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Context: A survey was conducted in line with the World Dental Federation's (FDI) vision for comprehensive, evidence-based oral healthcare by 2030. The study aims to collect standardised national data on the population's oral health needs, care-seeking behaviours, and oral health-related quality of life., Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional survey included dentists from urban and rural India and the patients visiting their facilities. The data were collected using the digital application developed by the FDI as a part of the Oral Health Observatory (OHO) project between December 2018 and April 2020 among patients seeking care at private oral healthcare practices. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to analyse the study data using SPSS software., Results: Data of 1049 patients (61.01% males, 38.98% females, mean age 38.6 ± 12.1 years) were collected using the OHO app on their oral health-seeking behaviour and habits. Over 80% of the patients had periodontal disease. About 51.5% visited a dentist in the past year, with common barriers being the belief that there was nothing wrong with their teeth and the time constraints. High rates of daily sugar consumption (67%) and tobacco use (35%) were noted. Most dentists focused on curative over preventive care., Conclusions: This survey provides essential data on India's oral health and forms an important first step in the quest of achieving universal health coverage for oral health by facilitating advocacy and aligning with FDI Vision 2030., (Copyright © 2025 Indian Journal of Dental Research.)

Research Question: Can low-dose letrozole reduce dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagia and sonographic features in symptomatic women with adenomyosis awaiting IVF?, Design: This was a longitudinal randomized prospective pilot study to explore the effectiveness of low-dose letrozole and compare it with a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist in reducing dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagia and sonographic features in symptomatic women with adenomyosis awaiting IVF. The women were treated for 3 months, either with the GnRH agonist goserelin 3.6 mg/month (n = 77) or the aromatase inhibitor letrozole 2.5 mg three times weekly (n = 79). Dysmenorrhoea and menorrhagia were evaluated at randomization and followed up monthly using a visual analogue score (VAS) and pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC), respectively. A quantitative scoring method was used to assess the improvement of sonographic features after 3 months of treatment., Results: Both groups reported a marked improvement in symptoms after 3 months of treatment. In both the letrozole and GnRH agonist groups, VAS and PBAC scores decreased significantly over the 3 months (letrozole: P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0001 for VAS and PBAC, respectively; GnRH agonist: P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0001 for VAS and PBAC, respectively). Participants on letrozole had regular menstruation cycles, while most of the women who received the GnRH agonist were amenorrhoeic, with only four women reporting mild bleeding. Haemoglobin concentrations also improved after both treatments (letrozole P = 0.0001, GnRH agonist P = 0.0001). A quantitative assessment of sonographic features showed significant improvements following both treatments (diffuse adenomyosis of the myometrium: letrozole P = 0.015, GnRH agonist P = 0.039; diffuse adenomyosis of the junctional zone: letrozole P = 0.025, GnRH agonist P = 0.001). Women with adenomyoma also responded well to both therapies (letrozole P = 0.049, GnRH agonist P = 0.024), whereas the letrozole group responded comparatively better in focal adenomyosis when the outer myometrium was involved (letrozole P < 0.001, GnRH agonist P = 0.26). No noticeable side effects were observed in women receiving letrozole therapy. Additionally, letrozole therapy was found to be more cost-effective than GnRH agonist treatment., Conclusions: Low-dose letrozole treatment is a low-cost alternative to a GnRH agonist, with comparable effects in improving the symptoms and sonographic features of adenomyosis in women awaiting IVF., (Copyright © 2023 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background. School teachers have an internationally recognized potential role in school-based dental education and considerable importance has therefore been attributed to their dental knowledge. The objectives of this study were to determine the oral health related knowledge, attitudes, and approaches of pre-primary and primary school teachers in the city of Mumbai. Methods. The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the suburban regions of Mumbai using a self-administered questionnaire and involved 511 teachers. Results. Teachers demonstrated inappropriate or incomplete knowledge regarding children's oral health. Only 53.2% knew that an individual has two sets of dentition. Moreover, only 45.4% of the teachers knew that a primary dentition consists of 20 teeth. Only 56.9% of the teachers asked their children to clean their mouth after snacking during school hours. 45.0% of the teachers were unaware of fluoridated tooth pastes whilst 78.9% of them were unaware of school water fluoridation programmes. Also, 54.8% of the teachers never discussed the oral health of children with their parents during parents meet. Conclusions. The studied school teachers demonstrated incomplete oral health knowledge, inappropriate oral practices, and unfavourable approaches to children's oral health. There is a definite and immediate need for organized training of school teachers on basic oral health knowledge.

