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Background: Regular utilization of dental services enables to improve and maintain oral and general health, in old age. The study assessed the factors acting as barriers and their association with the utilization of dental services among the elderly population aged 65–74 years in Davangere, India. Methodology: A cross-sectional door-to-door survey using a self-designed, structured, validated questionnaire was carried out with a sample of 1440 elders aged 65–74 years residing in Davangere city. They were randomly selected through a multistage sampling technique. Information regarding demographic details, systemic conditions, oral hygiene practices, perceived need, utilization rate of dental services, and factors acting as barriers for the utilization of dental services among elderly was collected. "Cronbach's α test and test–retest" tests were performed to assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The Chi-square test, Pearson correlation test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association between various factors acting as barriers and utilization of dental services. Results: Fifty percent of elders perceived a problem in their oral cavity, and 41.4% had utilized dental service in the previous year. The factors such as location of clinic, appointment system, expense of treatment, self-care, inability to comprehend the dentist explanation, availability of specialist, and service on weekends were highly significant in the regression model (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Education, economic condition, negative perception of dental treatment, presence of systemic conditions, inability to comprehend dentist explanation, and use of self-oral care were the most important barriers for the utilization of dental services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Bromelain, extracted from pineapple, is one of the best-known plant proteases. It has been shown to inhibit the growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis in vitro. The study's objective was to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial effect of subgingival irrigation with 0.2% chlorhexidine and 4.8% bromelain extract on P. gingivalis levels in the periodontal pockets. Methodology: A randomized controlled clinical trial with a parallel-group design was conducted involving 24 adults with a periodontal pocket of 5 mm or more depth, who were randomly allocated to the two interventional groups. In each individual, the pocket of the selected tooth was irrigated with 3 ml of interventional irrigants (0.2% chlorhexidine and 4.8% bromelain extract) once, 24 h after supragingival scaling. The baseline subgingival sample was collected using paper points before irrigation, and the second sample was collected on the 7th day after irrigation. Real-time polymerase chain reaction quantitative microbial analysis was done. The Mann--Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were employed for statistical analysis. Results: There was a significant postirrigation reduction in the level of P. gingivalis counts within Group A (P = 0.002) and Group B (P = 0.002). On intergroup comparison, a statistically significant (P = 0.05) higher reduction in the level of P. gingivalis counts was observed in the chlorhexidine group (35.40 x 105 ± 34.71 x 105 CFU) compared to the bromelain group (36.20 x 105 ± 29.75 x 105 CFU). Conclusion: Periodontal pocket irrigation with 4.8% bromelain resulted in a clinically significant reduction of P. gingivalis counts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Assessment plays a central role in formal education. Unstructured oral examinations are the status quo in dental education in India but have some drawbacks, including a lack of inter-rater reliability. It is not known whether structured oral examinations provide different scores nor how they will be accepted by students or examiners. Materials and Methods: A sample of 20 students were randomly selected from a group of third-year BDS students who had scored 65% and above in the 2nd year university examination in Bapuji Dental College and Hospital. They were exposed to a total of 4 h of lecture and problem-solving sessions on dental ethics. Four raters (teaching faculty), having similar academic experience and designation, were selected and they were trained to conduct structured oral examinations according to a format, especially designed for the same purpose. Half the students underwent structured examination followed by unstructured examination while half the students underwent unstructured examination followed by structured examination. Paired t-test was applied to find out the statistical difference between structured and unstructured oral examination formats. Results: The students obtained a mean score of 13.35 ± 3.8 out of a total score of 20 in the unstructured oral examination when compared to a mean score of 14 ± 3.76 in the structured oral examination. The difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.69). The acceptance trended favorable for structure examination but was not statistically significant. The structured examination had higher inter-rater reliability than the unstructured examination. Conclusion: The results showed good reliability and repeatability of the structured oral examination format with an inter-rater reliability of 0.82. Structured viva voce was not found to improve the performance of students when compared to unstructured viva voce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the normative dental needs and sociodental needs in a sample of 18-21-year-old students in Davangere city in South India.Method: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 250 students aged 18-21 years. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and clinical examination. The normative needs were assessed by different indices. The impact of oral diseases on their quality of life was assessed using the standard Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP) scale and propensity-related needs (PRNs) were assessed using three standard questions.Results: About 85.6% of the subjects fulfilled the criteria for professionally judged normative treatment need. Among them, 42% of the subjects were suffering from emergency/progressive oral conditions and the remaining 43.6% subjects were suffering from non-progressive oral conditions. In turn, a total of 28.4% of the subjects with non-progressive oral conditions fulfilled the criteria of impact-related treatment need. Finally, only 1.2% had sociodental needs (high PRNs).Conclusions: A substantial reduction in treatment needs were found with the sociodental approach among youths in India. The considerable proportion of the children with impact-related need (IRN) did not have a high behavioral propensity, hence potentially needing alternative interventions and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degloving injuries of the oral cavity are characterised by separation of periosteum and soft tissue of the anterior floor of the mouth from the inner cortex of the anterior segment. The higher incidence of the degloving injuries of mandible are seen in children and young adults due to higher involvement in contact sports. In elders, degloving injury of mandible are rare as compared to that of the limbs which are common. Here, we describe the case report of an elderly female with an apparent soft tissue abrasion with encrustation along the left side of the lower lip due to fall. Thorough intra oral examination revealed the presence of degloving injury along the lower anterior region of mandible which was debrided and sutured. Without a high level of suspicion, such lesions existing in the gingivobuccal sulcus may be missed, leading to increased risk of secondary infection and obligate healing in turn leading to increased morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: From the oral health perspective, it is well established that microorganisms have an important role in caries aetiology. From the dawn of civilization, herbal plants have served an array of roles. Triphala a tradtional herbal Ayurvedic formula consists of three native fruits of india including Terminalia Chebula (T. chebula), Terminalia Bellirica (T. bellirica) and Embilica Officinalis (E. officinalis). As per Ayurvedic Formulary of India (AFI) Triphala is prepared by combining a 1:1:1 mixture of ground dry fruits called myrobalans. Till date, an inadequate number of clinical researches on herb based mouth rinses have been reported in Asia, especially in India and other Southeast Asian countries (where these products are most accepted and widely used). The present study was planned to assess the effectiveness of Triphala with its three constituents. Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Triphala, T. chebula, T. bellirica and E. officinalis aqueous extract rinses separately on Streptococcus mutans count at various time intervals. Materials and Methods: This is a double-blind, linear cross over, within group experimental trial conducted among subjects visiting the Department of Public Health Dentistry aged 15 to 40 years. In this design, subjects received all of the treatments sequentially in time. The independent variables to be assessed in this study were all the four interventions of herbal preparations used and the dependent variable assessed is anti bacterial efficacy. Each subject receives two or more different treatments. All the subjects were exposed to all four interventions: 1) T. chebula; 2) T. bellirica; 3) E. officinalis; and 4) Triphala and were provided 15 ml of the freshly prepared 10% rinse. The subjects were instructed not to eat or drink between salivary samples collection. Post rinse unstimulated salivary samples were collected at five minutes and 60 minutes intervals. All the salivary samples were transferred immediately to microbiological laboratory in sterile containers within one hour for microbiological analysis. Results: The mean Colony Forming Units (CFUs) of S. mutans with Triphala when compared to other three intervention was significantly reduced at 5 minutes and 60 minutes (p=0.001). E. officinalis showed least reduction of mean CFUs when compared to other three groups. Conclusion: It can be concluded that all four rinses were effective in reducing S. mutans CFUs, but 10% Triphala has greater efficacy than its other constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on asthma being a serious global health problem affecting the children. Topics include asthma and the medications adversely influencing oral health resulting in dental caries, reducing salivary flow rate, mouth breathing, and oropharyngeal candidiasis; and prolonged use of asthmatic medications and severity of asthma being the risk factors for the development of dental caries among children.