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Objective:People with disability have worse oral health than the healthy ones usually because of their inability to perform good daily oral hygiene, lack of knowledge of their caregivers and inadequate health policies. This study aimed to evaluate the oral health-related knowledge, practices and opinions of a group of caregivers in the biggest care home in Turkey.Materials and Methods:A total of 170 caregivers were requested to complete a questionnaire prior to receiving training regarding oral health. The chi-square test was used to evaluate the statistical significance.Results:Among the 322 residents with disability, 255 (79.2%) had mental disability and 64 (19.9%) had physical disability. Of the caregivers, 147 volunteered to participate (response rate 86.5%). Their mean age was 41.4 years. More than half of the caregivers (n=98, 66.6%) had been working for 5 to 14 years. Most of them (81.6%) reported that they performed oral hygiene procedures for 228 residents, and 97 (44.1%) reported that they brushed the teeth of residents three times per day. However, 102 caregivers reported that they did not know about the significance of dental plaque. Nearly two-thirds of the caregivers (n=95, 64.6%) had not previously received any education regarding oral care and 98 declared that they need training, of whom 74 requested that it should be practical. Female caregivers needed oral care training more than male caregivers. Although not statistically significant, caregivers who have been working for ≤5 years and those with at least a high school education reported more need for oral care training. The caregivers working ≤5 years had the least level of previous education on oral care.Conclusion:The caregivers need comprehensive training on oral health in the biggest care home in Turkey to be able to provide adequate oral health care for the disabled residents.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between packaged product label and medication package insert reading habits of parents and their children’s oral/dental health. Study design: A questionnaire including demographic characteristics and label/insert reading habits was filled by parents of 301 children who referred to the Pediatric Dentistry Department. The children were examined intraorally and dmft/DMFT and ICDAS II scores were recorded. The data were evaluated statistically. Results: Label and medication package insert reading were found in 71.4% and 88.4% of the parents, respectively. Label reading increased as the age of the child and the number of children in the family increased. Medical package insert reading increased as the mother’s education and SLS/paraben knowledge increased. Decrease of 1 point in ICDAS II resulted in the 1.410 times increase in the rate of medical package insert reading of the parents. Conclusion: It is concluded that improving the label and medical insert reading rate of the parents would be effective for providing better oral and dental health for their children.

Introduction Esophageal atresia (EA) is a congenital anomaly, presenting multifactorial etiology. Swallowing problems and gastroesophageal reflux disease may accompany EA, which have adverse effects on oral health. Materials and Methods In this descriptive study, intraoral examination of the children with repaired EA and of the dental patients without systemic/chronic disease was performed. Dental caries, dental erosion, and halitosis status were evaluated using the International Caries Detection and Evaluation System II, and the Basic Erosive Wear Examination indices as well as the Halimeter, respectively. Results There were 19 (n = 12 male; n = 7 female) case subjects and 16 (n = 10 male; n = 6 female) control subjects whose age ranged between 14 and 72 months. Among cases, 15 children had dental caries (78.9%; initial caries n = 4, moderate caries n = 4, and extensive caries n = 7). Of the controls, 13 had dental caries (81.2%; initial caries n = 5, moderate caries n = 5, and extensive caries n = 3). Although the median scores of decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft) and decayed, missing, filled surfaces (dmfs)—for primary dentition—were not statistically significantly different between two groups, both dmft and dmfs were found to be higher among the case subjects (p = 0.172 for dmft; p = 0.230 for dmfs). Furthermore, six children with repaired EA had dental abnormalities (in shape, number, or calcification) and six children with repaired EA had dental erosion. The Halimeter measurement was performed for five case children of whom three had oral malodor, and for seven control children of whom two had oral malodor. Conclusion Regular dental counseling adopting the multidisciplinary team approach for patients with EA is necessary to ensure better general and oral health.

Triplication is a rare dental anomaly and defined as the fusion of three teeth. In the present case report, a five-year-old healthy girl with the triplication of the two mandibular primary right incisors along with a supernumerary tooth was presented. A periapical radiograph, panoramic radiograph and cone-beam tomography of the triple tooth revealed separate pulp chambers combining in the cervical area and forming one pulp canal along the root. In the treatment planning, pit and fissure sealant was applied for prevention and the patient was recalled for regular follow-up appointments. After 24 months, the triple tooth had been replaced by the permanent successor without any dental abnormality.

The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical performance of composite restorations placed with different adhesive systems in primary teeth. In 32 patients, 128 composite restorations were placed using a split-mouth design as follows (4 groups/patient): three-step etch-and-rinse (Group 1), two-step etch-and-rinse (Group 2), two-step self-etch (Group 3), and one-step self-etch (Group 4). The restorations were clinically evaluated at baseline and at 6, 18, and 36 months according to the FDI criteria. There was no significant difference between the adhesive systems in retention of the restorations (p>0.05). Over time, there was a statistically significant decrease in marginal adaptation in all groups, whereas surface and marginal staining significantly increased in Groups 3 and 4 (p<0.05). The etch-and-rinse adhesive systems resulted in better marginal adaptation than the self-etch adhesive systems (p<0.05). It was concluded that preetching of the primary enamel might help improve the clinical performance of the self-etch adhesive systems in primary teeth.