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Background: Age of a child can be assessed from various parameters such as chronological age, height, weight, secondary sexual characteristics, skeletal age, or dental age. The present study was planned to assess and compare chronological age with dental age (Demirjian's method and Willem's method) and skeletal age (Fishman's method)., Materials and Methods: The present study was done on a sample of 100 children in the age group of 9-14 years. The chronological age was computed through the birth certificates and dental age was calculated from their orthopantomograms (OPGs) using Demirjian's and Willem's methods. Hand-wrist radiograph of the left hand was used to compute skeletal age using Fishman's method. Paired t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated as a part of statistical analysis at a significance level of P < 0.01., Results: The mean chronological age among the group was 12.37 ± 1.34 years, the mean dental age by Demirjian's method was 12.36 ± 1.72 years, the mean dental age by Willem's method was 12.36 ± 1.51, and the mean skeletal age by Fishman's method was 13.03 ± 1.34 years. Out of the all methods evaluated in the study, Fishman's method of age estimation showed the least value of correlation coefficient (r = 0.728) with the chronological age, whereas Willem's method showed the maximum correlation with the chronological age (r = 0.885)., Conclusion: It can be concluded from the present study that the dental age estimation evaluated by the digital OPG by both the methods, that is, Demirjian's method and Willem's method, has shown high accuracy when applied to the children of Faridabad. Skeletal maturation evaluated by Fishman's method using hand-wrist radiographs was found to overestimate the age when compared to chronological age in both the sexes., Competing Interests: None

Background: Obesity and dental caries are two distinct diseases which are somewhat preventable through a common risk factor approach, as they have common underlying etiological factor, i.e., high sugar intake., Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the correlation between dental caries and body mass index (BMI) in rural and urban areas of Hisar (Haryana, India) and intercompare their correlations., Settings and Design: This was a cross-sectional study in rural and urban preschool children of Hisar, Haryana., Methods: A total of 500 urban and 500 rural children (age group 3-6 years) were selected from schools of Hisar and the values of their mean BMI and mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) (using the World Health Organization criteria, 2005) were compared using independent sample t-test among different groups and subgroups. Pearson correlation coefficients between dmft and BMI were calculated for groups and subgroups and intercompared., Results: Males had significantly higher BMI than females (P < 0.05) and urban preschool children had significantly higher BMI than rural preschool children (P < 0.05). Mean deft was statistically non-significant across the genders and both geographical areas. Non-significant negative correlation was observed between dmft and BMI across different areas and genders. The overall prevalence of obesity/overweight was 20.2% (25.6% urban preschool children; 14.8% rural preschool children). More rural preschool children were underweight (23.8%) than urban preschool children (14.4%) with the overall prevalence of underweight being 19.1%., Conclusions: There was no significant correlation between dental caries and BMI in preschool children of rural and urban areas. Obesity/overweight was more prevalent in urban preschool children, whereas rural preschool children predominantly were underweight., Competing Interests: None