Objective: To differentiate between the different types of tobacco users and analyze the association between types of tobacco users and factors like pocket money and peer and parental influence across most of the state in India using the data obtained from Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) between 2000 and 2004., Methodology: The GYTS data encompassed a representative 2-stage probability sample of students aged 13 to 15 years across 24 states and 2 union territories in India. These students were interviewed using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire., Result: A very strong association between users and pocket money was found in most of the states, with northeastern states having a very strong association-Sikkim, odds ratio (OR) = 8.43 (confidence interval [CI] = 6.08-11.69), and Manipur, OR = 5.58 (CI = 3.60-8.65)-after adjusting for close friend being smoker, close friend being smokeless tobacco user, parental influence, age, and gender., Conclusion: This study found a strong association between tobacco use by adolescents and having pocket money and close friends being tobacco users., (© 2012 APJPH.)

Background: Warning labels on tobacco products provide an effective way of communicating the consequences of tobacco use. Research has shown that larger and colorful warnings placed on packaging are more effective for informing consumers and general public. However, primarily due to powerful lobbying by the industry, pictorial health warnings in India experienced constant delay in introduction and dilution of content. The current warnings appearing on tobacco products consist of drawing of a scorpion on smokeless forms of tobacco and pictures and X- rays of diseased lungs for smoking forms., Methodology: To understand people's attitude towards the pictorial warning and their understanding of the pictures, a study was planned in two phases. The first phase was qualitative with focus group discussion and second, a population based survey for validating the findings., Results: The findings of the study suggested that the mandated pictorial warnings do not serve the desired purpose since they are not properly understood. The scorpion becomes associated with the product in a non-scientific manner. X-rays of lung are hardly understood by anybody and pictures of diseased lungs are not used by tobacco manufacturers., Conclusion: The results of both the focus group discussions and the field survey indicate that most people have seen text and pictorial warnings on smokeless and smoking tobacco products, but that they lack relevance to the text messages. Irrespective of education the early proposed pictorial warnings by the government were more effective than the currently implemented warnings. People would like to see the warnings mainly in Hindi and Marathi (local language) and want them to be placed on the top or middle of both sides of tobacco packaging.

Aim: A study was carried out to understand the process of interference by the tobacco industry, to measure the compliance of the industry for displaying pictorial warnings on a tobacco product as per the packaging and labeling rules post 31st May, 2009, and to understand the public opinion on the messages conveyed through such warnings., Materials and Methods: A total of 60 samples of tobacco products were purchased after 31 May, 2009, from the retail vendors of tobacco sellers across the country., Results: The government of India has from time to time, taken measures, including legislations, to control tobacco consumption. The actual implementation of these rules has been postponed repeatedly, apparently because of constant pressure exerted by the tobacco industry. The skull and bone sign hurting religious sentiments as stated by the group of ministers proved to be misleading. Later the Group of Ministers (GOM) proposed three very weak and poorly communicative pictorial health warnings to replace those recommended by the Union Health Ministry based on the inputs of the Department of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP). The industry tried to use strategic means by displaying a dull, diluted, and watered down pictorial warning. The focus group study conducted showed that a scorpion gets associated with the product in a non-scientific manner. X-ray of the lung was hardly understood by anybody., Conclusion: Overall the tobacco industry has constantly flouted with the law right from the policy level to its implementation by displaying dull, diluted, and poorly informed pictorial warnings.