer- analysed; Chi square statistics was used to test for association and differences. Values were considered significant when p-value was equal to or less than 0.05. Results A total of 1663 entries were made; 686 (41.3%) were males and 977 (58.7%) females. On the whole, 110 (6.6%) had traumatic injuries, 70 (4.2%) had malocclusion while 583 (35.1%) had periodontal disease. Periodontal disease, pulpitis and dental caries were not only the most common oral health problems encountered but also the major causes of tooth loss. Conclusion The major causes of tooth loss in our study were periodontal disease and dental caries and its sequelae. Since these two diseases are preventable, existing measures to check them should be more aggressively pursued. Also, recruitment of manpower to manage the different conditions would be very timely for greater retention of teeth despite an aging society.Key words: Oral health; Tooth loss; UNTH; Enugu

Correlation of histopathological diagnosis with habits and clinical findings in oral submucous fibrosis

BackgroundOral submucous fibrosis is a common oral health problem in India. This study was conducted to correlate the histopathological diagnosis with habits and clinical findings in patients suffering from oral submucous fibrosis (OSF).MethodsPatients suffering from oral submucous fibrosis from the Departments of Otorhinolayngology and Pathology, Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad, India were studied from 2004–2008. Detailed information was gathered in a pretested proforma. Emphasis was given to the various addictions, clinical findings and histological examination was done.ResultsTwo hundred and thirty nine patients were studied, yielding a male to female ratio of 6.8:1. Maximum patients were in the 21–30 years age group with a marked male predominance. Of these, 197 (82.4%) patients chewed areca nut/dohra, 14 (5.8%) were smokers and 2 (0.8%) patients were habituated to alcohol. 89(37.2%) patients reported difficulty in opening of the mouth (trismus). 51 (57.4%) patients were found to have stage II (2–3 cm) trismus while rest had stage I and III. The buccal mucosa was found to be the most commonly involved site. On the basis of histopathological examination, 52(21.7%) were classified as OSF grade I, 75(31.3%) patients as grade II and 112(46.8%) had grade III disease.ConclusionThe widespread habit of chewing dohra/paan masala is a major risk factor of OSF, especially in the younger age group. In this study, an increase in histopathological grading was found with severity and duration of addiction habit. However no significant correlation was found between clinical staging and histopathological grading.

INFANT ORAL HEALTH AND ORAL HABITS

Many oral diseases and conditions, including dental caries (cavities) and malocclusions, have their origins early in life. Prudent anticipatory guidance by the medical and dental professions can help prevent many of the more common oral health problems. This article provides information on the rationale for early dental examination and instructions for pediatric and family practitioners in scheduling and conducting an early oral intervention appointment. In addition, feeding practices, non-nutritive sucking, mouth breathing, and bruxing are discussed, including their effects on orofacial growth and development.

Nurse assessment of oral health: a review of practice and education.

The assessment of oral health status and related care of patients is a largely neglected area of nursing practice. With the notable exceptions of high-risk patient groups, such as those receiving chemotherapy in neonatal and intensive care units, and in terminal care, few patients enjoy regular, formal, oral assessments and care. Such interventions--nurse administered oral hygiene--should not be reserved only for high-risk groups but ideally be provided to all patients, whether in hospital or in the community, as they can reveal signs and symptoms of oral disease, manifestations of systemic disease, drug side-effects, or trauma; they may also provide important diagnostic clues. This article sets out to emphasize the need for nurse education in oral health care and provides a literature review and introduction to common oral health problems. It also sets out to establish the rationale for assessment in all contexts of patient care.