Background: The present ex vivo study explores the role of Indian medicaments in endodontic irrigation in an attempt to search for a safe alternative to sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL)., Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of commercial preparations of Morinda citrifolia juice (MCJ) and Triphala juice against Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans ., Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 84 permanent extracted human teeth. After decoronation and biomechanical preparation, inoculated (with E. faecalis and C. albicans ) root sections were divided randomly into four experimental (MCJ, Triphala juice, 1% NaOCl, and 2% chlorhexidine [CHX]) and two control groups (preservative control and distilled water). Colony-forming units (CFUs) obtained for each group were counted at baseline (S 0 ) and after irrigation at 1 and 3 days (S 1 and S 2 , respectively). Mean of Log CFU at S 0 , S 1 , and S 2 was compared for each irrigant using Friedman's two-way ANOVA., Results: There was a significant decrease in microbial counts of both microbes in all groups at S 1 , but only CHX could demonstrate further decrease in the microbial counts of both microorganisms at S 2 ., Conclusion: The overall antimicrobial effects of different irrigants were maximum for CHX, whereas MCJ and Triphala juice also showed significant reductions. The herbal irrigants hold the promise of becoming efficient irrigants and warrant further research., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Statement of the Problem: Pit and fissure sealant placement is considered as an effective modality for prevention of caries on occlusal surfaces. Penetration, retention and lateral wall adaptation are the key factors in success of pit and fissure sealant restorations., Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to compare penetration ability and lateral wall adaptation of three commercially available pit and fissure sealants., Materials and Method: The present in-vitro study was done on 45 extracted sound human molars to evaluate the fissure pattern and assess the penetration ability of three commercially available sealants [Delton® FS Sealant (Dentsply DeTrey GmbH, Konstanz, Germany), Clinpro™ Sealant (3M™ ESPE™, Minnesota, USA) and GC Fuji VII Glass Ionomer Cement (GC Asia Dental Pte Ltd, Singapore)] on molars divided into 3 equal groups of 15 each, with further sectioning of each sample into 2 parts giving 30 samples per group. Following thermocycling and embedding of teeth in clear auto-polymerizing acrylic resin, sections were evaluated for fissure morphology, sealant penetration, unfilled space, lateral wall adaptation, and for presence of voids., Results: Penetrability of all the sealants studied was found to be significantly more in U-type fissure pattern (93.89%) followed by V-type (78.62%), IK-type (74.34%) and then in I-type (65.91). The depth of penetration of the GC Fuji VII Glass Ionomer sealant (85.82%) was found to be superior followed by unfilled resin sealant (Clinpro™ Sealant- 78.26%) and then by filled resin sealant (Delton® FS Sealant- 74.89%)., Conclusion: U- type fissure pattern was more common than other fissure patterns and showed significantly higher penetrability of different type of sealants evaluated in the present study. GIC based sealant, due to significantly higher penetration depth than unfilled and filled sealants used in the present study, can be preferred over filled or unfilled resin sealants., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests: The authors disclose no potential conflicts of interest.

Background: With the increasing patient demands of esthetics in paediatric dentistry, pre-veneered stainless steel crowns (SSCs) have been made available commercially. However, they suffer from technique sensitivity, limited ability to crimp and associated higher costs., Aim: The present study was planned to clinically evaluate and compare the success of preformed SSCs in which esthetic modification was done using three different techniques of composite veneering., Materials and Methods: A total of 60 primary molars selected from patients between the age group of 4-9 years were randomly divided into three groups having 20 samples each: Group A (composite veneering done using the open face technique), Group B (composite veneering done after sand-blasting SSCs), and Group C (composite veneering done after preparing retentive grooves on SSCs). The patients were evaluated at 1, 3, 6, and 9 months as per evaluation criteria., Statistical Analysis: Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA were used to compare means among three groups at different time intervals., Results: All 60 SSCs were retained at the end of the study, thereby demonstrating 100% success of SSCs. Open window technique of veneering significantly showed maximum retention of composite veneers; therefore, highest level of parental satisfaction. Overall, the most common fracture was of adhesive type seen at the metal composite interface., Conclusions: All the three techniques used provide a chairside and easy method for esthetic modification of the SSCs. The open window is the most successful of the three methods of veneering and may be clinically useful technique for dental practitioners and pediatric dentists., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest

Introduction: Morphological variations in primary dentition are of great concern to a pediatric dentist as it may pose clinical problems like dental caries, delayed exfoliation and also anomalies in the permanent dentition, such as impaction of successors, supernumerary teeth, permanent double teeth or aplasia of teeth. The present study was conducted to investigate the presence of dental anomalies in the primary dentition of 1000 schoolchildren in the 3-5 year-old age group in Faridabad., Materials and Methods: One-thousand schoolchildren were examined using Type III examination (WHO, 1997) for primary molar relationship, occlusal characteristics, primate spaces, physiological spaces and other anomalies of teeth, including number and morphology., Results and Conclusions: The prevalence of physiological spaces in maxillary and mandibular arches was 50.9% and 46.7%, respectively, whereas primate spaces were found in 61.7% of the children in the maxillary arch and 27.9% in the mandibular arch. The prevalence of unilateral anterior and posterior cross-bite was 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively, in the present study. The prevalence of hypodontia in the primary dentition was found to be 0.4% and the prevalence of fusion and gemination in the present study was 0.5%. Double teeth (fusion and gemination) and hypodontia were the most common dental anomalies found in the primary dentition in the present study., (Copyright © 2014 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)